Edexcel A-level English Language (9EN0) · Investigating Language: Global English
Mini-Lesson
Investigating Language: Global English
English is now a global language with many varieties. This topic explores World Englishes, how English spread, and the debate over standards and ownership.
You will meet Kachru's circles, English as a lingua franca, pidgins and creoles, and attitudes to global varieties. Press Start.
Global · spread
How English became global
English spread worldwide through colonisation, trade, science and technology, and now through media and the internet.
It is widely used as a lingua franca — a common language between speakers of different first languages.
There is no longer a single English but many World Englishes, each with its own features and prestige.
David Crystal has written extensively on English as a global language and the scale of its spread.
Global · Kachru
Kachru's three circles
Braj Kachru modelled World Englishes as three concentric circles:
Inner circle — English as a first language (UK, USA, Australia): norm-providing.
Outer circle — English with official or historical status (India, Nigeria, Singapore): norm-developing.
Expanding circle — English as a foreign language (China, Brazil): norm-dependent.
Attribute: the three circles are Kachru's model. It has been debated but remains a key framework.
Quick check
Which circle?
?In India, English has official status, is used in law, education and media, and has its own recognised variety. In Kachru's model, India belongs to the:
Global · varieties
Pidgins, creoles and lingua franca
Contact between languages produces new varieties:
Pidgin — a simplified contact language with no native speakers, used for trade or work.
Creole — a pidgin that has become a community's first language, developing full grammar.
English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) — English used between non-native speakers, often flexibly, prioritising communication over native norms.
Key distinction: a pidgin has no native speakers; a creole does.
Quick check
Pidgin or creole?
?A simplified contact variety, first used only for trade, is now spoken by children as their first language and has a full grammar. It is now a:
Sort it
Sort each country type to Kachru's circle
Tap a description, then tap the circle it belongs to.
🎯 Inner circle
🌐 Outer circle
📈 Expanding circle
Global · attitudes
Standards, ownership and attitudes
Global English raises debates about ownership and standards:
Who owns English now that most speakers are non-native? Many argue no single variety is correct.
Prestige attaches unevenly: inner-circle varieties often carry more overt prestige, which is contested.
Concerns about English as a killer language displacing others sit alongside celebration of local, hybrid Englishes.
Evaluation: weigh the benefits of a shared global language against threats to linguistic diversity.
Match it
Match term to its meaning
Tap a term on the left, then its meaning on the right.
Term
Meaning
Quick check
Global English concept
?Two engineers, one from Japan and one from Germany, use flexible English to work together, caring more about being understood than about native norms. This use of English is best called:
Recap
The big ideas to take away
Spread: colonisation, trade, science, media; English as a lingua franca