ABSTRACT
In historical terms, today’s Englishes derive from England. From the seventeenth century onwards, people from England travelled and settled in areas of the New World such as America, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and they took their language with them. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, European countries began to trade with countries in Africa and Asia and to colonise them, such as South Africa and India. English and other European languages thus replaced native ones in trade, government and education. From the twentieth century onwards, the global economy has expanded to all parts of the world, coinciding with increased opportunities for travel and for communication through the internet. Consequently, English has become the language associated with public domains such as travel, business and science worldwide. The Indian linguist Braj Kachru (1985, 1992) has put forward the view that today’s Englishes can be seen in terms of three concentric circles: the Inner Circle, the Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle. Circles of English https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203552537/edb6e114-f581-4b88-a64b-9ccf45023375/content/fig2_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
