LINGUIST List 13.3275

Wed Dec 11 2002

Review: Dialectology: Goerlach (2002)

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  • E Winkler, G�rlach (2002), Still More Englishes

    Message 1: G�rlach (2002), Still More Englishes

     Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 15:54:01 +0000
    From: E Winkler <vulturechickearthlink.net>
    Subject: G�rlach (2002), Still More Englishes


    G�rlach, Manfred. (2002) Still More Englishes. Amsterdam: Benjamins. hardback ISBN 1 58811 263 2 (US); 90 272 4887 7 (Eur). xii + 240 pps.

    Book Announcement on Linguist: http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=3902

    Elizabeth Grace Winkler, University of Arizona.

    1. A description of the book's purpose and content:

    Global Englishes is the fourth book in a series dedicated to the investigation of lesser-known varieties of English used throughout the world as well as the development of international varieties of English used for global communication.

    G�rlach begins the text with a discussion of why this topic has consumed him for twenty-five years and what are the issues that make its study problematic including, but not limited to, what varieties can be considered English and the institutional status of those varieties in the nations in which they are spoken. He takes issue as well with the many ways of classifying the different varieties of English pointing out the shortcomings of many of the traditional approaches. Although it is not explicitly stated, there really are two thrusts to his research: the study of individual varieties of English and the study of the globalization of English as the world's lingua franca.

    In the opening chapter, G�rlach also discusses the reasons why we have no really solid statistics on the number of English speakers worldwide. Not only is it problematic to determine which varieties are to be considered English, but who to count as an English speaker in the case of people acquiring English as an additional language. He fears that the figures of competency for this group are grossly inflated. Both of these concerns reflect an even more significant issue: 'There is as yet no objective method for determining a person's status as a speaker of English' (p. 5). Nevertheless, he does endeavor to provide some very tentative numbers and details how he arrives at the statistics he provides.

    In the second chapter, ''The problem of authentic language,'' G�rlach tackles the methodological problems that have plagued, and continue to plague, the collection of the range of bona fide varieties in a community including: problems with orthographic representations, the mixing with English with other codes, and the lack of coverage of situational and stylistic variation among speakers. He discusses the problems that ensue from the fact that many descriptions of these languages are written by nonnative speakers who possess varying degrees of competence in them and understand not the many subtleties of the language like contextual variation.

    In the following chapter, ''Language and nation: linguistic identity in the history of English,'' G�rlach begins with a brief discussion of the many ways in which language has been used to define nationhood including: the creation of a nation based solely on language borders (Macedonia), ethnic cleansing based on language (Yugoslavia), the formation of laws to protect the purity of the national language (France), and the creation of legislation to make the national language obligatory (former republics of the Soviet Union). Then he looks for examples of similar experiences in both the historical English speaking countries and the English diaspora. He begins with an historical review of the rise of English, both in England and the rest of the British Isles; then he shifts to English in the rest of the world. He divides up this much larger entity into 5 groups based on how English is used in each area. In the first group, which includes Scots, which were 'originally dialect communities in which linguistic elaboration and geographical or political distance have led to the establishment of separate language' (p. 54). The second group he calls 'immigrant settler communities' like those of the United States and New Zealand. A third group is made up of the ex-colonies in which pidgin and creole languages developed which currently manifest a continuum of varieties including an acrolect which in many ways approximates a standard of International English. A fourth group consists of the colonies of the British Empire in which British English became the national language and was taught in schools and used in governmental administration. The final group consists of countries in which English is commonly taught and used as a foreign language with the main purpose being use of English for international commerce and communication. This is a very detailed chapter covering a wide scope of countries and linguistic situations. The focus is on the socio-political situations in each country.

    Next, G�rlach focuses on Ulster Scots on which much of his own research efforts have been concentrated. Though his stated intention is to elaborate issues concerning Ulster Scots, other languages of a similar type (including Low German, Croatian, and Serbian for example), are discussed in detail. It is in this discussion that G�rlach confronts some of the most controversial issues that divide both linguists and the general public, including trying to determine what constitutes a language. He takes issue with some of the traditional criteria for ''language-ness'' and suggests that Stewarts 1968 typology, which includes ''standardisation, autonomy, historicity and vitality'' (p. 71), may provide a better criteria for separating languages from dialects. There is a particularly intriguing section entitled ''Are Low German and Jamaican useful parallels?'' In this chapter he also deals with revitalization of minority languages, codification and elaboration of dialects, and the political implications for language planning.

    In Chapter 6, G�rlach centers on whether or not English is a native, foreign or second language in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the Philippines countries in which both the political and linguistic colonial histories are far more complex than other colonial nations like, for instance, the United States and Canada. He provides a framework within which these countries may be analyzed and compared. At the onset of this chapter G�rlach lays out the need for further linguistic analysis in a number of key areas including (100-101 scan). He also details many of the factors that will make it impossible to do these studies well. (101).

    Chapter 7 departs from the more generalized theoretical presentation of the other chapters with a detailed look at a particular linguistic practice: rhyming slang. This seems odd at first until G�rlach makes clear the historical nature of the practice and what it uncovers for us about the modern day varieties in which it is still practiced and speculations on why it seems to have disappeared from others.

    In the eighth chapter, ''English in Europe'' G�rlach outlines the slow development of English as a lingua franca. He also details the ways in which English has influenced the development of European languages in spelling, pronunciation, inflections, the use of gender, case and number markings, word formation, syntax, and pragmatics. The most enlightening section here is the one on word formation, in particular calquing and borrowing from English.

    G�rlach moves from theory and historical elaboration to practice in the final chapter. What does all this mean for the teaching of English? First, he points out that language teaching books all fail to provide sufficient information about variation in English, at best only providing some limited information about differences between standard varieties from Britain and the United States. Understanding variation is the first step. Instructors must understand the differences between the different ways English is used in the 5 different classes of nations as discussed in Chapter 3. Although a standard variety is probably the goal of most programs, a recognition of and some instruction in some of the pertinent regional variations can engender not only a respect of other varieties and their speakers but a better understanding of these varieties as well. He points out that students generally have no problem understanding the linguistic diversity and complexity of their native languages and that it is important that they understand the same about English. Thus, when they confront distinct varieties of English, they can recognize that it operates in the same way. He even provides practical ways for this to be done in the classroom.

    A Critical Evaluation:

    Throughout the text, G�rlach provides a wealth of supporting material, historic, social, and linguistic, from a wide assortment of English varieties from every continent. In addition, the inclusion of a fairly extensive annotated bibliography covering many of the book's main topics is quite useful.

    My criticisms of this book are quite limited. For example, although G�rlach does connect up the chapter on rhyming and slang by indicating what it can teach us about the spread of English, it is still an orphan chapter in this book. It would have fit better in a full section devoted to different types of language use and performance that would elaborate G�rlach's main points. In addition, after reading the chapter on the use of English in Europe, I wondered why G�rlach bothered to include the exceedingly limited sections on inflection, gender and syntax because the sections do no more than, in a very incomplete way, describe the patterns found in some European languages and say nothing about why these topics are significant to the development of the English spoken there.

    Nevertheless, G�rlach's examination of the state of English provides a useful summary of many of the issues that confront researchers in dialectology and variationist studies. It is a very useful text for anyone interested in the history and the development of English beyond a simple analysis of structural change.

    References:

    Stewart, William. 1968. ''A sociolinguistic typology for describing national multilingualism.'' In Joshua Fishman, ed. Readings in the sociology of language. The Hague: Mouton, 531-45. [71].

    ABOUT THE REVIEWER

    Elizabeth Grace Winkler teaches linguistics at the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA. Her research publications have concentrated on African substrate influence on Limonese Creole, and codeswitching between Spanish and Limonese Creole in Costa Rica and Spanish and English in Mexico. She has also authored a dictionary of Kpelle, a Mande language of Liberia.