LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 15:6 June 2015
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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English as a Lingua Franca:
Creating a ‘Model’ Out of a ‘Muddle’?

Anindya Syam Choudhury, Ph.D., PGCTE, PGDTE,
CertTESOL (Trinity, London)

Abstract

In the context of the stupendous growth of English the world over in recent times, and the important role that it is now playing among speakers of English from diverse first-language backgrounds, some academic researchers are now advocating the teaching of English as Lingua Franca (ELF). However, the very notion of ELF, with all its contradictions, comes across as a muddled one, out of which the creation of a model for the English language classroom at this point of time seems a remote possibility. This article discusses this and several other crucial issues related to ELF, and it took its present shape as a result of a series of discussions that I had with several colleagues, the prime among them being Prof Z N Patil, who recently retired from the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India.

Keywords: English as a Lingua Franca, World Englishes, Expanding Circle, Model, Variety.

World Englishes

The spread and growth of English, “the native language of a relatively small island nation”, across the world to become “the most widely taught, read, and spoken language that the world has ever known” (Kachru and Nelson, 2001: 9), has been nothing short of a miracle, setting in motion processes leading to the emergence of new varieties of English in different sociolinguistic contexts, now fashionably called ‘World Englishes’ (WEs), and turning topsy-turvy several hitherto sacrosanct notions in English Language Teaching (ELT) like, for instance, the notions of the standard and the model in the language classroom.

Numerous attempts have been made to systematise the complex picture arising out of this diffusion, resulting in the development of several models of Englishes like the ENL-ESL-EFL model developed by Quirk et al. (1972), the Three Circles model of Kachru (1985), the ‘wheel model’ of Tom McArthur (1987) and Görlach’s model (1988). Of these, the Three Circles model of Kachru has been an epoch-making one, distinguishing between the inner circle (e.g. the UK and the USA), the outer circle (e.g. India and Singapore) and the expanding circle (e.g. Japan and France).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Anindya Syam Choudhury
Ph.D., PGCTE, PGDTE (EFL University, Hyd.), CertTESOL (Trinity College London)
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Assam University
Silchar 788011
Assam
India
anindyasyam@yahoo.com
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