English World-Wide - Volume 28, Issue 3, 2007

This paper examines the role that educational policies and practices have played in weakening the Norf’k language, a contact language that developed among British sailors and their Tahitian entourage on Pitcairn Island in the late 18th century. It is argued that the education system was only one of several factors in the decline of Norf’k and that its projected revival will require more than just supportive educational measures.

This article discusses possible reasons for the (near-)absence of a feature from Newfoundland Vernacular English (NVE) that was present in both of its major donor dialects, namely the varieties of Southwest (SW) England and Ireland. Unstressed periphrastic do, the feature under investigation, is used as a tense carrier and marker of habituality in Southwestern dialects and — in a more restricted context — in Irish English (IrE). Modern NVE shows only traces of periphrastic do. All of these uses are (a) of IrE origin and (b) recessive (cf. e.g. Clarke 2004b: 305). If all settlers had used the feature at the time they emigrated to Newfoundland, it is extremely unlikely that it should have been lost in NVE, one of the most conservative varieties of English, but maintained, at least to a certain extent, in the much less conservative modern varieties of SW English and IrE. This paper suggests possible stages of the life of periphrastic do in Newfoundland. With the help of evidence from literature on SW English dialects from the 19th and 20th centuries, it is argued that it is unlikely that all settlers were do users when arriving in Newfoundland. Moreover, a competing variant, generalized verbal ‑s, a pattern typical of NVE to the present day, existed in some of the settlers’ grammars (both SW English and IrE). It is assumed that periphrastic do, if it ever existed in NVE in those uses typical of SW English dialects, has been eradicated through contact with dialects that either used generalized ‑s or a more standard system.

This paper discusses some major processes which characterise Nigerian English (NigE) phonology at the segmental level. After a review of patterns of realisation of English sounds in NigE, the paper identifies, analyses and names, where no previous names exist, the most salient contextual processes which can be considered the hallmarks of this variety of English. The next part of the analysis discusses the patterns of interaction of rules in NigE, addressing issues like ordering of rules, feeding and bleeding. The third part highlights the behaviour of NigE in relation to the existing rules of English; it thus acknowledges that NigE shares many existing rules of English phonology. But more importantly it shows that NigE applies other rules differently (either more generally, partially, or inordinately) and that some of its rules are altogether new when perceived in terms of the standard accents of Inner Circle Englishes. The conclusion of the study shows, inter alia, that the findings can be used very fruitfully to provide further, alternative, and arguably more convincing explanations and interpretations of many facts of NigE and related Englishes.

This study explores attitudes of Botswana students towards the functions of English and Setswana and to find out whether the students are instrumentally or integratively motivated to learn these languages. It also explores whether indigenous languages should be taught in schools. Data was collected using a questionnaire adapted from Gardner’s (1985) Attitude and Motivation Test Battery (AMTB). The results of this study show that Botswana students have a positive attitude towards English and Setswana. Despite Botswana students’ loyalty to Setswana, they think that Setswana should not become the medium of instruction, but it should continue to be taught as a subject. Botswana students seem to favour bilingualism or multilingualism because they suggest that indigenous languages should also be taught in schools.

This article provides a report from the editorial office of English World-Wide, covering the five-year period of 2003 to 2007. Specifically, it describes the stages of the editing and manuscript handling process from submission to publication, and it breaks down submission and publication figures of articles by world regions.