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

Global Language and it's Effects

Global Language:

A globallanguage is one that is spoken internationally and learned and spoken by numerous people as a second language. A world language is characterized not only by the total number of speakers (native and second language speakers) but also by geographical distribution and its use in international organizations and diplomatic relations.

The most widely spoken (and likely the fastest spreading) world language today is English, with over 1.1 billion native and second language users worldwide.

Properties of Global Language:

• numerous speakers
• a substantial fraction of non-native speakers (function as lingua franca)
• official status in several countries
• use across several regions in the world
• a linguistic community not defined strictly along ethnic lines (multiethnic, pluricentric language)
• one or more standard registers which are widely taught as a foreign language
• association with linguistic prestige
• use in international trade relations
• use in international organizations
• use in the academic community
• significant body of literature

Global language being internationally accepted has got the position of “lingua franca” among the linguistically mixed communities, countries as a whole world. It has helped the countries to develop the international trades and business. A conversation over the internet between academic physicists in Sweden, Italy and India is at present practicable only if a common language is available. Likewise, a situation where Japanese company director arranges to meet German and Saudi Arabia contracts in a Singapore hotel to plan a multi- national deal would not be impossible if each are plugged into 3-way translation support system. So, both these examples provide the circumstances needed for a global language to grow. There is no nation which now does not have some level of accessibility using telephone, radio, television and many more and to upgrade such communication access, the need of global language is increasing day by day. Even the establishments of international organizations like UN and it’s branches lead to increment in the use of global language. The political affairs and meetings are made successes among the different countries with the help of common language i.e. global language. 

a.  Positive Effect of Global Language

Using English as an global language has some benefits in people lives.

Over the last decades English has played an important role around the world as common language for economic, education, scientific and entertainment exchange between nations and in particular between people. Firstly, the major positive effect is global communication due to the widespread coverage recognized and understand by people everywhere. One example of how English has helped to improve communication in the world is that it was implemented in aviation field after the second world war, when the International Aviation organization agreed with the objective of tragic control safety. This is important because having one common worldwide language is in a very real sense the final safety net. English is the widespread language in education due to the great influence of English in several fields where communication is the key in order to improve development and knowledge.

Some other Positive Results of Global language:

1.English language opens doors in terms of global communications and business because this language has become a powerful tool in terms of improving productivity and driving growth where it is used.

2. It facilitates the exchange of information from one part of the world the other with ease. 3. It has enhanced the peace and diplomatic treaties between many countries.

4. It has also facilitated the mobility of people both in their physical terms and also electronically. Sufficient statistics indicate that most trade is done electronically and this is greatly facilitated by English as a global language. This has additionally made the world to be known as a global village due to the enhancement of the linguistic mixing of people.

5.  It has contributed to the development and increase in the number of international organizations like UNESCO and WHO among others. 

b. Negative Effect of the Global Language:

Despite the merits however, English has its own shortcomings.

1.     Extinction of Minor language and cause of Class Discrimination

English is referred to as a "killer language", which means it causes the extinction of minor languages.  Global language has led to the extinction of minor languages within a particular country. Many languages have died due to the extensive use of English by citizens and also emergence of another jargon language that is only understood by a certain clique of people. This is seen to create more confusion than understanding that a global language should be. A global language might cultivate an elite class with native speakers, who take advantage of the possibility to think and work quickly in their mother-tongue. If this was the case they might manipulate it to their advantage at the expense of those who has another language as their mother-tongue and in this way create a linguistic gap between people. Hence, global language not only causes the extinction of minor language and also causes class discrimination.

2.     Less knowledge about the vocabulary has mislead non-native speakers to express their words

One of the "risks" having only one language is that the chosen language may become very technical and "impoverished" for non-native speakers, e.g. the Eskimos, who have several words for snow, because they need it. They would probably not be able to express themselves properly if they only had one word for snow. And Swedish people would not be able to use the word "lagom", a word which says a lot about the Swedish society and people. Many of the people have expressed a worry that global language has caused them to feel "poor" when it comes to expressing feelings and emotions in a language that is not their mother-tongue, that they would not know enough words to be able to really express how and what they feel.

3.     Standards - which standard should be used? Strict or loose standards?

English is the mother-tongue of millions of people in different parts of the world. If English were to become a global language, which standard of the language would be the global standard? Perhaps the standards would become looser. Standard English is the English that is usually used in print. It is also the English which is normally taught in school and to non-native speakers learning English. This is also the standard that is spoken among educated people and used for news broadcasts. Historically, the British Standard developed from the south-east part of England? (the area around London). These dialects were spoken in court, used in law and by the government. Standard English has a widely accepted grammar, and an accent that comes with this standard, the British English accent, also known as the "Oxford English", is the accent that is taught is schools. Furthermore this English has a major cultural influence, especially on the languages in the former Commonwealth countries, e.g. South Africa, Australia, and India as well as the European Union.

We often hear about "American-English", "South African-English" or other "Englishes", but no such terms really exist. The different types of English are based on the British English but have developed grammatical and vocabulary differences because of influence and "loanwords" from other languages.

Inversely, the global language has created some dangers or threats around the world and some of them are discussed below:

a.      Linguistic Power

It is possible that people who speak a global language as a mother tongue automatically will be in a position of power compared with those who have to learn as an second or foreign language. For example, scientists who write up their research in languages other than English will have their work ignored by the international community.

b.     Linguistic Complacency

There is a possibility that a global language may make people lazy about learning other languages or reduce their opportunities to do so. This type of altitude has brough some disadvantages to them whereas a foreign person can speak two languages. But these days, there are clear signs of growing awareness withing English speaking communities of the need to break away from the traditional monolingual bias. Like, Australian schools now teach Japanese language as the first foreign language.

c.      Linguistic death

Importance for global language might lead to discrimination of other languages. Losing a language is equal to losing identity. The language is much more than just a real for communication. Due to the dominant language, minority language may be removed from the media, education system and may disappear forever. For example: we can see some movements for language like rights to protect minority languages like French, etc. In Nepal, we can also see the movement of Janjati people to protect their language and culture.

Thus, we can conclude that even though there are many positive aspects of having a global language but it also has some negative aspects which must be solved.

Could anything stop a global language?

Written by-Cheena Magar

There were for the most part people who were pleased that the report had engaged the central issue of global community, but they took us to task for not going on – in as they thought in a logical way- to call for world language. They could not see how the global neighbourhood, the global community, which they acknowledge had come into being, could function  effectively without a world language. A neighbourhood that can only talk in the tongues of many was not a Neighbourhood that was likely to be cohesive or, even cooperative.. and they were right in one respect; but they were wrong in the sense that we have a world language.

Strong political statement of this kind immediately prompt the question ‘could anything stop a language, once it achieve a global status?’ The short answer must be ‘YES’. If language dominance is a matter of political and especially economic influence, then a revolution in the balance of global power could have consequences for the choice of global language. There is no shortage of books- chiefly within the genre of science fiction- which foresee a future in which, following some cataclysmic scenario, the universal language is Chinese, Arabic or even some Alien tongue. But end up with such a scenario, the revolution would indeed have to be cataclysmic, and it is difficult to speculate sensibly about what this might be. Smaller- scal revolution in the world order would be unlikely to have much effect, given that- as we shall see in later chapter- English is now so widely established that it can no longer be thought of as ‘owned’ by any single nation.

A rather more plausible scenario is that an alternative method of communication could emerge which would eliminate method of global language. This way people communicate using their own language with a computer translating. In 20-50 years the speed and accuracy of these machines will be improved, but it will take longer because they become globally widespread and economically accessible. During this period of time the position of English as a global language is going to become stronger and stronger.