Varieties of English: their nature and how to go about them by Laura Rupp
Learn about varieties of English with Laura Rupp, founder of the Centre for Global English at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
To successfully speak English in today’s world is much more than ‘learning how to speak Standard English’ or ‘to speak like a native speaker’. Successful English speakers embrace the occurrence of varieties of English, from Standard English to African American English to Indian English. It’s about speaking English that is understandable to other English speakers and understanding and appreciating forms of English that are different from yours.
Standard English and language ideology
If you have ever taken an English language class, then you have most likely encountered the most widely known form of English: Standard English. As its name suggests, it is the standardised version of English in England. Standard English is used in almost all areas of public life such as the education system, the media, in court, or by the government. This is why knowing Standard English can be useful.
Before Standard English existed, different forms of English were spoken in different regions of England. Such regional language forms are known as dialects. Standard English arose from a dialect in the southeast of England. This dialect developed into ‘Standard English’ when London became the capital of England, in the fourteenth century. The accent that is most associated with Standard English has traditionally been the Received Pronunciation (RP) accent, which is sometimes called ‘The Queen’s English’.
Because of the areas in which Standard English is used, and because it occurs in official writing, language ideologies (beliefs about language) persist that Standard English is the most correct, sophisticated or beautiful form of English. However, it is important to bear in mind that this is not true and that Standard English only emerged for socio-political reasons. Strictly speaking, Standard English is still an English dialect amongst other English dialects.
The nature of other varieties of English
Next to regional dialects of English, other forms of English exist. These are frequently referred to as varieties of English. English has travelled to almost every corner of the world through English colonies, globalisation and modern technologies. These processes have resulted in the creation of many different varieties of English, such as American English, Australian English, Ghanaian English, and Japanese English.
Some of these varieties have created their own standardised versions, for example, Standard American English. These standardised versions may have different pronunciations, spellings and grammatical rules than Standard (English) English; e.g. English colour vs American color. Because these rules are written up in grammars and dictionaries, the other standardised versions of English are accepted as ‘separate varieties of English in their own right’. Another example of this is (White) Australian English.
However, the remainder of English varieties have often been seen as ‘English with errors’, inadequate and deprived of the qualities that Standard English has. Accordingly, people speaking these English varieties may be assigned negative attributes such as ‘uneducated’. They may even be discriminated against or disbelieved in court because ‘they don’t speak English’. The renowned linguist John Baugh, who has termed such practices ‘linguistic profiling’, vehemently argued against them. He has shown that varieties of English like African American English each have their own regular linguistic rule system.
From English to Englishes
It’s estimated that there are currently around 1.8 billion English speakers. A noteworthy fact is that there are more non-native speakers of English than native speakers, they outnumber them by approximately 5:1. At present, therefore, linguists no longer speak of the English language in the singular, but have adapted the plural term, Englishes. The linguist Braj Kachru (1992: 357) put it in this way: The result of [the language’s global spread] is that formally and functionally, English now has a multicultural identity. The term ‘English’ does not capture the social reality, the term ‘Englishes’ does.
The term ‘Englishes’ encapsulates that the English-speaking world is composed of many different versions of English that have their unique characteristics. The eminent Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe said: “I feel that the English language will be able to carry the weight of my African experience. But it will have to be a new English, still in full communion with its ancestral home but altered to suit its new African surroundings”.
The Englishes show influences from local languages spoken, which show up in vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar. For example, speakers of English in Uganda literally translate the words from Luganda into English (e.g. to eat money = to misuse money) or use English words in a different meaning (e.g. extend = to move up). A number of these words have officially been recognised and included in the Oxford English Dictionary.
How to go about variation in English: what can you do?
In a world where many people use English, you are likely to encounter someone who speaks a different English than you do. The key factor for successful communication in English is intelligibility, regardless of one’s pronunciation. Intelligibility means the quality of being understood in a language, and it is dependent on multiple factors in speech.
One such factor is that there are certain pronunciation features that are key to ensuring mutual understanding. For example, when speaking English, it is important that you distinguish between long and short vowels as in ‘ship’ and ‘sheep’. While pronouncing these vowels in the same way can sometimes be cleared up through context, it may cause miscommunication or ambiguity in other cases, such as in this example: “From my bedroom window I can see the ship/sheep.” Other pronunciation features have been found to not negatively impact intelligibility, such as pronouncing the ‘th-sound’ as /t/ or /f/.
Communication is a two-way interaction. Therefore, it is not only essential that we try to speak English that is intelligible to other speakers of English but also that vice versa, as a listener in a conversation, we take an interest and try to comprehend the way in which our conversational partner speaks English. For example, if we are aware that in Japanese, consonant sounds are always followed by a vowel sound, we can better understand that in Japanese English, ‘su-pee-do’ means ‘speed’.
Some important things to know about the worldwide use of English
1) Despite an increasing acceptance of linguistic diversity in English, it is, unfortunately, a fact of life that speakers of non-standard English varieties continue to be assessed based on their speech in harmful ways. In subtle manners, language may shape our social reality in ways we don’t consciously realise. Don’t let it happen to you! Be prepared, both for it to happen and to fight it. Next to identifying pronunciation features that impact intelligibility, linguists have also identified features that may potentially affect the way a speaker is perceived (their credibility). You may want to take note of these: one example is clear l.
2) To be able to speak English empowers. English is used as a lingua franca–a bridge language between speakers of different languages. Further, English may be the key to economic opportunities and social advancement. However, one could also argue that the English language reinforces social inequality. We should not forget that the majority of the world’s population does not have access to (good) English education. Moreover, in the past, the English language has been used as an instrument of power to subdue peoples. Some would go so far to say that colonial imperialism has given way to linguistic imperialism. It is good to realise that people may speak English differently because they had different experiences than you.
3) In many regions, the arrival of English has resulted in the dying out of local languages. Some were suppressed during English colonisation. For example, in Australia, from the 250 indigenous languages that existed prior to colonisation, only around 60 languages are still alive and being spoken as a first language. Another reason why people may want to give up their native language is because English is a gateway and represents modernity – but is this really a voluntary choice? The sad phenomenon of language death reveals the shadows that English has thrown upon other languages. Since language carries culture, language extinction poses the threat of losing centuries-old history and knowledge, and stripping groups of people of their cultural identities. Therefore, please value the other languages that you speak next to English!
Why I love English language diversity
English is more than just a tool for communication; it offers a window onto many diverse identities. The world’s varieties of English are united not by their similarities, but by their differences, which reflect rich cultural tapestries and linguistic landscapes. Through the unique characteristics of English varieties—whether in pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary—we can learn about other languages and cultures. Let us therefore cherish, appreciate and celebrate diversity in English!
