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Divergence and Convergence: The Ebb and Flow of English as an
International Language
Seyyed Bagher Mirshojaee
APA Citation format of the paper: Mirshojaee, S. B. (2011). Divergence and Convergence:
The Ebb and Flow of English as an International Language. In Chandalia, H. S. (Ed.),
Language and literature teaching: ELT across borders. (pp. 65-79). New Delhi: Creative
Books.
Abstract:
English as a globalized and nativized language should be seen and taught with a democratic approach. Both
aspects of English should be manifested in real teaching and testing practices. In the coming decade, one step
forward is having curriculum, syllabi, textbooks and materials which focus on both i.e. intra-national and
international sides of English language coin without any linguistic bias. Intra-national Englishes express the
collective selves of the communities using them; international English expresses the universal selves of the
citizens of the global village. The divergent and convergent forces in the spread of English go hand in hand to
promote linguistic democracy in English language teaching and testing. In this paper, we will deal with these two
complementary aspects of English(es) and some practical suggestions will be put forward regarding the
application of this democratic model in both English teaching and testing.
Key words: World Englishes, divergence, convergence, complementary model for English
Introduction
One of the oldest preoccupations of human being is having a common language understood
by all people. Today, global dominance of English, its acceptance and selection by
communities living almost all parts of the world show that mankind wants to meet his/her
universal linguistic needs by means of English. Not only does English work as a global
language, but also it functions as a nativized language in different countries of the world; lots
of people use English in their social interactions in national or international contexts without
being its native speaker. English has two courses of change in its spread: it moves away from
the commonalities to perform its local and intra-national functions and then it has to return
towards commonalities to satisfy each community's global and international needs. The
direction depends on the needs of the users of English. Bolton (2006: 291) points out to this
phenomenon of language change as Bakhtinian's distinction between "centrifugal" and
"centripetal" forces.
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To guard this property of human being and make it maintain its fruitfulness, both of its
divergence and convergence should be described by applied linguists, its global and local uses
should be taught and tested in pedagogical milieus. In this paper, firstly the reasons behind the
birth of different varieties of English i.e. World Englishes (WEs) will be dealt with, secondly
the global perspective in the use of English i.e. English as an international language (EIL) will
be explained, thirdly a model will be proposed to make peace between these two functions of
English in the second decade of the twenty-first century and finally real manifestations of
such a perspective in the pedagogical scenes will be put forward.
Models of the spread of English
Englishes spoken in different parts of the world move away "from the English of what
Chinua Achebe(1965: 29) called as 'its ancestral home', i.e. Britain and from each other"
regarding linguistic features like pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary/ idiom and discourse
style"(Jenkins, 2003:23).Whether we call them legitimate or illegitimate offspring of the
parent languages, they are in existence and they are going to lead their own lives, having their
own sociolinguistic, cultural, national, political and psycholinguistic functions.
Different models of the spread of English were proposed by different scholars (See
Jenkins, 2003: 15-21). Here I deal with three of the models proposed for the spread of
English.
Among them, Kachru's (1985) three circles model is the most cited one. He divides the
WEs into Inner Circle countries speaking English as their native language like the US and
UK, Outer Circle countries using English as their official or second language Like India and
Nigeria, and Expanding Circle countries employing English as a foreign language like Japan
and Iran. According to Rajadurai (2007: 75) this model "emphasizes pluralism, linguistic
diversity and inclusivity." But because this model considers the Inner Circle countries as the
source of correctness, it diverts from its main tenets promoting a form of language hegemony
and linguistic imperialism (Graddol, 1997: 10; Modiano 1999: 24; and Rajadurai, 2007: 75)
Another model proposed by Modiano (1999) is based on features of English common to
all varieties of English. At the centre is English as an International language (EIL) having
core features comprehensible to the majority of native and competent nonnative speakers of
English. The outer area includes new varieties of English with their own particular features
and incomprehensible to the members of other communities (Jenkins, 2003: 20). The problem
with this model is that it is difficult to distinguish between core and non-core varieties.
Another point is that in this model in the core based on Modiano there are native speakers and
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competent non-native speakers which indirectly says that all native speakers of English are
competent users of English which is untrue.
Schneider's (2003) dynamic model of the revolution of New Englishes has a diachronic
approach. Schneider (2003: 242) describes an evolutionary pattern in the formation of New
Englishes applicable to all varieties of English which is composed of five identifiable stages:
(1) foundation: English speakers settle in a previously non-English speaking territory and they
keep the language norms of home country. The indigenous population and the settlers have
restricted language contact; the two groups are separated.
(2) Exonormative Stabilization: The settlers view the language as outposts of their native
land while some new items are added to English. Schneider (2003:246) describes it under the
notion of "English plus": "genuinely British no doubt, but seasoned with the additional flavor
of the extraterritorial experience which those who stay home do not share." Elite bilingualism
is spread and English is a key to upward social mobility. Lexical borrowing is one linguistic
feature of this stage.
(3) Nativization: The political ties between colonizers and colonized are weakened. The
colonized gain political independence but they have cultural associations. Sociolinguistically,
widespread and regular contacts between the two can be seen. Sociolinguistic cleavage
between innovative and conservative speakers occurs and heavy lexical borrowing,
phonological innovations, structural nativization are among linguistic effects of nativization
stage.
(4) Endonormative stabilization: The colonized country is self-dependent and the member
of this society considers themselves as a new nation and think of their own territory. They
accept the local norm, have positive attitude towards it and create literary works in the new
variety. The new variety is stabilized, homogenized and codified (by dictionary writing).
(5) Differentiation: The country becomes a stable young nation which has its own internal
sociopolitical differentiation. They have a new national identity specific to their community.
Some social networks are constructed which have increasingly group interactions. New
dialects are born as well as have ethnic, social and regional varieties. (Mukherjee, 2007: 161-
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In light of this model we can see the divergence of English to completely metamorphosed
English diachronically. In light of Schmit's model, we can find the roots of divergence but
what this paper is going to say is that English has another course of change which is towards
commonalities because of its international function in the globalization age.
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In the following sections different reasons behind divergence and convergence of the
Englishes will be discussed.
Divergence in the Spread of English
WEs move away from their parent languages and from one another for lots of reasons. The
nativization of English ( Kachru, 1992) enabled English to adapt itself to new contexts and to
take on localized identities. These Englishes move towards achieving their own
individualities. Different origins can be considered for the birth of these varieties. They are
historical, educational, cultural and linguistic origins.
Historical origins: There are two historical reasons for the birth of the varieties of English.
One is settlement and the other is colonization. Mesthri and Bhatt (2008: 15) defined these
historical origins in the following way:
The former resulted in what are sometimes called ‘transplanted varieties’ of English in the
United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and islands like St. Helena and the
Falklands. Colonies of exploitation frequently started off as trading outposts with small numbers
of traders who did not have the intention of long-term settlement, as in parts of Africa and Asia.
In such situations ‘fort pidgins’ frequently arose. These colonies were typically appropriated in
the second half of the nineteenth century and expanded into exploitation colonies. It was in
these colonies that the prototypical ‘English as second language’ emerged.
According to Mesthri and Bhatt (2008) within the United Kingdom internal colonization
over Wales, Scotland and (for a second time) Ireland, and then industrialization and
immigration of English speakers caused the spread of English. In inner circle countries first
there was colonization and then its English was changed into an inner circle English with its
own norms of speaking. The first American colonies who settled in America were mostly
English speakers from various parts of Britain. After the United States' gaining independence,
American tried to standardize their version of English and it changed into the first major
variety outside the British Isles. The same story is true in the case of other inner circle
varieties like Australian English, New Zealand English and South African English.
According to Trudgill (2004: 13) these Englishes arose "as a result of dialect contact,
dialect mixture and new dialect formation.
The period of the colonization of some of them like India takes two centuries. After
declaring their independence and living in the postcolonial era, they preserve English and its
use in the community which caused to the birth of new varieties of WEs. National culture and
identity were reflected in the use of this nativised variety having its own phonological, lexical,
syntactic, pragmatic and discourse features. The result was divergence of English.
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Educational origin: It is not irrelevant to the historical origin of divergence in the spread of
English. Kachru (1983:19-21) identifies three stages in which English was introduced in
India: (a) a missionary phase that began around 1614; (b) a phase of ‘local demand’ from
leaders; and (c) the educational phase that began with formal colonization in 1765.
In every colonized society the first generation was taught English by native speakers of
English directly, so native norms and standards were the criteria for success in English
learning. Native speakers were the perfect model of language proficiency.
These trainees became the teachers of the second generation. Since they were non-native
speakers of English, their speech or language use directly or indirectly was influenced by their
mother tongue. The new generation moved farther from native speaker norms. As a result,
their speech went away from the native speaker pronunciation norms and these diversions
happened in the case of other aspects of language including vocabularies, grammar, pragmatic
appropriateness and discourse.
Cultural origin: In the majority of the outer circle countries, people accept English as a
second language but they adapt it based on their own cultural features and values. They are
not to make a copy of American or British culture or to be under linguistic imperialism
(Phillipson, 1992) but to introduce, strengthen and update their own cultures. Literature
provides an environment in which cultures are presented in English (e.g., Tawake, 2006; and
Bhatia, 2006).They do not do this unless they nativize, localize and decolonize their own
English.
Linguistic origin: Two factors are at work regarding the linguistic forces behind the
divergence in the spread of English. One is the plentiful chances of exposure non-native
speakers have to use English. If a group of people is increasingly exposed to English and
under some circumstances they have to use it, they add some new elements to English by
transferring some features from their mother tongue, come up with new linguistic innovations
typical of their own variety, and set their own seal on English.
The second linguistic factor is the linguistic milieu of the host country. In some
countries like India, there are a lot of languages used by different groups of people from
different geographical origins. In such a situation a lingua franca is needed to help
communication. People decided to choose English to play the role of the lingua franca. There
are some other sociolinguistic forces in operation according to Mesthri and Bhatt (2008: 19):
"Whether speakers come up with a pidgin, EFL, ESL or ENL depends on factors
such as the following: (a) the relative number of speakers of the different
languages, including the TL; (b) the social relations between them; (c) the
duration of the contact; and (d) educational opportunities in the TL."
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Convergence of the English Varieties
Due to so many reasons different varieties of WEs are in a dialogue with one another to
have mutual intelligibility, and/or follow the norms of a common parent language not to cause
miscommunication in international gatherings. "The need for intelligibility in international
communication has already motivated the learning of English as an international
language"(Yano, 2001:125) and several attempts have been made "to provide a common
standard for mutual intelligibility in international interactions." Seidlhofer's (2001, 2004)
Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English (VOICE) focuses on the collection and
analysis of speech samples to determine the characteristics of English as an international
language (cited in Acar, 2007) and ELFA (English as a Lingua Franca in Academic Settings,
Mauranen, 2003)
If varieties continue going towards their individualities in an unrestrained manner, the fatal
fruit is mutual unintelligibility. The convergent forces are enriched by some cultural and
scientific motives as follow: globalization, cultural globalization, international commerce, and
technological needs.
Globalization: Globalization refers to "the worldwide diffusion of practices, expansion of
relations across continents, organization of social life on a global scale, and growth of a
shared global consciousness ( Lechner, 2005). In today's world, human being whether wants it
or not, is involved in the globalization process. In this global village, people's visions, lives,
identities and characters are different from their national, local and cultural ones. It shows
human beings reach maturity in the new millennium so that they can break the linguistic,
geographical and national borders and arrive at a higher place having universal eyes and
mind. In such a position their "universal selves" should be satisfied, developed and flourished.
It goes without saying that the universal self wants its own devices; the most important one is
its language.
Cultural globalization: In accordance with enhanced mobility and the rise of various
cultural networks in all domains of life, people assume multiple and flexible identities instead
of one uniformed national character. As a result, there exists “an intellectual and aesthetic
stance of openness toward divergent cultural experiences, a search for contrasts rather than
uniformity” (Hannerz, 1990: 239).Cultural globalisation is evident in the spread of the
English language around the world and in the films and TV programs that are sometimes seen
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by millions of people in different countries at the same time. As the spread of English
progresses, English is bound to reflect a diversity of distinct cultures.
Global commerce: Nowadays, nations are dependant on one another economically in both
importing and exporting goods. The increasing globalization of the marketplace is forcing
companies to pay more attention to international developments. In an international
environment they have to select a common language to remove communication troubles.
Graddol (1997: 32) clarifies six possible concerns which might relate to the English
communication needs and communication patterns in globalized economic development:
1) A local concern: Basically joint venture establishments account for local matters, and
they tend to use a common language, English, in communication. This situation may create
the need for local communities to learn English.
2) Legal documents: Because international legal agreements are written in English based
on an international consensus about the meaning of terms, obligations and rights, this may
create a requirement for specialist English language training for lawyers.
3) International business involvement: A joint venture ownership company is likely to be
involved in international trade importing raw materials and exporting finished goods. This
will create a need for office workers, sales and marketing staff with skills in English.
4) Technology transfer: Principally most transfer is sourced by a TNC some of whose
members are either English speaking or use English for external trade, which is strongly
associated with English. Technology transfer is not only limited to the joint company business
itself but may also be related to linked infrastructure growth such as airports, railways and
telecommunications.
5) Supporting services: Supporting services such as hotels and tourist facilities may be
required for international visitors. The staff of minor enterprises may also require training in
English for these visitors.
6) A new job order: Jobs in joint venture companies may be better paid and more attractive
than those in the public sector of a developing country. English qualifications may become an
entry necessity, or have perceived value in access to jobs.
Now some studies which show the importance of English from commercial viewpoint are
reviewed in this section.
Kam and Wong (2004) assessing the economic and political circumstances of East Asian
countries, emphasize that to be successfully relocated into the large-scale worldwide business
system, strong economic rudiments, including a commitment to education and learning as
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well as advanced levels in English language proficiency amongst the workforce, have become
the key issues in steering individual nations in this highly competitive globalized atmosphere.
In South Asia, Gargesh (2006: 90) comments that English does not only act as a shared
language between people of different regions with different mother-tongue backgrounds, but
also as the common language among the South Asian countries. English is currently
acknowledged as a national and international language which represents the modernization
and progress of individual countries.
In China, according to Wylie (2006), a prominent national policy has been issued and put
in place which does not allow a student to graduate from a Chinese university without passing
the National Basic English Exam. Thus the estimated number of Chinese children who are
studying English would far outweigh the entire population of the British Isles.
According to Kachru. Y and Smith (2009: 2) in East Asia, e.g., China, Japan, and Korea,
the motivation has been economic – the need for the expansion of international trade requires
the populations to become more proficient in English which is the language of international
business, commerce and finance. To cite as an example, changes happened to the language
policy of some countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Mongolia. "When the Malaysian
government recently decided that Malaysia’s economic future as a regional centre was in
decline and that better English language proficiency on the part of school leavers was needed,
they decided to switch to using English for the teaching of math and science, starting from
primary school (Richards, 2009)."
Technological needs: Today information is transmitted and received at increasing speed.
The competitive demands of governments, industries, and corporations, both national and
multinational, for technological progress requires an understanding of the language of that
technology—English. In less than 20 years, information processing, once limited to the
printed word, has given way to computers and the Internet. Computer-mediated
communication is closing the gap between spoken and written English. On 7th March in 2005
Newsweek reports that "technology plays a huge role in English's global triumph. Eighty
percent of the electronically stored information in the world is in English; 66 percent of the
world's scientists read in it, according to the British Council."
Modern communications technology continues to spread at every level – locally, regionally
and globally – with greater diffusion of information transmitted with greater intensity and
velocity. As a result, the geographically local might appear less familiar, more alienating than
images projected via satellite from across the globe. The local thus often becomes
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defamiliarized and the global familiarized, blurring the boundaries between what is local and
global, leading to what Robertson (1995) terms ‘glocalization’.
Democratic Complementary Model
For convergence in the WEs, there are some models. The first model returns to the parent
or native speaker varieties. There are enough reasons to support such a model.
The U.S and U.K are powerful countries economically, technologically, scientifically and
politically. The developing countries are in search of meeting their economical, scientific and
technological needs. To do so, they need a common language through which they achieve
what they want. According to Kachru (1985), native speakers are norm providers for the
Outer and Expanding circles. Based on this model, when it comes to the intra-national needs,
every variety has its own say and when needs arise; native speaker varieties serve the
international functions of English.
In this model, there are some contacts between native speaker varieties and nativized
varieties; native speaker varieties affect non-native speaker varieties' norms and their teaching
and testing. The term Macdonaldism was used to convey this message (Jenkins: 2006).
The second model that I propose here focuses on a type of linguistic democracy in the
production and manifestation of a common international language in which each variety plays
an active role with respect to its social, cultural, political, linguistic and national functions. All
varieties have the right to vote for such a norm. It is termed under the title of pluricentralism
(Jenkins: 2006). Such a democratic model is complementary because it considers both
international and intranational functions, description, and needs of English.
We should not be ignorant of the fact that native speaker varieties have one share, too. It
leads into linguistic pluralism preserving all voices and having linguistic, cultural, ideological
polyphonies. Relying on the commonalities for the sake of mutual intelligibility seems to be
logical regarding the economy of sociolinguistic realities of language.
However the challenges of power come to the fore. All should step forward to have one
common standard. As the speakers of the WEs should avoid going to extremes using their
variety in an international milieu, native speakers move in the direction of offshore English
(Richards, 2009) which is an English lacking idioms, complicated grammatical points, and
complex lexical items. Richards warned native speakers that they need to develop the ability
to use a type of English that makes use of high frequency vocabulary that avoids
colloquialisms, vague language, and obscure syntax which is like Basic English. According to
a recent report about meetings held in European Union in the Economist, native-English-
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speakers are hard for colleagues to understand because they talk too fast and use unclear
idioms. (Richards, 2009).
English Language Teaching
In traditional Second Language Acquisition native speaker norms were considered as the
standards for all learners of English from outer circle countries or expanding circle countries.
Such a perspective is not accepted (Cook, 1999; Davies, 1991; McKay, 2003; Rampton,
1990). According to Jenkins (2006) "native speaker accents are not only socio-linguistically
inappropriate for communication in which native speakers are not involved, but also psycho-
linguistically and socio-psychologically unachievable for the majority of adolescents and
adult learners." It will cause learners to get disappointed and quit learning English. Strictly
focusing on native speaker's norms or the production of native or native-like speakers is
psycho-linguistically impossible and pedagogically idealistic and unattainable.
Nature is full of balanced paradoxes. Gathering two conflicting forces together naturally
causes balance in the phenomenon affected by such forces. Applying the complementary
model of English language teaching that balances divergent and convergent forces of the
spread of English in pedagogical scenes is another possible paradox. In my opinion, the nature
of the symbiosis of convergent and divergent forces should be manifested in the process of
teaching. Human being can not be manacled just to his/her own soil, culture, nationality,
values, ideologies, languages and collective selves, but s/he has global concerns, culture,
identity, values, belongings and language, too.
It is not far from reality to say that in the coming decade of twenty-first century,
researchers move in both directions of the changes in English language and in the future
students will strive to have both of these wings to fly in the future national and international
skies. On the one hand the teachers have an intra-national perspective and teach the use of
language to meet intra-national functions; on the other hand they have a universal viewpoint
and prepare the citizens of the global village to understand other cultures and to tolerate other
citizens of the village.
To be communicatively competent in today's borderless world, a language learner should
be familiar with both intra-national and international ways of speaking and must be able to
switch , when needed, from private voice to a public voice (Kramsch, 1999) and should have
" local appropriation" and "global appropriacy" (Alptekin,2002: 63).
Pakir (1999) named English as the "glocal" language serving both local and global needs.
Rajadurai dealt with this point while studying two faces of English in Malaysia:
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When engaging in global interaction, English points us outwards as a language of wider
communication, but when used within the community, it points us inwards into our very being, our
sense of individual and social identity. These two faces of English establish a tension that learners and
users must come to terms with. As for educators, they must grapple with the uses of English for global
communication, without losing sight of how it is embedded in local contexts. (Rajadurai, 2007: 83)
It goes without saying that such an educational system needs curricula, plans, syllabi,
contents, dictionaries, course books and norms which are considerate of both of these two
poles in the spread of English.
Now the global society is to decide, that is, every nation with its own English variety plays
a part in the process of writing an international English dictionary. It owns one part of the
world as its own property, so it is true in the case of the world language. If a word is supposed
to be added to the English dictionary, all varieties have the same chance. If a person makes
effort to learn English in one part of the world, the same amount of effort is needed for other
people living in the other parts of the globe. "In the past the onus of understanding native
varieties was on the non–native speakers. Now, the onus of understanding non-native varieties
is on native speakers (Patil, 2009)."
In teacher training such a movement should be more accentuated. Unfortunately in the past
the gap between theory and practice in the issue of WEs was great; lack of success relates to
teacher education program's lack of concern about this issue. Would-be teachers getting their
BA or MA degrees pass no courses related to WEs.
Using the model, we can deem both local culture and global cultures. It causes to maintain
a balance between these cultures and not to go to extremes in any direction. Mackay
(2003:10) cited from Gortazzi and Jin (1999:204-5) who suggest three types of cultural
information language textbooks and materials can use: Source culture materials that draw on
the learners' own culture as content, target culture materials that use the culture of a country in
which native language is used, and international target culture materials that use a wide
variety of cultures in English and non-English speaking countries around the world.
Integrative motivation to learn a foreign language is not the case nowadays and it lost its
meaning because all the world is the owner of English and it doesn't have "a real meaning" in
the age of globalization. Ushioda and Do¨rnyei (2009:4) pointed out that Lamb's (2004) self-
report data from junior high school students in Indonesia showed that "their motivation to
learn English may partly be shaped by the pursuit of a bicultural identity, that is, a global or
world citizen identity on the one hand, and a sense of local or national identity as an
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Indonesian on the other". They may thus search for to ‘a vision of an English-speaking
globally-involved but nationally responsible’ (Lamb, 2004: 16).
"The notion of Global English is less and less associated with any specific L2 community
and is linked increasingly to a cosmopolitan community" ( Do¨rnyei, Zoltan., Csizér, Kata., &
Németh, Nora (2006)).Consequently the empire of native speaker variety came to an end;
now the world celebrates the democracy of Englishes belonging to all of their users.
Kumaravadivelu (2008:46) asserts that few language programs “develop a global cultural
consciousness in the learner”. “True global cultural consciousness will be perpetuated by
culturally informed and progressive teaching practices, suggesting that teachers take the
initiative to incorporate a more ground-up approach that is relevant to the local community”
(Canagarajah, 2005 : xxvii).
It seems that in coming decade outer circle countries find louder voices regarding
administering justice in the construction of English as an International language; English
books will have different contents and colors containing corpuses of the words of people who
use English all over the world. Such corpus-based course books make the citizens of the globe
believe that English is actually their own property to the extent that it is not as is the case with
other phenomena like the earth, the sky, soil and other shared properties.
English Language Testing
If we want to consider one part of language pedagogy as its Achilles heel looking from
WEs viewpoint, that point will be language testing. Whether we like it or not, all the
pedagogical processes are evaluated by testing. If we want to shift from the concept of native
speaker proficiency, we must first present a definition for EIL proficiency. This involves the
cooperation of researchers across the world.
Each variety of WEs has its own norm. Based on their norms, their proficiency can be
defined operationally. But the problem gets worse when it comes to testing English from a
global perspective since we don't know whose norms should be used.( Davies, A, Hamp-
Lyons, L and Kemp, C, 2003)
Lowenberg (1993:95) showed that " in language testing an implicit (and frequently
explicit) assumption has long been that the criteria for measuring proficiency in English
around the world should be candidate's use of particular features of English which are used
and accepted as norms by highly educated native speakers of English."
So the problem with TOEFL and IELTS and even TOEIC tests is that they have native
speaker bias and their objectives are to evaluate the language proficiency of a person who
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wants to attend a native speaking situation. Other nations take shelter in TOEFL and IELTS
because they lack such powerfully constructed and globally administered and supported tests.
Behind these tests, linguistic and cultural imperialism (Philipson,1992) and interested
knowledge (Pennycook,2001), and western cultural spread along with pedagogy
prescriptivism(Kachru, 1985:21 cited from Acar, 2007) lie.
Most of the time the most dangerous part is what we are sure of it. The scenario of norm
wars was written (Davis, A. et .al.) and it is going to be played in coming decades and a call
for researchers was yelled. Language testing has such a future in applied linguistics. This
phenomenon, which has an acceptable appearance and is supported by the prophets of
language testing and statistics, has shaky legs regarding its validity.
Brown ( 2004:318) listed Englishes that may have some influences on English language tests :
1. the English(es) of the test takers’ local community,
2. the dominant English of the test taker (which may not be the same as the local
community),
3. the English(es) of the test content,
4. the English(es) of the test proctors,
5. the English(es) of the test scorers/raters,
6. the English(es) of the decision target community,
7. the English(es) of the decision target purpose,
8. the English(es) of the decision makers
With regard to WE paradigm, we should take an action as soon as possible and think about
the most appropriate tests which take into account linguistic, ethnic, cultural, ideological,
social, and political considerations.
The complementary model considers both local norms and global norms as standards when
needed. In such a standard all varieties have the same chance of appropriateness and being
problematic. It is a democratic norm specification in which all members of English varieties
have the same challenge and common concern for the same cause i.e. intelligibility.
Solving language testing problems involves solving problems of communicative
competence, syllabus designing, language teaching, and teacher education. Davidson (2006:
714) stated that "empirical work in language testing and world Englishes scholarship is
essential."
Conclusion
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Pluricetrality of English in the world is proposed in the WE paradigm; every variety has its
own say in such a perspective. Nations of the world, while using their own variety which is
rooted in their collective selves, should have a careful look at the world with which they have
interactions in the global village and the language used in such circumstances to solve the
problems of the terrestrial planet.
Critical issues have gained ground in applied linguistics; new varieties of English can be
considered the shouts of pleading for justice from the speakers of theses varieties to take the
same advantage out of the global language that Inner Circle varieties have.
One big challenge in coming decade is how to put the complementary model into practice.
I hope those who are concerned about ELT across the globe start doing something for our
common concern, that is, to decolonize English. It is originally a call for democracy. In the
coming decade the progeny of the parent languages show their own identities and
characteristics and they also give birth to newer varieties.
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