Hum 100

VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
for weeks (8-11)

English is the most widely-spoken language in the world, having the distinct status of
being the official language of multiple countries. While the English language is uniform
with major variations in spelling present between American English and British English,
the dialect or accent is usually the factor that enables one to distinguish the various
types of English out there. Like most languages, there are varieties of English too,
however, the difference is not as prominent as you may see in other languages.

From the thick Ugandan English to the French-themed Canadian English, the varieties
of accents present are both diverse and beautiful. Apart from accents, there is a
tendency for people to mix English with their local lingo to form a hybrid variety of
English language that is as colorful as the culture in that country.

During your senior high school, you must have encountered the term World Englishes
(WE) or varieties of English in class. WE actually stands for the localized varieties of
English as they are used or spoken in certain areas.

In the Asian context, the concept was introduced by Braj Kachru. The famous "Three
Concentric Circles of Asian Englishes" attributed to Kachru presents the three circles:
Inner Circle with ENL (English as a native language) member countries; the Outer Circle
with ESL (English as a second language) member countries; and the Expanding Circle
with EFL (English as a foreign language) member countries. Examples of countries
belonging to the Inner Circle are the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
Kachru's Outer Circle is comprised of Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and
Pakistan, among others while the Expanding Circle is composed of countries such as
China, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand. Aside from the fact that the Outer and Expanding
Circles are ESL- and EFL-speaking, respectively' they have been colonized by some
member countries in the Inner Circle making the varieties they speak as post-colonial.

It is then to be understood that people have different linguistic and cultural backgrounds
making intercultural communication a significant variable in communication.

According to Bautista and Gonzalez (2006), the structural characteristics of these new
varieties differ. This is brought about by the mother tongue or home languages of those
who learn or acquire English. And even in terms of social features, differences can also
be highlighted in that there is a continuum of basilectal, mesolectal, and acrolectal
varieties of English within the same speech community. The acrolect then comes
closest to the standard while the basilect digresses thoroughly from it and comes
closest to the pidgin. Mesolect or the middle variety is midway between the acrolect and
basilect. Bautista and Gonzalez use the term edulects for these varieties resulting from
certain types of education ascertained by social class but are conveyed or transferred
by the kind of instruction of the school system especially for those coming from higher-
income families and/or better educated classes.
 
As regards structural variation, Kachru and Nelson (2006) claim that these varieties of
English are influenced by the local language(s) in various areas of their grammars and
exhibit specific phonological, lexical, syntactic, and discoursal characteristics (p. 35).
For instance, in terms of stress and rhythm, Outer and Expanding Circle varieties
observe syllable-timed rhythm rather than stress-timed rhythm. Nigerians say 'success
for suc'cess and Indians and Nigerians say recog'nize for 'recognize. Moreover,
speakers from the Outer and Expanding Circles do not make any changes in their
pronunciation to make a distinction between nouns and verbs in pairs which Inner Circle
countries observe as in the case of 'import and im 'port and do not utilize contrastive
stress for focusing (Bamgbose, 1992 & Gumperz, 1982a, 1982b, as cited in
Kachru & Nelson, 2006). As regards sounds, Outer and Expanding Circles do not
observe initial aspiration of voiceless plosives such as p, t, k and these are often
perceived by Inner Circle countries as b, d, g. Some speakers of Expanding Circle
varieties, as in the case of Japanese speakers, do not properly distinguish between r
and l.

According to Pope (1976, as cited in Kachru & Nelson, in the case of syntactic
features, question-answering systems differ between Inner and Outer-Expanding
Circles. While the former observes the positive-negative system where the answer
follows the polarity of the question (i.e., If the question is in the positive, the answer
confirming the assumption of the questioner is in the positive, and the answer
disconfirming the assumption is in the negative. If, however, the question is in the
negative, the answer confirming the assumption of the questioner is in the negative as
well, while the answer disconfirming the assumption of the questioner is in the positive),
the latter observes the agreement disagreement system which poses difficulty to
speakers who follow the positive-negative system particularly in interpreting the yes or
no of the response unless it is followed by a clarification (i.e., Yes, I think you're right;
No, that's not so) (p. 45).

With respect to lexicon, vocabulary words peculiar only to some English varieties in
Southeast Asia can be noted as seen in the following examples (pp. 189-190):

1. Singapore English: actsy'show off,' missy 'nurse,' chop 'rubber stamp,' Marina kids
'youngsters who spend their leisure time at or around Marina Square, a shopping
centre'graduate mothers 'graduate (well-educated) married women, encouraged to
have more children and accorded certain privileges in Singapore,' as compared to
non-graduate mothers (Pakir, 1992, as cited in Kachru & Nelson, 2006);

2. Philippine English: deep 'puristic or hard to understand' as an attribute of language,

stick 'cigarette,' high blood 'tense or upset,' blow out 'treating someone with a snack
or meal,' motel 'a hotel used for pre-marital or extramarital affairs,' manualize 'to
prepare manuals,' go ahead 'leave before others with host's permission,' studentry
'student body,' Amboy 'a Filipino perceived to be too pro-American,' promdi 'from
 the province,' behest loan 'unguaranteed bank loan given to presidential cronies,'
pulot boy 'boy who picks up tennis balls in a game,' and balikbayan box 'box where
Filipinos returning from abroad put all their shopping,' among others (Bautista,
1997, as cited in Kachru & Nelson, 2006); and 

When Bautista's monograph on Defining Standard Philippine English: Its Status and
Grammatical Features came out in 2000, she answered the usual questions asked
about Philippine English: Is there a Standard Philippine English? and When does an
error become a feature of Philippine English? She stressed that just like any other new
variety of English (Indian English, Singaporean English and Nigerian English),
Philippine English is legitimate, having its own grammatical, lexical, and syntactic
features. Gonzalez (1985, as cited in Bautista, 2000) identified the following lexical
features in Philippine English (p. 76):

 1. Preference for specific words and collocations specifically shall, could, such,
wherein, of (to signal possession);
2. Unusual words and collocations, specific terms, and word combinations which may
have been originally confused with other collocations but which, because of frequent
use, have become fixed combinations in their own right (e.g., results to instead of
results in); and
 3. Unusual prepositional usage, including omission of prepositions in two-word verbs,
addition of prepositions to verb phrases, local use of different prepositions in noun
phrases following certain verbs or adjectives.

 The syntactic features identified include the following (pp. 76—77):

 
1.  Word-order features, consisting of the placement of the time adverb before the
place adverb, placement of the adverb between verb and object, placement of
the adverb between noun and prepositional phrase, placement of the indirect
object introduced by to between verb and direct object, other unusual adverb
placements;
2.  Use of articles, including absence of the definite article, unusual use of the
definite articles, absence of the indefinite article;

3. Noun sub-categorization, consisting of the non-pluralization of count nouns, the

reclassification of General American English (GAE), mass nouns as count nouns,
mass noun pluralization, pluralization of adjectival nouns in compounds;
4.  Pronoun-antecedent incongruence;
5.  Subject-predicate incongruence;
6.  Reclassification of GAE transitive verbs as intransitive verbs; and
7.  Tense-aspect usage consisting of unusual use of verb forms and tenses, use of
the perfect tense where the simple past tense or even present perfect tense is
called for in GAE, lack of tense sequence.
As for the question "When does an error become a feature of Philippine English?"
Gonzalez (1985) has this to say:

 When do these errors cease to be errors and become part of the standard? If enough
educated elites in the society 'commit' these errors, then these errors in effect have
been accepted by the society as the standard (p. 189).

 The foregoing discussion only shows how dynamic English is. These are only some of
the essential features of some varieties of English which should be given full attention
by users coming from different cultures. From the variety of English used by the native
speakers such as British, Americans, Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders,
English has evolved into post-colonial varieties and should not be mistaken as errors
most especially if they have become the standard in the speech community and have
been codified. As the poet Gemino Abad (1997, p. 8) aptly put it: "English is ours. We
have colonized it too."

 You have to be aware of and recognize intercultural communication as you need to be

sensitive to the people around you who belong to different cultural heritages and have
their own linguistic identity. When you encounter them, you will be able to avoid
misunderstanding, avoid communication breakdown, and overcome language barriers
with less difficulty since you are exposed to their own language features. This way, you
will be able to enhance your personal and social interaction.

LANGUAGE REGISTERS/REGISTERS OF ENGLISH

Many teacher and parents today lament a lack of formality in student language,
especially writing. Ask any educator about the use of so-called "texting language" in
student writing, and you will likely see eye rolls, a pained look on their face, hear a sigh
or complaint about the decline in language.
What students may not understand, however, is language register — different language
and levels of formality are used in different situations and scenarios. While most people
have a working understanding of the concept, students may need to be taught or
reminded that different scenarios call for different language.
Perhaps the first considerations for students, when speaking or writing, are audience,
topic, purpose and location. Many students need to be explicitly taught about these
ideas and how to adjust their language use based on these considerations. When
working with English learners, explicit instruction in vocabulary and syntax is important.
When it comes to language variation, the terms genre, register, and style are often
encountered. David Crystal (2008) defines register as "a variety of language defined
according to its use in social situations e.g. a register of scientific, religious, formal
English. (p. 409)." He added: "In Hallidayan linguistics, the term is seen as specifically
opposed to varieties of language defined according to the characteristics of the users
(viz. their regional or class dialect), and is given a sub classification into field, mode and
manner of discourse (p. 409).
Crystal (1964) further discusses style and register:
Language being the product of interaction among the members of society, must
ultimately be studied according to the social context in which it is found. Within a
language, there are variations in style and register, which differentiate and formally
characterize distinct social situations. Style refers to the degree of formality attached to
particular interpersonal social situation which is reflected by differences in language—
for example, the kind of language used while talking to a friend will differ noticeably from
that used in addressing a superior, in otherwise the same situation. Register refers to a
kind of language whose forms are of a definable social situation, regardless of the
status of the participants—thus one finds the register of legal language, liturgical
language, and so on (p. 149).
It is to be noted that genre and register overlap and are sometimes used
interchangeably. According to Lee (2001), whereas genre is associated more with the
organization of culture, register is associated with the organization of situation. To this
end, register is understood as the context-specific variety of language to which the field-
mode-tenor framework is important.
To give a concrete example, with the genre of recipe, field may be analyzed in terms of
the social setting and the communicative purpose in which the text is produced. Tenor
may be described in terms of the role/s required of the writers and readers including the
cultural values shared by both. Mode could be explained in light of the knowledge of
other texts required of speakers/listeners and writers/readers as regards the genre
including the formal text features.
Language register then refers to the formality of language which one speaks. Different
registers are used in different situations. It is through register that you are able to
determine the kind of lexicon or vocabulary to use as well as the kind of structure to be
used. Even in writing, you may use a formal or an informal register. In some instances,
even a neutral language register is identified.
The formal register then is used in formal speaking and writing situations. In a state of
the nation address classified as a formal communicative situation, the speech is usually
delivered using a highly-polished language, read from a manuscript. This is certainly
allowed since the President occupying the highest position in the country could not
afford to make mistakes. On the contrary, a priest delivering his homily, more often than
not, speaks extemporaneously and uses ordinary language. This is so since the
audience is composed of various audiences coming from different walks of life. The
priest should be able to convey his spiritual message to the listeners without difficulty of
comprehension on their part. The priest should also be able to touch the very core of
the listeners' hearts so that they live the preaching they hear.
The formal register is likewise appropriate for use in professional writing like project
proposals, position papers, and business letters as in the case of writing to a superior or
to a head of a certain organization. It is more impersonal, objective, and factual.
Informal register, which is more casual in tone, is appropriate for people with whom you
have established a more personal relationship as in the case of friends and relatives.
This type of writing may sometimes be emotional as an intimate relationship exists
between the speaker and listener or writer and reader.
Earlier in the discussion, it was mentioned that register refers to the kind of language
whereby the forms used define the social situation, notwithstanding the status of the
interlocutors. Thus, legalese or legal language is highly characterized by archaic
expressions, technical jargon intrinsic only to the community of legal professionals,
embedded structures, nominalizations, passive voice, as well as long, kilometric
sentences which are not the features of textese or language of texts. Conversely, the
features of SMS language or textese language, are exactly the opposite— use of
abbreviations, acronyms, slang words, and expressions. This is so since messages
used to be limited to a certain number of characters/spaces which made texting much
easier and quicker. However, misinterpretation and/or miscommunication in text
messaging may arise if vocabulary and knowledge of context are limited. Hence, extra
care should be practiced when comprehending text messages.
Intercultural communication plays an important role in achieving effective
communication.
There are different varieties of English spoken by countries colonized by Britain, the US,
Canada, and Australia: Singapore English, Malaysian English, Philippine English, and
Thai English, among others. These varieties have their own grammatical, lexical, and
syntactic features and should not be considered as errors.
Language has formal and informal registers. These registers have forms which define
the social situation.
The kind of register to be used affects the way one speaks and writes.
References:
Marilu Rañosa Madrunio, and Isabel Pefianco Martin. Purposive Communication Using English in
Multilingual Contexts, C & E Publishing, Inc, 2018.
Marikit Tara A. Uychoco, Maria Lorena Santos. Communication for Society Purposive Communication,
Rex Bookstore Inc. 2018
Fortunato Gupit Jr, Ph.D. Elements of Public Speaking, Rex Bookstore, Inc, 2011
Rafaela Hernandez Diaz. Speech and Oral Communication, Rex Bookstore, Inc, 2016