 Englishuser wrote: |
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Hi milky,
You quoted David Crystal:
| We may, in due course, all need to be in control of two standard Englishes—the one which gives us our national and local identity, and the other which puts us in touch with the rest of the human race. In effect, we may all need to become bilingual in our own language. |
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Yes, I am familiar with Crystal's theory. Some even claim (wasn't Crystal one of them or am I mistaken?) that future generations of native English speakers will need to learn as many as three 'versions' of the language: 1) The local vernacular; 2) The national standard; 3) 'International English'. 'International English' is naturally what most ESL/EFL students would learn as it would be the major lingua franca in use all over the world.
Englishuser
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That's correct, but the idea has been around a while:
"Well, I'm glad you've come," her mother said, as soon as the last note had passed out of her. "I want to go and fetch your father; but what's more'n that, I want to tell 'ee what have happened. Y'll be fess enough, my poppet, when th'st know!" (Mrs Durbeyfield habitually spoke the dialect; her daughter, who had passed the Sixth Standard in the National School under a London-trained mistress, spoke two languages: the dialect at home, more or less; ordinary English abroad and to persons of quality.)
"Tess of the d'Urbervilles", Thomas Hardy.