First Day of World Englishes

This was the first day of World Engishes (WE) for the Pre-Summer 2010 semester. I have to say that I was a bit apprehensive at first because I have no TESOL background at all. However, between the readings and the class discussions, I feel much less apprehensive.

Two activities/discussions were the most helpful to me: the acronyms and the definitions. That is not to say that all of the activities were less useful, but I really needed these two to help me to better understand the readings and discussion.

As I was reading the articles and book chapters that were due today, I realized that there are almost as many acronyms in TESOL and WE as there are in the United States military! Knowing these acronyms will help me to read course readings faster and more accurately.

Second, I was unfamiliar with some of the terms, such as Inner Circle, Outer Circle, and Expanding Circle, and had only a passing knowledge of the nuances of some of the other terms. For example, though I know the difference in dialect and accent, I had never really thought much about how and why they are different. On the other hand, I had no idea that there were "three circles" of English speaking countries, nor would I have been able to say what countries belonged where. I would have guessed that Britain, the U.S., Canada, Austrialia, and New Zealand would be the Inner Circle countries, but I wouldn't be quite sure about the other two circles.

The most encouraging thing I discovered today was that my experiences and background are not as far removed from the WE discipline than I had imagined. Much of what I do in classes and in the writing center touch on WE issues already; I had just not thought of this work in the WE context.

Learning some of the important names in WE has also added to my confidence level as well. I actually have opinions now!