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Lesson 8 Kachru Model "The Three Circles of English"

Kachru's model, known as "The Three Circles of English", classifies English speakers into three groups: the Inner Circle, Outer Circle, and Expanding Circle. The Inner Circle consists of traditional English-speaking countries like the US, UK, and Canada that provide norms for the language. The Outer Circle includes countries with English as an official language due to colonial history, like India and Pakistan, that challenge and develop norms. The Expanding Circle comprises countries where English is learned as a foreign language, like China and Russia, that follow norms established by the Inner and Outer Circles.

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473 views

Lesson 8 Kachru Model "The Three Circles of English"

Kachru's model, known as "The Three Circles of English", classifies English speakers into three groups: the Inner Circle, Outer Circle, and Expanding Circle. The Inner Circle consists of traditional English-speaking countries like the US, UK, and Canada that provide norms for the language. The Outer Circle includes countries with English as an official language due to colonial history, like India and Pakistan, that challenge and develop norms. The Expanding Circle comprises countries where English is learned as a foreign language, like China and Russia, that follow norms established by the Inner and Outer Circles.

Uploaded by

Jen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Kachru Model “The Three Circles of English”

Throughout the history of England and the British Empire, experts have proposed many models to try to
classify English speakers. However, not all linguists agree in which classification is the best. In this
article I will take a look at one of those classifications, Kachru’s model, which was proposed just five
decades ago. But before starting to explain any the model we need to be aware of the fact that this is a
three-group model. That is, one that classifies speakers as:
• ENL: English as a native language, these are native speakers born in an English-speaking
country, having then this language as their mother tongue or first tongue.
• ESL: English as a second language, these are the non-native speakers who have learnt English
almost at the same time as their mother tongue.
• EFL: English as a foreign language, these are the non-native speakers who learnt English in a
country where English is not usually spoken.
• Although this classification shows some problems such as the classification of bilingual speakers,
the psychological problems shown in ENL of speakers of non-standard varieties, and ESL speakers who
are not comfortable to use the language in certain situations. This is the main classification that linguists
take into account in order to write their own models.
• For many sociolinguists the most important and accurate model is the one proposed by Braj
Kachru in 1988. His “Three circle model of World Englishes”, states that there are three circles inside
which, the different speakers are classified. The different circles are:
• The Inner Circle is made up the traditional bases of English and its speakers are the ones in
charge of providing the norms. These places are where the norms are created and from which they spread
to the other circles. Some of the countries that conform the Inner Circle are USA, UK and Canada.
• The Outer Circle represents the places where they speak official non-native varieties of English
because of their colonial history. The speakers of these places are the ones who challenge the norms and
develop them. They are mainly ESL. Some of the countries that belong to this circle are India, Pakistan
and Egypt.
• The Expanding Circle is made up by EFL speakers where English is not usually spoken. In this
circle the speakers have to follow the rules established by the Inner Circle and developed or challenged by
the Outer one. Some examples of countries that belong to this circle are China, Russia and Brazil.
• The Inner Circle as was explained before is made up by the countries who belong to the first
diaspora.

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