Abstract
Although the globalization of English underscores the range of English language variation world-wide, most models for TESOL assume an idealized, monolithic version of English. ESOL learners confront great variation in the English of their everyday lives, including many non-mainstream, vernacular varieties of English. This paper argues for the integration of language diversity into both teacher training and student materials in ESOL, offering a rationale and some representative, illustrative activities that might be considered in a curriculum.On a theoretical level, instructors and students understand the systematic nature of the English language in all its variation, regardless of social valuation. On a descriptive and applied level, students can understand local, community norms as they acquire English, including some of the vernacular community models spoken by those around them. Teachers and students also are exposed to attitudes about language variation that play a central role in how speakers view themselves and other speakers of the language.
“As English becomes ever more widely used, so it becomes ever more difficult to characterize the ways that support the fiction of a simple, single language.”(Peter Strevens 1982:23)
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adger, C., Walt W., & Christian, D. (2007). Dialects in schools and communities (2nd ed.). Mahweh: Erlbaum.
Baumgartner, R. J. (2006). Teaching world Englishes. In B. B. Kachru, Y. Kachru, & C. L. Nelson (Eds.), The handbook od world Englishes (pp. 661–679). Malden: Blackwell.
Brown, K. (2006). Models, methods, and curriculum in ELT preparation. In B. B. Kachru, Y. Kachru, & C. L. Nelson (Eds.). The Handbook of World Englishes (pp. 680–693).
Bullock, L. M. (2006). Testers posing as Katrina survivors encounter ‘linguistic profiling’. New American Media. http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=88d97b82640f6ba16f5e07d9d695a1b3. Accessed 20 Aug 2006.
Callahan, E. (2008). Accommodation without Assimilation: Past Tense Unmarking and Peak Accent Alignment in Hispanic English. MA thesis. Raleigh: North Carolina State University.
Carter, P. M. (2007). Phonetic variation and speaker agency: Mexicana identity in a North Carolina middle school. Penn Working Papers in Linguistics, 13, 1–15.
Craig, D. (1982). Toward a description of Caribbean English. In B. B. Kachru (Ed.), The Other Tongue: English Across Cultures. Urbana: University of Illinois Press (pp. 198–209).
Crewe, W. (Ed.). (1977). The English language in Singapore. Singapore: Eastern Universities Press.
Fought, C. (2003). Chicano English in context. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Fought, C. (2006). Language and ethnicity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Haynes, L. M. (1982). Caribbean English: Form and function. In B. B. Kachru (Ed.), The Other Tongue: English Across Cultures. Urbana: University of Illinois Press pp. 210–229.
Kachru, B. B. (1969). English in South Asia. In T. Sebeok (Ed.), Current trends in linguistics V. The Hague: Mouton.
Kachru, B. B. (Ed.). (1982). The other tongue: English across cultures. Champaign-Urbana: Pergamon Press.
Kachru, B. B., Kachru, Y. & Nelson, C. L. (Eds.), (2006). Handbook of World Englishes. Malden: Blackwell.
Kohn, M. E. (2008). Latino English in North Carolina: A comparison of emerging communities. MA thesis. Raleigh: North Carolina State University.
Kohn, M. E., & Franz, H. A. (2009). Localized patterns for global variants: The case of quotative systems of African American and Latino/a speakers. American Speech, 84, 259–297.
Labov, W., Ash, S., & Boberg, C. (2006). The Atlas of North American English. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Lippi-Green, R. (2012). English with an Accent: Language, ideology and discrimination in the United States (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Llamzon, T. A. (1969). Standard Filipino English. Manilla: Anteneo University Press.
Massengill, S. (2011) Dialect and literature curriculum. Raleigh. http://www.ncsu.edu/linguistics/docs/curriculum/Massengill%20Lit%20Curriculum.pdf . Accessed 4 March 2014.
Preston, D. (1989). Sociolinguistics and second language acquisition. Malden: Blackwell.
Reaser, J. (2006). The effect of dialect awareness on adolescent knowledge and attitudes. Ph. D. Dissertation, Duke University.
Reaser, J., & Adger, C. T. (2007). Developing language awareness materials for non-linguists: Lessons learned from the do you speak American? Project. Language and Linguistic Compass, 1(3), 155–167.
Reaser, J., & Wolfram, W. (2007). Voices of North Carolina: Language and life from the Atlantic to the Appalachians (2nd ed.). Teachers manual, student workbook, and resource DVDs. Raleigh: North Carolina Language and Life Project. http://www.ncsu.edu/linguistics/education/dialectcurriculum.php. Accessed 4 March 2014.
Reaser, J., Adger, C. T., & Hoyle S. (2005). Using do you speak American? For educator training and professional development: Guide and materials. http://www.pbs.org/speak/education/training/. Accessed 4 March 2014.
Richards, J. C., & Tey, M. W. J. (1981). Norm and variability in language use. In L. Smith (Ed.), English for cross cultural communication. London: MacMillan.
Schneider, E. W. (2007). Postcolonial English: Varieties around the world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Spencer, J. (1971). Colonial language policies and their legacies. In T. A. Sebeok (Ed.), Current trends in linguistics VII. The Hague: Mouton.
Strevens, P. (1972). British and American English. London: Collier-Macmillan.
Strevens, P. (1982). The localized forms of English. In B. Kachru (Ed.). The Other Tongue: English Across Cultures. Urbana: University of Illinois Press (pp. 23–30).
Sweetland, J. (2006). Teaching writing in the African American classroom. Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University.
Wolfram, W. (1974). Sociolinguistic aspects of assimilation: Puerto Rican English in New York City. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Wolfram, W. (1982). Language knowledge and other dialects. American Speech, 57, 318.
Wolfram, W. (2007). Sociolinguistic myths in the study of African American English. Linguistic and Language Compass, 2, 292–313.
Wolfram, W. (2011). A TESOL virtual seminar on integrating language variation into SECOL: Challenges from English globalization. http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/sec_document.asp?CID=1426&DID=13639. Accessed 13 Oct 2011.
Wolfram, W., & Schilling-Estes, N. (2006). American English: Dialects and variation. Malden: Blackwell.
Wolfram, W., & Thomas, E. R. (2002). The development of African American English. Malden: Blackwell.
Wolfram, W., Adger, C., & Detwyler, J. (1993). All about dialects: Instructor’s manual. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Wolfram, W., Carter, P., & Moriello, B. (2004). Emerging Hispanic English: New dialect formation in the American South. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 8, 339–358.
Wolfram, W., Kohn, M., & Callahan-Price, E. (2011). Southern-bred Hispanic English: An emerging variety. In J. Michnowitz & R. Dodsworth (Eds.), Cascadilla: Selected Proceedings of the 5th Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics, 5, 1–13.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wolfram, W. (2014). Integrating Language Variation into TESOL: Challenges from English Globalization. In: Mahboob, A., Barratt, L. (eds) Englishes in Multilingual Contexts. Multilingual Education, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8869-4_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8869-4_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-8868-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-8869-4
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)