Standards of English in Europe

Bex, Tony

doi:10.1515/mult.1993.12.3.249

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…In the words of Nadkarni (1992: 328), "the function of a world language is to foster an international or global consciousness without suppressing diversity in its manifestations." Bex (1993) argues that the notion of Standard English is more a social myth than a recognizable variety and that the English teaching curriculum should incorporate elements of regional varieties as well as supranational features of the language. Hyde (1998) makes the case for the formal adoption of post-colonial models of English and for the incorporation of the objective of intercultural competence in the language teaching curriculum.…”

Section: Global Potential and Standardizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting challenges to English as a global language in the 21st century

Bruthiaux

2002

LPLP

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The worldwide dominance of English is such that only catastrophic upheaval could seemingly threaten it in the near future. In the longer term, an emerging power (eg, China) may come to challenge American supremacy and with it the dominant position of English. However, even in the event of such a realignment, the language of that emerging power (eg, Chinese) may not succeed in arresting the advantage English already derives from critical mass. To have any chance of global spread, a challenger would need to possess structural characteristics -namely, minimal inflectional morphology, nontonal phonology, and a non-logographic script -that would facilitate its acquisition by individuals with largely utilitarian motivations. Alternatively, to evolve these characteristics, a challenger would need to be subjected to minimal standardization and be allowed the freedom to accommodate userdriven change, including indigenization. Finally, it would need to be perceived as a vehicle for modernizing values. While hypothetical challengers (eg, Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, or Esperanto) all exhibit some of these characteristics, only English exhibits all of them at present and for the foreseeable future. For these reasons, the worldwide dominance of English is likely to survive even a hypothetical passing of the American Era.

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Section: Global Potential and Standardizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting challenges to English as a global language in the 21st century

Bruthiaux

2002

LPLP

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“…-necessarily leads to linguistic diversity. Bex (1993) argues that, even in the written language, genres such äs various types of fiction, personal letters, and legal documents contain differences at every level of linguistic description, making it difficult to speak of a linguistic Standard. Even to regard them äs varieties of the Standard is inappropriate, because 'if all written texts are in Standard English by virtue of being written, then the term loses descriptive power' Brought to you by | Michigan State Universit Authenticated Download Date | 6/28/15 3:51 AM (1993: 255).…”

Section: Standard English and Sociolinguisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Its potential usefulness in communication, language planning and language teaching is generally recognized, but occasionally one gets the impression that it is not a legitimate concept unless it can be defined in purely linguistic terms, without reference to language attitudes (e.g., Fairman 1989;Bex 1993). However, the concept of Standard English is inextricably bound up with that of linguistic prestige, äs sociolinguistic research has shown.…”

Section: Standard English and Sociolinguisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Standard English in the world

Preisler¹

1995

Multilingua - Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication

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This article argues that, even in a world of many different Englishes, the function of English äs an international lingua franca is a function of what Speakers of English have in common, not of their diversity. This view calls for a re-evaluation of concepts such äs 'common core' and 'Standard English', whose validity has been questioned in recent literature. 'Common core English' is defined äs those structural and cultural properties of the language which are shared by native Speakers regardless of geographical origin. 'Common core English' is not a variety in its own right, and is not to be confused with 'Standard English'. However, just äs the function of English äs an international lingua franca is based on the existence of a historically determined 'common core', the same function presupposes some degree of standardization -in terms of language policies -to ensure continued communicative effectiveness. In a discussion of standardization, we need to distinguish between two major, culturally distinct varieties, American and British English, which for historical reasons have an equal claim to the designation of Standard English. Sociolinguistic theory oifers a framework within which Standard English can be defined and described in terms of its inherent Variation. Rather than devaluing the concept with reference to its abuse in the Service of misguided prescriptivism, researchers ought to concentrate on an indepth analysis of positive and negative aspects of its cultural functions in society, and of its role in a culturally based language curriculum. Though problems regarding the definition and teaching of Standard English are different in Britain and the United States, such clarification would in both cases seem to constitute a precondition for bridging the gap between language policies and reality. In the teaching of English for cross-cultural purposes, Standard English -far from being an irrelevancy -is in fact the only realistic model, but to be effective äs Multilingua 14^4 (1995), 341-362 0167-8507/95/0014-0341 © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin Brought to you by | Michigan State Universit Authenticated Download Date | 6/28/15 3:51 AM 342 B. Preisleran international lingua franca it will have to function äs such at all levels of linguistic communication, including the level of pragmatics. This will involve systematic, culturally based comparison between American and British English äs well äs between the pragmatics of Standard English and the learner's mother tongue.

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“…Although the specifications of this core variety require further research, it would seem to bear resemblances to that variety of English that is often referred to äs 'Standard'. The existence of 'Standard English', however, is more a social myth than a linguistically describable reality (Bex, 1993), and the term can be positively misleading when used in the context of ELT, since it bolsters the mistaken opinion that language learners are acquiring a variety which expresses the meanings of a unified, monolithic culture. In fact, such a culture has no counterpart in reality.…”

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confidence: 99%

Notes and Discussion

1994

IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching

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This paper argues that we are still some way from developing a coherent theory of the ways in which culture and language interact and what implications such a theory might have for second language teaching. It is suggested that dominant theories of first and second language acquisition tend to treat language äs though it were a culturally homogeneous phenomenon, whereas any particular language is made up of a number of different varieties each one of which expresses its own cultural meanings. Because language learners are taught a 'core' variety of the target language, they are often unaware of the cultural differences, tending instead to see the 'core' language äs representative of a unified, monolithic culture. This is discussed in relation to the teaching of English within Europe, and suggestions are made äs to how language teachers can remedy the Situation by making pupils more aware of the cultural diversity of Britain. It is suggested that this would make the language classroom not only instrumental but also educative in function.

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Standards of English in Europe

Cited by 7 publications

References 1 publication

Predicting challenges to English as a global language in the 21st century

Predicting challenges to English as a global language in the 21st century

Standard English in the world

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