This is a 10 minute excerpt from a lecture given by David Crystal, world renowned expert on world Englishes. In the video, he explains what happens when languages come into contact (e.g. through empire-building, migration, commerce and globalization). He describes how, just as English has taken words from other languages and made them its own, other languages have incorporated English words into their lexicons while maintaining their own grammatical integrity. This is a useful orientation for teachers who want to understand the origins of pidgins, creoles and varieties of English, and/or the reflexive relationship between language and culture.
This website was prepared by Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab and provides a number of helpful resources pertaining to the development and use of World Englishes. Most notable amongst its resources is its Regional Examples page which demonstrates differences in grammar and pronunciation by comparing British, American, South African and Asian Englishes. Additionally there are sections on Classroom Applications and Activities and well as suggested readings that shed light on the functions of English in other regions (e.g. Iran, South Pacific, the Middle East, Turkey, Malaysia), on digital English, and on linguistic imperialism. These resources will assist teachers to understand the socio-linguistic context of the varieties of English that their students bring to class.
This academic article from the City University of New York written by Sarah Vogel and Ofelia Garcia presents the evolution of the debate associated with translanguaging within language education and academia. The authors explain the historical colonial perspective that privileged monolingual dominant language speakers and maintained linguistic hierarchies. They then describe the theoretical evolution which demonstrated the value of leveraging the learners' prior linguistic learning (from their L1) to scaffold and enhance their engagement and comprehension of complex content in the target language. The authors do not shy away from addressing the perceived extra demand upon teachers that is required to use translanguaging in the classroom.
This website was created by the School of Literature, Media and Communication at Georgia Tech. They describe their mission as responding to the “changing roles and functions of English globally” by collecting physical and digital resources to support the necessary change in strategies for English language pedagogy. The site contains links to articles and presentations as well as teaching reflections. It explains the role of colonialism and presents a multimodal glossary of related terms. Furthermore it includes interviews with scholars and teachers on the topic of world Englishes.
