To what extent do educated British users of English accept certain established norms in selected non-British Inner Circle and Outer Circle Englishes?

Abstract

Drawing on work that has attempted to describe and codify features of World Englishes, this study sought to address the question of whether certain established norms common to several varieties of English would be accepted by educated British users of English. The findings revealed that the respondents did not accept most of the selected norms. Only three items were acceptable to the majority of respondents. There was no significant difference in the responses of male and female respondents, and there was insufficient evidence to determine whether being a user of more than one language was a factor in the degree of acceptance. Whilst the lack of acceptance of non-British English norms does not imply deficiency in other Englishes, it does have implications for the identification of norms and standards that are commonly acceptable across all varieties of English. It could be argued that only those norms and standards that are commonly accepted provide the foundation of English as an International Language.