World Englishes

World Englishes (WE) is a paradigm that recognises and legitimises the diversity of English varieties worldwide. The field challenges the assumption that British or American English are the only "correct" standards, arguing instead that English has been nativised and adapted wherever it is used.

Kachru's Three Circles (1985)

Braj Kachru's concentric circles model is the most influential framework for categorising the global spread of English:

Circle	Role of English	Examples	Speakers (est.)
Inner Circle	L1 / native language	UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand	~380 million
Outer Circle	L2 / institutionalised second language (colonial legacy)	India, Nigeria, Singapore, Philippines, Kenya, Malaysia	~300–500 million
Expanding Circle	EFL / foreign language, learned in schools	China, Brazil, Japan, Vietnam, Russia, South Korea	~750 million+

The model made a powerful political point: Outer Circle varieties (Indian English, Nigerian English, Singaporean English) are legitimate systems with their own norms, not deficient approximations of Inner Circle English.

Key Concepts

• Norm-providing — Inner Circle varieties have historically set the standards
• Norm-developing — Outer Circle varieties are developing their own standards (e.g., codified Indian English grammar and dictionaries)
• Norm-dependent — Expanding Circle countries still look to Inner Circle norms (though this is changing)
• Nativisation — the process by which English adapts to local linguistic and cultural contexts, developing new phonological, grammatical, and lexical features
• Pluricentricity — English has multiple centres of authority, not just London and Washington

Criticisms of the Model

• Static categories — the circles imply fixed boundaries, but globalisation blurs them (a Vietnamese professional using English daily may have more in common with an Outer Circle user than a traditional EFL learner)
• Homogeneity assumed — each country contains enormous internal variation; "Indian English" covers hundreds of varieties
• The native speaker problem — the model still centres the Inner Circle as the historical origin; some scholars argue for abandoning the native/non-native distinction entirely
• No account of ELF — interactions between Expanding Circle speakers (the fastest-growing use of English) do not fit neatly into any circle

Implications for ELT

The WE paradigm raises fundamental questions for language teaching:

• Which model? — Should learners aim at British/American English, or is a local educated variety an appropriate target?
• Materials — Should textbooks include Indian English, Singaporean English, Nigerian English alongside Inner Circle varieties? Most still do not.
• Assessment — Should IELTS and Cambridge exams penalise features of legitimate Outer Circle varieties? (Currently, they accept a range of "standard" accents but the norms remain Inner Circle-oriented.)
• Teacher identity — Non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) bring Multi-competence and insider knowledge of the learning process; the WE paradigm validates their expertise.
• Intelligibility over accuracy — in many contexts, mutual intelligibility matters more than conformity to a single standard. See Lingua Franca Core.