Kachru's Three Circles of English

 

The US linguist Braj Kachru in 1985 AD has suggested that we think of the spread of English around the world as three concentric rings representing the different ways in which the language has acquired and is currently used. Although all countries fit neatly into this model, it has been widely regarded as helpful approach. This model is dynamic in nature

Kachru's has discussed the three distinct groups of users where English is used respectively in the circle as:

1. a native language (ENL); the primary language of the majority population of a country, such as in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
2. a second language (ESL); an additional language for intranational as well as international communication in communities that are multilingual , such as in Pakistan, India, Nigeria, and Singapore. Most of these Englishes developed as a result of imperial expansion that brought the language to various parts of the world.
3. a foreign language (EFL); used almost exclusively for international communication, such as in Japan.

The three circles of Kachru's are given below:

a.      The Inner Circle

It refers to the traditional bases of English where it is primary language. It includes the USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The Inner Circle refers to English as it originally took shape and was spread across the world in the first diaspora. In this transplantation of English, speakers from England carried the language to Australia, New Zealand and North America. The Inner Circle thus represents the traditional historical and sociolinguistic bases of English in regions where it is now used as a primary language: the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, anglophone Canada and South Africa, and some of the Caribbean territories. English is the native language or mother tongue of most people in these countries. The total number of English speakers in the inner circle is as high as 380 million, of whom some 120 million are outside the United States.

b.     The Outer or Extended Circle

It involves the earlier phases of the spread of English in non native settings where the language has become past of country’s chief institutions and plays an important role in multilingual setting. It includes Singapore, India, Malawi and over fiver other territories. The Outer Circle of English was produced by the second diaspora of English, which spread the language through imperial expansion by Great Britain in Asia and Africa. In these regions, English is not the native tongue, but serves as a useful lingua franca between ethnic and language groups. Higher education, the legislature and judiciary, national commerce and so on may all be carried out predominantly in English. This circle includes India, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, Tanzania, Kenya, non-Anglophone South Africa, the Philippines (colonized by the US) and others. The total number of English speakers in the outer circle is estimated to range from 150 million to 300 million. Singapore, while in the Outer Circle, may be drifting into the Inner Circle as English becomes more often used as a home language (see Languages of Singapore), much as Ireland did earlier. Countries where most people speak an English-based creole and retain standard English for official purposes, such as Jamaica and Papua New Guinea, are also in the Outer Circle.

 

c.      The Expanding or Extending Circe

It involves those nations which recognize the importance of English as an international language though they do not have a history of colonization by members of the inner circle nor have they given English any special administrative status. \This includes much of the rest of the world's population not categorized above, including territories such as China, Nepal, Russia, Japan, non-Anglophone Europe (especially the Netherlands and Nordic countries), South Korea, Egypt and China. The total in this expanding circle is the most difficult to estimate, especially because English may be employed for specific, limited purposes, usually in a business context. The estimates of these users range from 100 million to one billion.

Diagram of the Three circles of English

There are some Seventy five territories in which English has held or continuing to hold a special place as a members of either the inner or outer circles.

Adopted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Englishes