Phạm Đặng Gia Thịnh

Question 1: Explain the following terms:  ENL (English as a native language),

EFL (English as a foreign language) and ELF (English a lingua franca). Give
examples to illustrate the definitions.
- ENL (English as a native language):
 The variety of the English language spoken by people who acquired English
as their first language or mother tongue. English as a Native Language
(ENL) is commonly distinguished from English as an Additional Language
(EAL), English as a Second Language (ESL), and English as a Foreign
Language (EFL).
 Here are several examples: American English, Australian English, British
English, Canadian English, Irish English, New Zealand English, Scottish
English, and Welsh English are examples of native Englishes.
-English as a Foreign Language (EFL):
 The term used to describe the study of English by non-native speakers in
countries where English is not the dominant language. This is not to be
confused with English as a Second Language also called English as an
Additional Language. Which is the practice of learning English in a
predominantly English-speaking country.
 For example: students learning English in Vietnam, for example, are termed
EFL students because English is not the country's official language.
-The term English as a lingua franca (ELF)
English as a lingua franca (ELF) is the use of the English language as a global
means of inter-community communication and can be understood as "any use of
English among speakers of different first languages for whom English is the
communicative medium of choice and often the only option.
ELF refers to the teaching, learning, and use of English as a common means of
communication (or contact language) for speakers of different native languages.
ELF is defined functionally by its use in intercultural communication rather than
formally by its reference to native-speaker norms whereas English as a second or
foreign language aims at meeting native speaker norms and gives prominence to
native speaker cultural aspects.
Here are several examples: English is the contemporary worldwide commerce,
education, science, technology, diplomacy, entertainment, radio, seafaring, and
aviation lingua franca. It has increasingly overtaken French as the lingua franca of
international diplomacy since the conclusion of World War I.
Question 2: What are the differences between Standard English and the
varieties of English?

- The standard language is a variety of language that is used by governments, in the

media, in schools and for international communication. In contrast, there are non-
standard forms of a language that are used, for example, in different regional
dialects and these non-standard varieties are different from each other.
 Standard English (SE) is the variety of English that has undergone
substantial regularisation and is associated with formal schooling, language
assessment, and official print publications, such as public service
announcements and newspapers of record, etc.SE is local to nowhere: its
grammatical and lexical components are no longer regionally marked,
although many of them originated in different, non-adjacent dialects, and it
has very little of the variation found in spoken or earlier written varieties of
English. Standard English is a dialect pre-eminently used in writing that is
largely distinguishable from other English dialects by means of its grammar.
 The term "Standard" refers to the regularisation of the grammar, spelling,
usages of the language and not to minimal desirability or interchangeability
(e.g., a standard measure). All linguistic features are subject to the effects of
standardisation, including morphology, phonology, syntax, lexicon, register,
discourse markers, pragmatics, as well as written features such as spelling
conventions, punctuation, capitalisation and abbreviation practices.
- The variety of English with the largest number of native speakers is American
English, with 225 million native speakers. The other major varieties of English are
Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English, South African
English and Indian English.
 There are many varieties of English spoken in the world. The oldest variety
of English is British English, spoken in the United Kingdom. Approximately
60 million people are native British English speakers. The variety of English
with the largest number of native speakers is American English, with 225
million native speakers. The other major varieties of English are Canadian
English, Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English
and Indian English. Some linguists also recognize another classification of a
 variety of English known as World English. All varieties of English share
the same basic tenets of the language, but certain words, phrases or linguistic
constructs may differ. For instance, in British English, one says I’m going to
hospital. In American English one says I’m going to the hospital. In British
English one may say he is going to the cinema, in American English one
says he is going to the movies, and in South African English, the phrase is
going to the bioscope.
 Varieties of English may be further divided into dialects such as Anglo-
Cornish or Welsh English in Great Britain, Gallah or Gulf Southern in the
United States and Bengali English and Southern Indian English in India.
Whatever the variety or dialect, English speakers the world over may
communicate with each other, with only occasional gaps in understanding.
 Three dialects can be defined: Northern, Midland, and Southern. Each has its
subdialects.