Changing Englishes Course

Course Introduction
FAQs
Unit 1: Defining English
Unit 1: Table of contents
1.0 What is English?
1.1 Monolithic vs plurilithic concepts
1.1.1 Monolithic concepts of language
1.1.2 Plurilithic concepts of language
1.2 ‘Standard English’
1.2.1 ‘Standard English’: History
1.2.2 ‘Standard English’: Beliefs
1.2.3 Advantages and disadvantages of ‘Standard English’ for ELT
1.3 Rules of English
1.3.1 The ambiguity of the word rule
1.3.2 Rules of English: The monolithic view
1.3.3 Rules of English: The plurilithic view
1.4 Four dimensions of monolithism
1.5 Check Your understanding
1.6 Reflect and discuss
Unit 2: Using English
Unit 2: Table of contents
2.0 Global talk in English
2.1 Introducing Lingua Franca usage
2.2.1 Native speaker variation
2.2.2 Native speakers: Accommodation
2.3 Englishes in the British Isles
2.4 World Englishes
2.4.1 Englishes in your part of the world
2.4.2 Owning a language (Part 1)
2.5 ELF
2.5.1 Intelligibility
2.5.2 ELF in your part of the world
2.6 Translanguaging with English
2.7 Check your understanding
2.8 Reflect and discuss
Unit 3: Learning English
Unit 3: Table of contents
3.0 English as subject and object
3.1 First language acquisition
3.2 Back to rules
3.2.1 Rules as patterns in the mind (Part 1)
3.2.2 Rules as social markers
3.2.3 Rules as mental representations
3.2.4 Rules in schools
3.2.5 Rules as patterns in the mind (2)
3.3 Models and targets
3.4 Learning contexts
3.5 Owning a language (Part 2)
3.6 Learners and users
3.7 Check your understanding
3.8 Reflect and discuss
Unit 4: Teaching English
Unit 4: Table of contents
4.0 Teaching the object language
4.1 Changing roles for teachers
4.2 Changing versions of English
4.3 Your learning and teaching materials
4.4 Your learning and teaching activities
4.5 Testing English
4.6 Check your understanding
4.7 Reflect and discuss
Unit 5: Changing English
Unit 5: Table of contents
5.0 You hold the future of English in your hands
5.1 The challenge
5.2 Changing learners’ beliefs about English
5.3 Changing teaching colleagues’ beliefs about English
5.4 Changing policy-makers’ beliefs about English
5.5 Changing the public’s beliefs about English
5.6 Check your understanding
5.7 Reflect and Discuss
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1.1 Monolithic vs plurilithic concepts

Changing Englishes Course 1.1 Monolithic vs plurilithic concepts

Concept: English is more like a galaxy than a rock

Terrestrial planets like Venus and Earth are essentially big lumps of rock, and so might be called monolithic objects (from the Ancient Greek mono- ‘one, single’ and lithos ‘rock’). Galaxies like the Milky Way, on the other hand, are massive collections of stars, gas, dust and dark matter that coalesce together through gravitational force. Galaxies might then be termed plurilithic (using the Latin prefix pluri- ‘many’) to indicate that they are systems made up of many smaller entities. 

English is without doubt a plurilithic entity, more like a galaxy than a rock. (By the way, the analogy is not a new one: in 1981 the applied linguist Larry Smith suggested that “it may be helpful to think of English as being a galaxy rather than a star” [1981, p. xxi].)

Activity

This course aims to raise awareness of the plurilithic nature of English and explore its consequences for learning and teaching. But before we get started, use the self-assessment tool below to check your own levels of awareness and belief regarding Monolithic vs Plurilithic concepts of English.

Self-Assessment Tool: the OEQ (Orientations to English Questionnaire; Hall et al., 2022)

Here is a PDF version (PDF, 0.6MB) in case you want to use it offline.

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