English-One or Many?: An Experimental Study

Abstract

The issue of whether nativization of English results in the development of independent language systems, & thus of "Englishes" rather than "English," is examined. An informal study was conducted in which extracts from journal articles written by native & various nonnative English speakers were given to linguists from Australia, GB, Hong Kong, Singapore, & other countries, who were asked to identify the variety of English in which the extract was written & the features that influenced their responses. Results showed that 30% of the time informants could not determine the variety. The variety was correctly identified 30% of the time & wrongly identified 32% of the time. Findings supported the hypothesis that extracts from novels would be the easiest to identify. It is suggested that there are many varieties of English, but a single English language. B. Annesser Murray.