Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
Julio Torres
MemberAnyone who is in a multilingual context and uses English to communicate can claim ownership of English. They are using English as an International Language
Julio Torres
MemberI teach at a Colombian university where students are learning English and French at the same time, so I sometimes find myself using code-switching (English- Spanish)and my students sometimes get mixed up with the languages they are learning but I allow them to use Spanish or French in my English class. This might be an example of translanguaging and it is sometimes usesul when explaining a difficult concept or word. However, when I evaluate their performance I use only English and tell my students to stick to the target language I am teaching.
Julio Torres
MemberI am a native speaker of Spanish but i am happy to see how widely wspread it is now, I do not think the native speakers own their mother tongue, in fact, it belongs to anyone who uses it for communicative purposes. English, Spanish, French and other languages in the eastern world are being used as international languages and due to the geopolitics of English, it has become a lingua franca. However, this does not prevent people from functioning as plurilingual sepakers in a multilingual world. In the future there might be other lingua francas and English might be part of them, who knows? it can be Spanish, Chinese or Arabic or prurilingualism will be the international norm and ¿who will claim ownership then?
Julio Torres
MemberThere might be just one idealised standard variety of English in peoples´ minds in the planet, but the reality is that there were, are, and will be as many varieties of English as it is needed at the local and global context in the galaxy. These varieties are conventionally used and determined by the speech community and the languages in contact. Besides, the geopolitics of English and structures that impose, maintain, or challenge the hegemony of one particular vareity of language have played a political role in the use of a standard English, English as an international language (EIL)or ELF.
Julio Torres
MemberIt is true that table manners are culturally created and conventionally used in a determined context but they are also used ot not if you have visitors at home or you are invited to a fancy dinner. I think standard English or the standard of any language is determined by different factors such as social calss, gender, age, etc. in all context and according to socilinguistic norms of any speeech community.
Julio Torres
MemberIn Colombia we have the official language which is Spanish, however, some indigenous language are used in their territories. There is a stron belief about Standard Spanish anyways, despite the very many varieties of Spanish in Colombia and in Latin America. English is considered a Foreign language in the mainland and it is only spoken in San Andres Islands and Providence in a creole variety in combination with Spanish for everyday use.
Julio Torres
MemberIn Spanish we do have different words to refer to language. Spanish seems to be as flexible when it comes to nominalising a verb or verbalising a noun as we can see in the English language in its different varieties. We would not always use language as a verb.For example, we can change habla (noun) to hablar (verb) but we would never say “lenguajear or idiomar. I think we need to get familiar with the usage of each language to avoid awkward use of words or expressions.
-
AuthorPosts