Linguistic research on English development in Expanding Circles

After equipping the basic linguistic knowledge of World Englishes, you are invited to have an in-depth understanding of how linguists make use of Kachru’s three concentric model to analyze the performance and codification of non-native English model. Basically, the difference between Outer Circle English and Expanding Circle English lies on the local and official attitudes and documentation of their own varieties.

Two researches done on expanding circle English speakers’ attitude 

In an attempt to investigate the progress of English development, I would like to share two researches done on perceptions and attitudes towards inner circle varieties of English (Evans 2010) and expanding circle varieties of English (Kirkpatrick 2008) respectively.

Evans (2010) distributed an open-ended questionnaire to 247 students from Dalian University of Technology about their perceptions over Inner Circle English. Processing different responses from interviewees, Evans observed that the dichotomy of language properties between American and British English exists in the minds of Chinese adolescents.

British English is perceived as the standard model for non-native speakers to imitate with their supremacy over tradition and political status while American English is recognized as the language with modernity, fashion and casualness. Despite the differentiations of linguistic features and functions between two varieties, 240 out of 247 respondents (98 %) still found inner circle English as the source of declaring superior social status.

Kirkpatrick (2008) invited 37 Singaporean students and 35 Australian students to listen and respond to the conversations in English displaying Hong Kong pronunciation of Hong Kong students. English spoken by the Hong Kong students is mainly influenced by their mother tongue, Cantonese.

The aim of this research is to analyze the international intelligibility and other counterparts’ attitudes towards Hong Kong English. Intelligibility in this research refers to the understanding of Hong Kong accent and local vocabularies innovated. 466 out of 576 responses (81%) are made on the positive attitude and high intelligibility of Hong Kong English.

Source of photo:
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/12/glob-ish.html


References:

Evans, B.E. (2010). Chinese perception of Inner Circle varieties of English. World Englishes, Vol. 29 (2), pp.270-280.

Kirkpatrick, A., Deterding, D., and Wong, J. (2008). The International intelligibility of Hong Kong English. World Englishes, Vol. 27 (3/4), pp.359-377.