User:Jallan/International English

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International English (sometimes World English) is used by academics and teachers of English to non-English speakers to refer to English as a worldwide lingua franca, used by both native and second-language speakers. It is also sometimes used in common parlance, mostly by non-Americans, as a cover term for British English and closely related forms of English found outside of the U.S.

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[edit] Understood as including all varieties of English

[edit] Supposed universality and flexibility

International English sometimes refers to English as it is actually being used and developed in the world; as a language owned not just by native speakers, but by all those who come to use it.

Basically, it covers the English language at large, often (but not always or necessarily) implicitly seen as standard. It is also certainly commonly used in connection with the acquisition, use, and study of English as the world's lingua franca ('TEIL: Teaching English as an International Language'), and especially when the language is considered as a whole in contrast with American English, British English, South African English, and the like. — McArthur (2002, p. 444–45)

It especially means English words and phrases generally understood throughout the English-speaking world as opposed to localisms. When the word standard is added, it becomes International Standard English (ISE) or World Standard English (WSE), indicating either the total of English usage recognized as standard in an international context, including contradictory usage, or more narrowly indicating transnational usage only, that is words and phrases and spellings that are accepted as standard almost anywhere, thought not always the preferred standard.

[edit] Supposed neutrality

International English reaches towards cultural neutrality. This has a practical use:

"What could be better than a type of English that saves you from having to re-edit publications for individual regional markets! Teachers and learners of English as a second language also find it an attractive idea – both often concerned that their English should be neutral, without British or American or Canadian or Australian coloring. Any regional variety of English has a set of political, social and cultural connotations attached to it, even the so-called 'standard' forms." — Peters (2004, International English)

According to this viewpoint, International English is a view of English that minimises the aspects defined by either the colonial imperialism of Victorian Britain or the cultural imperialism of the 20th century United States. While British colonialism laid the foundation for English over much of the world, International English is a product of an emerging world culture, very much attributable to the influence of the United States as well, but conceptually based on a far greater degree of cross-talk and linguistic transculturation, which tends to both mitigate both U.S. influence and British colonial influence.

The development of International English often centres around academic and scientific communities, where formal English usage is prevalent, and creative and flowery use of the language is at a minimum. This formal international English allows entry into Western culture as a whole and Western cultural values in general.

[edit] Opposition

But the continued growth of the English language itself is seen by many as a kind of cultural imperialism, whether it is English in one form or English in two slightly different forms.

Robert Phillipson argues against the possiblity of such neutrality in his Linguistic Imperialism (1992). Also learners who wish to use purportedly correct English are in fact faced with a dual standard of American English and British English and other less known standard Englishes.

[edit] IELTS

The term "International English" is used in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), a definition and evaluation system for so-called "International English" owned, developed and delivered through the partnership of the British Council, IDP Education Australia: IELTS Australia and the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations. But though concentrating on a kind of English understood almost everywhere, the differences between formal American English and the formal English of Britain and Australia cannot be glossed over. Here the choice of vocabularly and phrasing and spelling, where such choices must be made, is to British/Australian usage and spelling.

[edit] More than one international English

Choices such as this must still be made if one form of English is to be taught, because there exists no single recognised international form compared to which both U.S. English and British English (and other national and regional forms of English) are recognised internationally as being non-standard versions. A true International English might supplant both current American and British English as a variety of English for international communication, leaving these as local dialects, or would rise from a merger of General American and standard British English with admixture of other varieties of English and would generally replace all these varieties of English.

We may, in due course, all need to be in control of two standard Englishes—the one which gives us our natrional and local identity, and the other which puts us in touch with the rest of the human race. In effect, we may all need to become bilingual in our own language. — David Crystal (1988: p. 265)

This is the situation long faced by many users of English who posses "non-standard" dialect of English as their birth tongue but have also learned to write (and perhaps also speak) a more standard dialect. Many academics often publish material in journals requiring different varieties of English and change style and spellings as necessary without great difficulty.

[edit] Attempting to deal with the dual standard

Two approaches to International English are the individualistic and inclusive approach and the new dialect approach.

The individualistic approach gives control to individual authors to write and spell as they wish (within purported standard conventions) and to accept the validity of differences. The Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, published in 1999, is a descriptive study of both American and British English in which each chapter follows individual spelling conventions according to the preference of the main editor of that chapter.

The new dialect approach appears in The Cambridge Guide to English Usage (Peters, 2004) which attempts to avoid any language bias and accordingly uses an idiosyncratic international spelling system of mixed American and British forms (but tending more to American spelling).

[edit] Understood as including only standard varieties of English other than U.S. English

This usage may have arisen independently from the above to refer to the English used in Britain and in various countries other than the U.S., that is British English and dialects that very closely approach it. The idioms and vocabulary of the larger varieties of non-U.S. English, except for Canadian, are closer to one another than to U.S. usage, and even Canadians follow British spelling conventions more closely than U.S. conventions.

The term international here refers to 1) use of British English and closely related varieties of English in many countries in the world contrasted with the use of American English primarily in one country, 2) to the adoption of Oxford English spelling in much academic publishing outside of the U.S. and Britain, and 3) by the use of British English in United Nations documents (mostly) and use of British English by the European Union bureaucracy. This meaning is further encouraged because the widely used International English Language Testing System (IELTS) employs common British spelling and otherwise favours British/Australian usage over American usage when the two are in conflict.

International English is also sometimes used in the computer industry with this meaning. The Linux community, and other Open Software groups use the term Commonwealth English instead, usually in giving users a choice of spellings or wordings for messages. But the English language choices given are in fact normally only between American English and British English with -ise spellings, the latter being called International English or Commonwealth English.

But Microsoft's Encarta has different versions for American English, Australian English, British English, and Canadian English which does not exhaust what could be provided.

[edit] References, further reading, and external links

[edit] Distinguished from or including both U.S. and British English

[edit] Closely identified or synonymous with standard British English

  • Bible Society: Machine Assisted Translations: Anglicisations ("The standard English of India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Commonwealth and some other countries where English is used follows the conventions of British English. It is often therefore called International English to distinguish it from American English.")
  • Carson, George S., Puk, Richard F., Carey, Rikk (1998). "Development of the VRML 97 International Standard". ("International Standards are written in International English, not American English. The most obvious difference is many minor variations in the way words are spelled, for example "colour" rather than "color", "centre" rather than "center" and "behaviour" rather than "behavior." Although ISO granted a special exception to allow VRML to be published initially in American English if necessary to expedite its publication, both sides decided to convert most of the document to International English. The only exceptions were affecting the syntax of a VRML file, such as node names like "Color" and "ColorInterpolator", where a change to "Colour" and ColourInterpolator" would have made existing VRML files incompatible with the new standard.")
  • Goult, Roderick S. W. (2004). Introduction to ISO 9000:2000 Handbook. Edition of August, 2004. Methuen, MA: The Victoria Group. (PDF. From page 6: "An ISO standard which has been 'adopted' by a national standards body of a country will undergo some minor changes for reasons of translation, use of language or local interpretation. Hence, in the ANSI/ISO/ASQ standards, the spelling varies from international English, and the words 'International Standard' have been changed to 'American National Standard.'")
  • Xerox: Phaser 740/740L: Product Brochures (Brochures available for download in either "U.S. English" or "International English".)
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