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Zoya Proshina The abc and Controversies of World Englishes ббк 81


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European Englishes

English in continental Europe is used among non-native speakers as a lingua franca and is labeled Euro-English(es) (Jenkins 2001; Modiano 2001,2006; Seidlhofer 2001; McArthure 2003: 156) or Mid-Atlantic English (Modiano 2002).

Margie Berns argues that
“…the label European English identifies those uses of English that are not British (and not American or Canadian or Australian or any other native variety) but are distinctly European and distinguish European English speakers from speakers of other [English] varieties” (Berns 1995: 6-7)
There are two evident trends in regards of English in Europe: on the one hand, a trend to claim a nation’s identity in a local variety of English – German, French, Hungarian, a.o. Englishes (Berns 1988; Durmuller 1991; Pulcini 1994; Davidson K. 1995; Goethals 1997; Van Essen 1997; Petzold & Berns 2000; Hilgendorf 2007), and on the other hand, a trend to create an English unifying the European Union. The term “Mid-Atlantic English” (MAE) proposed by Marko Modiano lays emphasis on the unifying regional rather than nativised variety: “MAE can be distinguished by being non-regionally or non-geographically localizable” (Modiano 2002: 241). These two trends are considered to be grounds for making the European communities bidialectal:
...many English language users will have at least two varieties of English at their disposal, one for international forums and one for local purposes” (Modiano 2006: 225).
The unified Euro-English is developing as a formal register of written speech used by Eurocrats “in the corridors of power in the new European Union” (Crystal 1997: 136) Sometimes it is labeled ‘Eurospeak’ or ‘Eurojargon’. The typical features of Eurospeak are long redundant sentences, specialized jargon, abundance of acronyms, metonymical use of names of towns (e.g., Schengen “an agreement on a passport-free zone”, Amsterdam “a Treaty”, Gymnich “an informal meeting of foreign ministers) (Wagner 2001). Besides, EU English, as a special-purpose variety (James 2000), is characteristic of newly created words and set phrases (Eurosceptic, member state).

However, acrolectal localized varieties of English are claimed to be gaining the status of an endonorm independent from the British or American standard (Seidlhofer 2001). It is believed that an emerging foreign-speaker-based, supranational variety of English becomes the basis of educational standards in Europe (Modiano 2002). Taking into consideration the proximity of Great Britain, one might expect the European educational standard to be based on British English. However, there is evidence that the British standards in European education are declining under the pressure of Americanization processes. The developing norm of European English adopts a mixture of British and American forms enriched with local culture content and preferring “situational adaptation” (Modiano 2002: 246) to consistency.


Language issues also have a political dimension. For mainland Europeans, who are in the process of looking onto English as the most prominent and perhaps official language for Europe (together with German and French), the selection of BrE in language education in the Union would give the British an advantage in European affairs. With resistance to British dominance in the EU, it is conceivable that a rejection of BrE would by default act to promote AmE, something not in all respects an advantageous position for Europe seeing as Europe is struggling to maintain a distinct identity in the face of massive Americanization (often referred to as ‘MacDonaldization’). It is clear that mainland Europeans must look for an alternative. A distinct European variety for the Union would not only allow foreign-language speakers an opportunity to mould English to fit their own needs and desires, it would also act as a barrier against widespread Anglo-Americanization, something which, in some quarters, is perceived as detrimental to the cultural integrity of mainland European society.” (Modiano 2002: 244)
Thus in Europe English is gradually moving to the second-language status. It has become the ‘first foreign’ language in educational systems of all European countries. Even in bilingual Switzerland, some German-speaking cantons have decided that English will be introduced at an earlier age than French, the second national language of the country. English is being introduced to ever lower ages in primary schools (Graddol 2006: 92-93).

English is increasingly used in higher education to teach various subjects, mostly in sciences. This might be the result of the domination of English in scientific research, the prominent position of British and US publishing houses, content and language integrating learning, and also a consequence of the presence of foreign students, particularly of students coming on exchange programs such as those offered by the European Union Universities which want to attract foreign students, but at the same time they do not want the national language to be a barrier (Truchot 1997: 71; Coleman 2006: 4). Mobility of students (encouraging foreign students to study) and faculty (universities tend to employ the best researchers they can get) leads to offering courses in English as a medium of education.

European English is frequently used in the domain of science. PhD dissertations in many subjects are routinely written in English in many countries for the scholars to become internationally known (Melchers & Shaw 2003: 184). Journals in Germany, France and Italy increasingly turn to English. Many German journal titles, for example, have been renamed by using an English title (Hilgendorf 2007: 138). In 1994, 85 percent of the citations contained in PASCAL, the most important French databank for sciences compiled by the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research), was in English. 95 percent of the researchers d
elivered their papers in English at conferences in foreign countries. At international conferences taking place in France, 76 percent of the scholars said they used English, and 24 percent French (Truchot 1997).

Fig. 12. English-speaking population in Europe (Graddol 2006: 93)

In European business the role of English is significant. Large international companies, like the Swedish Erikson, Volvo, and Dutch Philips, have institutionalized English as a company language, making it compulsory for any form of oral and written communication within the company. Negotiations between companies make use of English. Many advertisements and commercials use English intranationally for its fashion value. In Germany, business and commercial law is particularly influenced by increased interaction of the English and German languages (Berns 1992: 156). It has been found that in the legal domain English words are used for the pragmatic functions of precision and clarity as opposed to the political domain where English words are sometimes used to be vague and elusive (Hilgendorf 2007: 136).

English is used in planes, airports, trains, stations, buses, metro stations, museums. It is well noticeable in the media: films, TV programs (series), popular songs, sports (mostly as transmitted on television), electronic games, computers and so on. In 1994, 53 percent of the films shown by 47 television channels in the European Union (15 countries) were American, and only 20 percent were national productions. In 1995, 76 percent of the viewers in movie theaters had watched American films. In France, movie theaters still show about 35 percent of French films while 55 percent are American films and 10 percent come from other countries (Truchot 1997: 69). In Germany, however, according to the figures given at the 1996 Berlin Film Festival, more than 90 percent of shown films were American, and only 6 percent were German. Many films are shown with subtitles providing the viewers with an opportunity to improve their English. Quite a number of European singers prefer to release their musical CDs in English. As Melchers and Shaw put it, “English enters European society not only institutionally or top-down via European institutions, education, etc., but also individually or bottom-up via subcultures” (Melchers & Shaw 2003: 183), the hip-hop youth culture being one of them.

The numerous domains of English use reflect both range and depth of the language in European countries. With the increase of borrowed English words, many Europeans use code-mixing and code-switching intensively. According to the 2004 statistics received from the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA), the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark have the greatest number (80 %) of English speakers. Over 50% of English users are in Luxemburg, Finland, and Austria. The lowest percentage is characteristic of Italy (about 20%), Portuguese (18%), and Spain (15%) (Тер-Минасова 2007: 246).

In Europe, attitudes towards the spread of English vary greatly. In most countries the use of English is considered necessary for international purposes and to compensate for the limited reach of the national languages. In Denmark, for example, some form of bilingualism is being institutionalized. In Belgium and Switzerland, English tends to be used not only for international, but also for intranational communication. In Belgian Flanders, English is used to counterbalance the influence of French. However, in a very small language community, as in the case of Iceland, English is sometimes considered a threat. In general, English is not tolerated everywhere and by everybody in the same way. The Germans, for example, tend to be more tolerant. Though there are voices disapproving of the intrusion of Anglicisms in the German language, the positive attitudes clearly prevail considering the wide functional range of the language use. In France, where some 30 years ago English met with fierce opposition, even now attitudes are more contrasted. The French government tries to regulate the relations between French and English. This policy includes status planning and corpus planning. Status planning mainly consists in the application of a law passed in 1994 and entitled Law on the Use of the French Language. Corpus planning is provided by Terminology Committees (Commissions terminologiques) established progressively since 1972 in each ministry to devise and promote French terminology in various specialized areas (Truchot 1997).

All localized varieties of English in Europe have their own specifics due to the transfer of their vernaculars. In general, the features characteristic of European English include (Jenkins 2001; Modiano 2001; Seidlhofer 2001):

in phonetics:


  • consonant deletion: different [dIfq]

  • consonant substitution: [T] > [t / s], [D] > [d / z]

  • substitution of the dark [l] (pill, held) for the clear [l] (lip)

  • devoicing final consonants: mug [mAk], chairs [CFqs]

  • elimination of vowel length contrasts: leave > live

in grammar:

  • the same form for all present tense verbs: you / he look very sad

  • no article: our countries have signed agreement about this

  • interchangeable relative pronouns who and which: the picture who, a person which

  • use of the infinitive instead of the gerund: I look forward to see you tomorrow

  • constructions of the type We were five people at the party.

  • universal tag-question: You’re very busy today, isn’t it?

in lexis:

  • new words peculiar to the European experience: euro, Euro zone, additionality “demand for matching funds from national authorities”, internal market (different from domestic market); to hop over “to refrain from doing sth”

  • calques of indigenous idiomatic expression, which Barbara Seidlhofer terms “unilateral idiomaticity” (Seidlhofer 2001: 16): This drink is on the house “This drink is a present from us”.

The considerable functional range and depth of English use in Europe has led the European linguists to raise a question of the status of English in the region. They believe that English is steadily “moving towards, if not already within, the Outer Circle” (Hilgendorf 2007: 145). This issue was first raised by Margie Berns (1995) when she discussed the impact of English in the context of the European Union. The change of the language status will mean a change of conceptualizing norms of European Englishes.

Questions to discuss:

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3. In the map of Europe color the member states whose languages are official in the EU (Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish) in blue and other European countries in yellow. What are the functions of English in these countries? Fig. 13. Europe

74. In a musical CD shop, find out the names of European (except for British) singers and groups who use English for the names of their groups, titles of their CDs, titles and lyrics of their songs. Report your findings in class.
75. What are the reasons for sociolinguists to say that European English is moving to a second language status?
76. Which term – Euro-English or Mid-Atlantic English - do you like best? Give your arguments. What are the relations between European English and French or German English? Why is British English not included in the concept of European English?
77. What makes European universities offer courses in English? Suppose Russian universities were to follow this policy, what would your attitude to this be?

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