INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS

STUDY GUIDE
OVERVIEW ON COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE, WORLD ENGLISHES, AND KACHRU’S
CONCENTRIC CIRCLES

OVERVIEW OF COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE BY DELL HYMES

Dell Hymes' concept of communicative competence emphasizes that effective
communication is not just about mastering the grammatical rules of a language, but also about
understanding how to use language appropriately in different social contexts. He developed this
idea in response to Noam Chomsky’s notion of "linguistic competence," which focuses mainly on
grammar.

COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

Linguistic Competence Sociolinguistic Competence Discourse Competence Strategic Competence

The ability to use The ability to repair

The ability to produce
language appropriately communication
and understand
The knowledge of the in different social breakdowns, handle
coherent and cohesive
grammatical rules of a situations. This involves misunderstandings, and
texts, both spoken and
language (syntax, understanding social make adjustments in
written. This involves
morphology, phonology, norms, cultural communication when
structuring sentences
etc.). This is similar to practices, and contextual there are difficulties
and ideas in a way that
Chomsky’s linguistic factors such as the roles (e.g., using gestures or
they flow logically and
competence. of speakers and the simpler language when
make sense in a given
setting of the someone doesn’t
discourse.
conversation. understand).

Hymes' concept of communicative competence has had a significant influence on

language teaching, leading to the development of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT),
which focuses on teaching language in context and prioritizing real-life communication over
rote memorization of grammatical rules.

OVERVIEW OF WORD ENGLISHES

World Englishes refers to the various forms of the English language that have developed
in different regions of the world, often influenced by local cultures, languages, and social
contexts. As English spread globally due to colonization, trade, and globalization, it adapted and
evolved, resulting in distinct varieties of English spoken in various countries.
World Englishes recognizes that there is no single, "correct" version of English. Instead,
English exists in multiple localized forms that are equally valid. These different varieties of
English reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of the regions where they are spoken.

What is "World Englishes?"

The term World Englishes refers to the differences in the English language that emerge
as it is used in various contexts across the world. Scholars of World Englishes identify the
varieties of English used in different sociolinguistic contexts, analyzing their history,
background, function, and influence.
Languages develop to fulfill the needs of the societies that use them. Because societies
contain a diverse range of social needs, and because these needs can differ across cultures and
geographies, multiple varieties of the English language exist. These include American English,
British English, Australian English, Canadian English, Indian English, and so on.
While there is no single way for a new variety of English to emerge, its development can
generally be described as a process of adaptation. A certain group of speakers take a familiar
variety of English and adapt the features of that variety to suit the needs of their social context.
For example, a store selling alcoholic beverages is called a "liquor store" in American
English, whereas it is called an "off-licence" in British English. The latter term derives from
British law, which distinguishes between businesses licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for
consumption off the premises and those licensed for consumption at the point of sale (i.e., bars
and pubs).
Such variations do not occur in terms of word choice only. They happen also in terms of
spelling, pronunciation, sentence structure, accent, and meaning. As new linguistic adaptations
accumulate over time, a distinct variety of English eventually emerges. World Englishes scholars
use a range of different criteria to recognize a new English variant as an established World
English. These include the sociolinguistic context of its use, its range of functional domains, and
the ease with which new speakers can become acculturated to it, among other criteria.

World vs. Philippine vs. Standard Englishes

PHILIPPINE ENGLISH STANDARD ENGLISH

Philippine English is one of the recognized Standard English refers to a set of grammatical
forms of World Englishes. It developed as a and lexical norms often associated with
result of the American colonization of the prestigious varieties of English, such as British
Philippines in the early 20th century. Over or American English. It is typically used in
time, English has become an important formal writing, education, and media and
language in the Philippines, used in serves as a "benchmark" for language teaching
government, education, media, and business. in many countries.

However, Standard English is not a fixed or

universally agreed-upon variety. What is
considered "standard" can vary from region to
region. For example, Standard British English
and Standard American English have
noticeable differences in spelling,
pronunciation, and even grammar (e.g., colour
vs. color, lift vs. elevator).

NEST’S VS. NON NESTS

NESTs vs. Non-NESTs refers to the distinction between Native English-Speaking Teachers (NESTs)
and Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers (Non-NESTs) in the context of English language
teaching. Each group brings different strengths and challenges to the classroom, and this
distinction has sparked debate in the field of language education.

NESTS NON-NESTS
NESTs are teachers who speak English as their Non-NESTs are teachers who speak English as
first language and are typically from countries an additional language and come from
where English is the dominant or official countries where English is not the first
language (e.g., USA, UK, Australia, Canada). language (e.g., the Philippines, India, Japan,
Brazil).

KACHRU’S CONCENTRIC CIRCLES

 English is now indispensable in all transnational aspects of life, including technology,
commerce, telecommunications, medicine, and as a way of communication across cultures in
many countries and regions. As Devrim & Bayyurt (2010) aptly state: “It is an undeniable fact
that English has become a global lingua franca. It is the most commonly spoken foreign language,
language of media, language of technology, and language of science.” The globalization of
English and the necessity of knowing English creates a great need for better understanding the
relationship of the language and its native speakers’ culture, and a great need for searching
fothe best possible ways to improve ESL, EFL, or EIL (English as an International Language) in
the global world.
The revolutionary spread of English over the globe which took place over the last
decades has created changes in the sociolinguistic profile of the language and provided new
varieties of English. Nowadays, English is not only a tool of communication among native
speakers but also a language institutionalised in many former British and
American colonies, and a lingua franca used all around the world. This fact has resulted
in a great concern of the classification of World Englishes, in addition to the need to familiarize
English Language Teaching to its new status. One of the ways to understand and study this
phonemon is according to Kachru’s three concentric circles model.
Kachru’s model was first introduced with the term “World Englishes” in 1985, opening
the door for new ways of understanding the spread of the English language throughout the
world. Kachru (1985) described the distribution of English in relation to three concentric circles:
the Inner Circle, the Outer Circle, and the Expanding Circle. These circles signify “the type of
spread, the pattern of acquisition, and the functional domains in which English languge is used
across cultures and languages”.
The Inner Circle presents the countries where English is the primary language and is
used in daily life and government institutions, such as the United States of America, the United
Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The Outer Circle includes countries that have
British colonial ties, and English is widely used in social life or in the government sector. Most of
thecountries that belong to this circle are former colonies of the British Empire, such as India,
Malaysia, Singapore, Ghana, Kenya, and others. The use of English in these countries is English
as a second language.
Finally, the Expanding Circle includes countries that introduce English as a foreign
language in education, mainly for the purpose of communicating in English with the Inner and
Outer Circles. Such countries include Turkey, Saudi Arabia, The Emirates, Japan, China, Korea,
and others.
Image from: https://everythingelf.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/the-three-
circles-of-engllish-adapted-from-kachru-1999.jpg

Additional Input

The Inner Circle refers to English as it originally took shape and was spread across the world in
the first diaspora. In this transplantation of English, speakers from England carried the language
to the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, anglophone Canada
and South Africa, and some of the Caribbean territories.

The Outer Circle : In these regions, English is not the native tongue, but serves as a useful lingua
franca between ethnic and language groups. This circle includes India, Nigeria, Bangladesh,
Pakistan, Malaysia, Tanzania, Kenya, non-Anglophone South Africa, the Philippines (colonized
by the US) and others.

The Expanding Circle encompasses countries where English plays no historical or governmental
role, but where it is nevertheless widely used as a medium of international communication.
Territories such as China, Russia, Japan, non-Anglophone Europe, South Korea, Egypt and
Indonesia.
REFERENCES:

Everythingelf. (2016, December 21). Classification of Englishes. Elf.

https://everythingelf.wordpress.com/2016/12/21/how-is-english-used-as-a-lingua-franca-
today/

Al-Mutairi, M. A. (2019). Kachru’s Three Concentric Circles Model of English Language: An

Overview of Criticism & the Place of Kuwait in it. English Language Teaching, 13(1), 85.
https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v13n1p85