Determinants of sociolinguistic variation in the ESL/EFL English: Evidence from two academic communities

• Applicant: Dr. Julia Davydova
• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: from 2014 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 260794802

English has diversified into a multitude of forms like no other language in the history of humankind. It is acquired and widely used as the main non-native language in different countries. For instance, English is an important second language in the multilingual communities of South Asia. The speakers of such multilingual communities have not only adopted but also adapted English, transforming it into so-called indigenized varieties. Moreover, English plays a key role in international communication and is learnt as a main foreign language all over Western Europe. The acquisition and use of English in multilingual/indigenous and foreign settings have given rise to a plethora of non-native Englishes collectively referred to as World Englishes.That said, the project compares two varieties of English in two distinct sociolinguistic environments: non-native Englishes acquired in indigenized/second-language (ESL) and in foreign-language (EFL) settings. In so doing, it looks at the data obtained from two academic communities, i.e. Jawaharlal Nehru University, India, and the University of Mannheim, Germany. More specifically, the study addresses the question, To what extent can non-native speakers acquire patterns of sociolinguistic variation attested in native English? And what language-specific, social and cognitive factors can explain the resulting non-native speaker grammar? The main goal is to provide an integrated account of selected variable features of grammar in both varieties, thereby revising a distinction between second-language acquisition (SLA) and foreign-language learning, fundamental to most SLA studies. This way the project contributes to the ongoing research on World Englishes and multilingualism.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Professorin Isabelle Buchstaller, Ph.D.