Mengze Zhang

Samantha Kirby
ENGL106
November 22, 2016
Thinking about English Teaching Under the Background of WE
In the article World Englishes and the Teaching of Writing, Matsuda and
Matsuda (2010) first introduced the status of English around the world that recognize
the presence of World Englishes(WE). And then identify five principles for teaching
writing in ways. As an English as an additional language user, I totally agree with
them and I have a deep understanding with my own personal experience.
First of all, I totally agree with that teachers have the obligation to teach both the
dominant and nondominant language forms and functions which is important for
students to positioned themselves around the world. With the development of
economic globalization and tidal wave of information coming, the language also
begins to globalize. English as an International language and World language has
become the only one presiding over language of globalization, become the most
widely used language in the world, which is an indisputable fact. More and more
people from different countries use the same language (English) to communicate and
spreading ideas with each other. English is not only to help personal development into
the global community on international relations, but also strengthen the ability of the
country to do business activities in the international, deepen the participation in
international economic and political activities, sharing the progress of science and
technology at the same time, integrate into the trend of globalization and information
wave. Whether you like English or not, you must be able to use English for
international communication, otherwise it will become an obstacle to join the global

activities. Above all of these, governments all over the world have put English
education in a very important position, and have a great impact on English teaching
policies and practices all over the world.
Like Kachru used to talk about The Expending Circle in his article Language
Teaching. Based on the English language in today's world of communication and
acquisition methods and the use of the differences between the English speaking
countries and regions into three concentric circle model. The inner core is the core of
the English speaking countries, including the United States, Britain, Ireland, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand. The middle circle for more than and 50 countries and
regions in English as a second language in early development and spread of nonnative background, which is the main language of these countries and regions is the
main part of English, a former British colony, such as Singapore, India, Malawi, the
population is about one billion and three hundred million. The outer circle is the
extension of the state, including China, France, Russia, Japan, Greece and Poland, the
population of 18 ~ 2 billion. These countries are not considered to be a core colonial
state, do not put English on any special status, but the importance of English as an
international language has got much attention and affirmation, and English as a
foreign language teaching in schools, this country belongs to the expansion ring on
the number is also increasing.
Secondly, I agree with that teachers should help students clearly recognize that
the perceives boundary between variations and errors in the particular communicative
context even though it is fuzzy and negotiable. Teachers should not only exposing
students to non-dominant varieties and usage because if they do not understand the
perceived boundary, they still do not know when to use those that diverge from the
conventions is appropriate and works. For example, with the diaspora of English lead

to the hybrid varieties of English, Chinglish is one of them. good good study, day
day up is one of the typical examples with means study well and make progress
every day. This sentence has become very popular even in the world because it do
works in some particular context, but we are not recommended to use it when writing
because it is definitely not standardized written English.
Thirdly, teachers should teach the principles and strategies of discourse
negotiation. The first one is that students should choose the correct register and use
proper language when writing according to the readers perception of the rhetorical
situation like purpose, audience, writer positionality and available discursive
resources. Secondly, sometimes we will use some unique writing style which is
deviate from the conventional usage, but as well as the writer has already build the
necessary credibility by demonstrating the knowledge of the subject or by
constructing sound arguments like universal existence social phenomena or personal
examples, readers would always identify and follow the writers train of thought. On
the other hand, writers always use some typographical features like quotation marks
and italics, metadiscourse like typographical notes, endnotes and embedded clauses or
referring to a precedent to make what the writer wants to express is more clear. For
example, we need to explain some vocabulary for some specialized fields is different
from common meaning by using brackets like EAL (English an additional language).
Last but not the least, teachers are not allowed to overly valorize either the
dominant discourses or alternative discourses because students as L2 writers should
understand the complexity of real-life writing. I totally agree with it. Along with the
globalization and the advent of information technology, English is widely used in
various fields all over the world, including politics, economy, trade, culture,
diplomacy, tourism, communications, natural science and humanities academic

research etc. English globalization is a double-edged sword, on the one hand to the
peoples of the world exchanges and communication, on the other hand, constitute a
serious threat on the retained of mother language of each countries, to a certain extent,
even the country will face the challenge of national identity. For example, Rodhe has
talk about the linguistic genocide in his article As English Spreads, Speakers
Morph It Into World Tongue. The language of minority nationality in the world has
become a common phenomenon, and the survival of the world's language diversity is
facing a great challenge and threat. English as a second language instead of mother
tongue, some scholars have called the English as murder language. The rise of a
language is always at the expense of other languages, because language is the most
important tool of social communication and cultural carrier, and it is an important
symbol of national identity and belonging. Excessive emphasis on the use of a
language, often so that other languages continue to weaken until the end of extinction,
and the demise of the cultural heritage of the heritage of these languages. Thats why I
total agree with that For that reason, it is important for teachers not to overly valorize
either the dominant discourses or alternative discourses.
To summarize, I totally agree with the Matsudas five principles for teaching
writing in ways that teach both the both the dominant and nondominant language
forms and functions, teach the Boundary Between What Works and What Does Not,
Teach the Principles and Strategies of Discourse Negotiation and Teach the Risks
Involved in Using Deviational Features. But after all, in the era of globalization, all of
us should learn the English to participating in global activities.

Works Cited
Matsuda World Englishes and the Teaching of Writing 2010
Kachru. Language Teaching 1992
Rodhe. As English Spreads, Speakers Morph It Into World Tongue 1995