We just had an oral presentation about different varieties of English.
The competency
goal we are working on today is: Give examples of other varieties of English
then those that are used in the Anglo-American core area, and reflect on their
distinctive character.
English is
now the most widely used language in the world. The enormous amount of
English-speakers in the world is due to the number of people having English as
their second or third language. It is
spoken as a first language by the majority populations of several states, including
the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand
and a number of Caribbean nations all these countries are defined as
Anglo-American. There are so many varieties of accents among English speakers.
And that's why we've decided to talk about three of them. English in: South Africa, Singapore and
Barbados.
South African English
South
African English is the dialect of English spoken by South Africans; there are different
varieties of English spoken by Zimbabweans, Zambians and Namibians. There are three groups that South African
English has been classified in, caused social differences. First one is cultivated
it can be associated with upper class , then it's general, a social indicator of the middle
class, and broad, associated with the working class. There are words that do
not exist in British or American English, usually derived from African
languages such as Afrikaans or Zulu, although, particularly, there is also an
influence from Indian languages and slang developed by subcultures,
particularly surfers.
English- Standard Singapore
There are two main forms of English- Standard
Singapore English (SSE) and Singapore Colloquial English (better known as
singlish). SSE is the most common variety of English used in Singapore. It is
similar to British, with the same grammar and spelling. Because Singapore is
one of the Commonwealth nations, the form of especially writing is like
British.
The other
form of English spoken in Singapore is "Singlish". This is associated
with low prestige, and is therefore not used much in formal communication.
Singlish has, in contrast to SSE, words from among others, Mandarin and
Hokkien. However, Singlish is used a lot in films and sitcoms, mainly locally
made. Army Daze and Mee Pok Man are examples of films where Singlish is
frequently used. The government has through decades tried to extinct the
Singlish language, because in their opinion Singlish presents an obstacle to
learning Standard English.
Barbados English
The
official language in Barbados is English; however you may also hear the locals
speak ''Bajan Creole''. English is used by Barbadians in formal settings, such
as communication and public services. In informal settings, like music or
social commentary, Barbadians often speak with their Bajan dialect. People of
Barbados use British English including in the spelling of some words, because
of their long British heritage. Examples: favorite, not favorite and center
instead of center.
Bajan
creole consists of a West-African substrate and English substrate, which means
languages are influenced by another through contact. Standard English is a
secondary native tongue of most Barbadians, and is usually used when talking
formally. Barbadians may opt to speak Bajan amongst themselves or when in a
very relaxed setting. Bajan is a primarily spoken language with no standardized
written form. Due to the lack of standardization, spelling may vary widely from
person to person. There is much dialectal variation throughout the island. Barbadians
practicing Rastafari on the island also tend to speak more with a Jamaican
accent than full Bajan.
Similarities
The first
similarity we noticed was that all three countries are former British colonies.
This has influenced the language, and at least one of the forms of English
spoken in all three countries is very similar to British English. However, we
can see that the people have developed the British English, and made it their
own. They have done this by adding words from for instance Mandarin, Indian and
West African. Another similarity we saw was between Singapore and South Africa.
In both of these countries, the different varieties of English are spoken in
different social groups. In Singapore, Singlish is associated with low
prestige, and is mostly spoken but the working-class. In South-Africa, the
working-class speak a broad South-African. In Barbados, the language used in
formal settings is British English, and this also counts for Singapore.
