Annotated Bibliography

Davidson, Keith. "The Nature and Significance of English as a Global Language." English Today 23.01 (2007): 48-51. Print.

In this article, Davidson states that although the use of English threatens almost 90% of the world’s many languages, people are still definitely multilingual in the way that we choose to speak English as well as our “native” languages. Davidson also points out that although English is a global language, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a standardized English out there that is accessible to all speakers. He lists the main varieties of English as: British and Irish, American and Canadian, Australian and New Zealand, African, Caribbean, South Asian, and East Asian. With so many different varieties, Davidson acknowledges that there is a certain kind of “dysfunction in international English that can arise” especially when English speakers don’t understand other speaker’s use of English from different regions. This article is helpful because it adds a certain dimension to my paper. Countries who use English don’t just accept the kind of English being given to them by foreigners. They find ways in order to make English their own.

Bobda, Augustin Simo. "Linguistic Apartheid: English Language Policy in Africa." English Today 20.1 (1999): 19-26. Print.

Bobda states that there are differences between British English and Pidgin English in Africa and this created a “British linguistic apartheid.” For example, Bobda postulates that the native English speakers didn’t want Africans and Asians to attain native-like competence and proficiency. Bobda argued that this apartheid is encouraged through “falling standards” of teaching English in the school curricula (19). This means that there’s lesser funding for schools to teach the standard British English. He argues that because of this Pidgin Englishes are developed more and more—to the point in which it becomes incomprehensible as a means of inter-communication. This will be helpful to my article because it will show an impact in which “standard” English is not being taught and how negatively it might be viewed as by other people.

Song, Jae Jung. "The Juche Ideology: English in North Korea." English Today 18.01 (2002): 47-52. Print.

This article talks about how English is taught in North Korea—one of the most reclusive countries in the known world. It states that unlike other non-English speaking countries, North Korea uses English as a means of venerating Kim Il Sung and its other leaders. This will help my paper because it shows another aspect of how English is transformed in other countries.

Qian, Niu and Wolff, Martin. "The Chinglish Syndrome: Do recent developments endanger the language policy of China?." English Today 19.4 (2003): 30-35. Print.

According to Qiang and Wolff, there are six assumptions that accompany the ESL teaching methodology in China. The first assumption is that “everyone in China needs to learn ESL” (31). For example, Beijing wants all of its residents to learn and be able to speak English so that its representation as international city will be strengthened. The second assumption is that there is only one teaching method suitable for ESOL. Qiang argues that this is simply impossible with the sheer number of population of Chinese wanting to learn the language and that one methodology will not be suitable for everybody. The third assumption is that Chinese ESL speakers can teach English even if they don’t have any cultural background. Qiang also disagrees with this assumption because teachers may not go beyond teaching the grammatical rules of English will certainly not help the students learn how to communicate in different settings. The teachers may not be able to correct students on proper pronunciation. This article will be helpful because it gives a snippet on how countries are handling their language policy to reflect their need to teach English.