Standard English & World English: between Karl and Groucho

Abstract

The use of grammatically incorrect English by foreign speakers, either in the classroom or out of it, is often seen as reproachable. Most teachers of English have the American or British speaker as the model to which their students should aspire. This belief in grammatical propriety can manifest itself in many ways throughout society, and mistakes in the use of Standard English can often trigger public mockery, or else be taken as a sign of a person’s poor education. By analyzing a recent speech event in Brazil – a media interview by soccer coach Joel Santana in which his “Portenglish” answers to a foreign journalist became the target of public derision – our article questions whether Standard English is indeed the best model to apply in the classroom.The article begins by examining the limitations of the thesis of imperialism to explain the ubiquity of the English language today; then we go on to apply the theses of Worldliness and Glocalization to our case study.We argue that Santana’s creative (or improper, in his critics’ opinion) use of English is a case of “Glocality”. Finally, we conclude by suggesting that less rigid standards of language learning would avoid stifling students’ learning capacities, and let them flourish in an environment to which they can relate.

Key words: Teaching and learning of English, Standard English and World English, superdiverse repertories.