Chapter 2 â Extra activity 2
Chapter 2 – Extra activity 2 The following activity can be used as an introductory or closing task, and is designed to complement the content of Chapter 2 in Galloway and Rose’s (2015) book Introducing Global Englishes (Oxon., UK: Routledge).
Variation in English Read the following quotes taken from McArthur (1998, p. xiii): o ‘English spoken; American understood’ (The Daily Chronicle, London, 10 June 1908). o ‘English and French spoken; Australian understood’ (a notice in Turkey, quoted in O’Hogue’s Trooper Bluegum at The Dardanelles, London, 1916). These comments were made in the early years of the twentieth century, a time marked by the worldwide spread not only of English but also of an increasingly prestigious ‘standard’ English. As a result, many people ‘were sensitive to any perceived failure – individual or collective – to live up to that standard’ (McArthur, 1998, p. xiii). Discussion questions Reflect on the speech behaviour in a context you are familiar with. 1. Do people speak with different dialects and accents? 2. Do people speak noticeably differently in different areas? Identify sounds or patterns in a specific dialect. 3. Draw a map of a country or region you are familiar with in the box below and circle any distinct dialectal regions. a. Are any of those you have identified above regarded as prestigious? b. Has there been any standardization movement in your own language? c. Do you think prestige and prejudice lead to language change in anyway? d. What about English in your context? Do people strive to live up to the ‘standard’? How is variation from the ‘standard’ perceived?
Variation in English Read the following quotes taken from McArthur (1998, p. xiii): o ‘English spoken; American understood’ (The Daily Chronicle, London, 10 June 1908). o ‘English and French spoken; Australian understood’ (a notice in Turkey, quoted in O’Hogue’s Trooper Bluegum at The Dardanelles, London, 1916). These comments were made in the early years of the twentieth century, a time marked by the worldwide spread not only of English but also of an increasingly prestigious ‘standard’ English. As a result, many people ‘were sensitive to any perceived failure – individual or collective – to live up to that standard’ (McArthur, 1998, p. xiii). Discussion questions Reflect on the speech behaviour in a context you are familiar with. 1. Do people speak with different dialects and accents? 2. Do people speak noticeably differently in different areas? Identify sounds or patterns in a specific dialect. 3. Draw a map of a country or region you are familiar with in the box below and circle any distinct dialectal regions. a. Are any of those you have identified above regarded as prestigious? b. Has there been any standardization movement in your own language? c. Do you think prestige and prejudice lead to language change in anyway? d. What about English in your context? Do people strive to live up to the ‘standard’? How is variation from the ‘standard’ perceived?
