Chapter 8 Socially constructed images of Japanese English (original) (raw)

“ Japanese English ” : A Virtual Variety

2014

This paper attempts to raise concerns about the increasingly emphasized need to establish a Japanese variety of English in a society where English was, is, and will remain a foreign language to be taught at schools rather than a second language to be acquired in life. Three different proposals for ―Japanese English‖ that were propounded a few decades ago and have mostly been forgotten by now will be introduced and examined in terms of similarities to and differences from the Kachruvian framework of world Englishes, which has provided theoretical basis for existing varieties of English in formerly colonized territories. Through a critical analysis of the past attempts and failures to develop a Japanese variety of English, this paper will also suggest that the view of English as a ―universal‖ language that underlies the idea of developing and legitimatizing varieties of English only guarantees the diversity within the language, potentially undermining linguistic diversity in its broad...

Assessing the status of lesser-known varieties of English

English Today, 2009

ABSTRACTThe study of lesser-known varieties of English is opening up new research. Over the last twenty years or so, the role(s) and function(s) of English around the world have received a great deal of interest from linguists concerned with research on topics as diverse as sociolinguistics, variation and change, contact linguistics, language typology, genetic linguistics, etc. Kachru's work (The Inner Circle, the Outer Circle, and the Expanding Circle) inspired others and alternative models were put forward by McArthur (1987) and Görlach (1990). Though they differ on how the varieties should be classified (varying in criteria such as geographic distribution, usage and function, development history, etc.), they share the idea that varieties of English can be grouped in first- (or native-), second- and foreign-speaker groups.