Expanding Circle - Definition and Examples

Expanding Circle s The expanding circle is made up of countries in which English has no special administrative status but is recognized as a lingua franca and is widely studied as a foreign language. Countries in the expanding circle include China, Denmark, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, and Sweden, among many others. According to linguist Diane Davies, recent research suggests that some countries in the Expanding Circle have . . . begun to develop distinctive ways of using English, with the result that the language has an increasingly important functional range in these countries and is also a marker of identity in some contexts (Varieties of Modern English: An Introduction, Routledge, 2013). The expanding circle is one of the three concentric circles of World English described by linguist Braj Kachru in Standards, Codification and Sociolinguistic Realism: The English Language in the Outer Circle (1985). The labels inner, outer, and expanding circles represent the type of spread, the patterns of acquisition, and the functional allocation of the English language in diverse cultural contexts. Although these labels are imprecise and in some ways misleading, many scholars would agree with Paul Bruthiaux that they offer a useful  shorthand  for classifying contexts of English world-wide   (Squaring the Circles in the International Journal of Applied Linguistics,  2003). Examples and Observations The spread of English in the Expanding Circle is largely a result of foreign language learning within the country. As in the Outer Circle, the range of proficiency in the language among the population is broad, with some having native-like fluency and others having only minimal familiarity with English. However, in the Expanding Circle, unlike the Outer Circle, there is no local model of English since the language does not have official status and, in Kachrus (1992) terms, has not become institutionalized with locally developed standards of use.(Sandra Lee McKay, Teaching English as an International Language: Rethinking Goals and Approaches. Oxford University Press, 2002)Expanding Circle English and Lingua Franca English- Despite the all-pervasive use of English throughout what many like to term the international community and despite countless anecdotes about emerging varieties such as Euro-English, professional linguists have so far shown only limited interest in describing lingua franca English as a legitimate language variety. The received wisdom seems to be that only when English is a majority first language or an official additional language does it warrant description. . . . Expanding Circle English is not deemed worthy of such attention: users of English who have learned the language as a foreign language are expected to conform to Inner Circle norms, even if using English constitutes an important part of their lived experience and personal identity. No right to rotten English for them, then. Quite the contrary: for Expanding Circle consumption, the main effort remains, as it has always been, to describe English as it is used among the British and American native speakers and then to distribute (Widdowson 1997: 139) the resulting descriptions to those who speak English in nonnative contexts around the world.(Barbara Seidlhofer and Jennifer Jenkins, English as a Lingua Franca and the Politics of Property. The Politics of English as a World Language, ed. by Christian Mair. Rodopi, 2003)- I argue . . . that a lingua franca model is the most sensible model in those common and varied contexts where the learners major reason for [studying] English is to communicate with other non-native speakers. . . . [U]ntil we are able to provide teachers and learners with adequate descriptions of lingua franca models, teachers and learners will have to continue to rely on either native-speaker or nativized models. We have seen how a native-speaker model, while appropriate for a minority of teachers and learners, is inappropriate for the majority for a range of linguistic, cultural and political reasons. A nativized model may be appropriate in Outer and in certain Expanding Circle countries, but this model also carries the disadvantage of cultural inappropriacy when learners require English as a lingua franca to communicate with other non-native speakers.(Andy Kirkpatrick, Which Model of English: Native-Speaker, Nativized, or Lingua Franca? English i n the World: Global Rules, Global Roles, ed. by Rani Rubdy and Mario Saraceni. Continuum, 2006) Also Known As: extending circle

Mujahideen (Definition)

Mujahideen (Definition) Definition: A mujahid is one who strives or struggles on behalf of Islam; mujahideen is the plural of the same word. The word mujahid is an Arabic participle drawn from the same root as the Arabic word jihad, to strive or struggle. The term is most frequently used in reference to the self named Afghan mujahideen, the guerrilla fighters who battled the Soviet army from 1979 – 1989, when the Soviets withdrew in defeat. The Soviets invaded in December, 1979 in order to provide support a recently installed pro-Soviet prime minister, Babrak Karmal. The mujahideen were fighters from the mountainous areas of the largely rural country, and also maintained bases in Pakistan. They were entirely independent of the government. Mujahideen fought under the command of tribal leaders, who also headed Islamist political parties, which ranged from radical to moderate. The mujahideen received arms by way of Pakistan and Iran, both of which share a border. They made use of an arsenal of guerrilla tactics to thwart the Soviets, such as laying ambushes or blowing up gas pipelines between the two countries. They were estimated to be about 90,000 strong in the mid-1980s. The Afghan mujahideen were not seeking to wage an aggressive jihad beyond national boundaries, but were rather fighting a nationalist war against an occupier. The language of Islam helped unify a population that was- and still isotherwise very heterogonous: Afghans have many tribal, ethnic and linguistic differences. After the war ended in 1989, these different factions returned to their previous divisiveness and fought each other, until the Taliban established rule in 1991. These unorganized guerrilla warriors were viewed as outlaws by their Soviet enemy and as freedom fighters by the Reagan Administration in the U.S., which supported the enemy of its enemy, the Soviet Union. Alternate Spellings: mujahedeen, mujahedin