讲座：世界英语简史
记者：陈家丽
11月16日晚上, Ms. Tiffany May Poon在励耘楼A207举行了一个名为《世界英语简史》的讲座。
首先, Tiffany讲述了”世界英语”的基本概念。"世界英语" 一词指的是在受美国或英国影响的地区发展起来的新的英语变体。世界英语的传播者是定居者们(不列颠群岛从十七世纪移居到新世界的居民) 和殖民者们(英国从十八世纪到二十世纪入侵非洲和亚洲许多地区的侵略者)。这种现象也称为语言扩张主义。
Tiffany举了语言扩张主义的例子--印度的英语、台湾的日语与普通话和澳大利亚与美国的习惯用法。它们成为主导语言的原因是为了团结领土居民和展示征服者的优越性。殖民地地区的 "语言扩张主义" 似乎没有争议。
接着Tiffany讨论了"谁受益于英语语言扩张主义"。作为北京师范大学珠海分校的一名雅思教师，她认为培训机构能从中受益，并且大部分机构是为了帮助学生们通过雅思或托福考试。Tiffany 提到不要混淆方言和口音, 因为标准英语就是一种方言。一个国家需要一种标准的语言来促进人民之间的团结, 并且作为一个独立国家的象征。
最后, Tiffany与学生讨论了英语在中国大陆的功能和地位。
学生们都积极参与问题的讨论。通过这次讲座, 学生们对英语有了更深刻的理解，认识到扩张主义对世界语言格局的深远影响。
A Lecture “World Englishes: A Brief Introduction”
By：Chen Jiali
On the evening of November 16th, a lecture named “World Englishes: A Brief Introduction " was held by Ms. Tiffany May Poon in A207 of Liyun Building.
Firstly, Tiffany presented the basic concepts of “World Englishes”. The term World Englishes referred to emerging varieties of English that had been developed in regions influenced by the US or UK. The disseminators of World English were the settlers (those from the British Isles who migrated to the New World from 17th century) and the colonizers (invaders from Britain who invaded many parts of Africa and Asia from the 18th to 20th century). This phenomenon was also called Linguistic Imperialism.
Tiffany then exemplified Linguistic Imperialism: English in India, Japanese/Mandarin in Taiwan and idioms in Australia/USA were all perfect examples. The reason they became the dominate languages was for uniting the territories and showing the conquerors’ superiority. “Linguistic Imperialism”in the colonial areas seemed uncontroversial.
After that, Tiffany discussed “who benefits from English linguistic imperialism”. As an IELTS teacher in BNUZ, she thought the training institutions could benefit from it, and most of them attempted to help the students pass the IELTS or TOEFL test. Tiffany told students not to confuse dialects and accents because standard English itself is a dialect. What’s more, a country needs a standard language for promoting unity among people and serving as a symbol of being a independent state.
Finally, Tiffany discussed with students about the functions and status of English in mainland China.
Students were actively involved in the discussion. Through this lecture, students had a deeper understanding of English and the profound influence of imperialism on the world language pattern.
