Grassroots English, Learner English, Second-language English, English as a Lingua Franca …: What’s in a Name?

Abstract

The chapter offers a conceptual overview, discussing the notion of ‘grassroots Englishes’ along with other related phenomena pertaining to the spread of the English language worldwide (‘learner English’, ‘English as a second language’, ‘English as a foreign language’, ‘English as a lingua franca’…). It provides data samples for illustration but argues that traditional clear-cut distinctions between such concepts do not fully depict linguistic realities. Furthermore, it broadens the focus to include the notion of ‘grassroots multilingualism’ and it is argued that ‘grassroots Englishes’ should be pictured as an important part within a higher-level framework of global, multilingual practices. Concluding, it is suggested that different Englishes should better be pictured as nodes in a complex system of Englishes and, in turn, as parts of a complex system of languages and multilingual practices, in which certain categorical differences can be identified but which, more importantly, overlap and interact in their emergence, existence, and uses.