World Englishes

Silvia C. Noguerón

The rapid spread of English around the world is a topic that prompts discussions related to the effects of globalization, increased use of communication technologies, cultural imperialism, and language teaching and learning. Population growth trends indicate that users of English as a second or a foreign language outnumber those who acquired it as a mother tongue. In response to this scenario, issues arise involving the ownership of the English language, the need for standards, better assessment methods, and intelligibility. Amidst these discussions in the field, the concept of world Englishes was coined in the mid-1980s as an approach to describe, analyze, and explain the spread and use of the language in diverse contexts. British linguist Kingsley Bolton, former president of the International Association for World Englishes, explains that the concept has three possible meanings. The first one refers to all of the existing approaches to the study of English The ...

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