Questões de Concurso

TEXT 5

“In other words, there are those among us who argue that the future of English is dependent on the likelihood or otherwise of the U.S. continuing to play its hegemonic role in world affairs. Since that possibility seems uncertain to many, especially in view of the much-talked-of ascendancy of emergent economies, many are of the opinion that English will soon lose much of its current glitter and cease to be what it is today, namely a world language. And there are those amongst us who further speculate that, in fifty or a hundred years’ time, we will all have acquired fluency in, say, Mandarin, or, if we haven’t, will be longing to learn it. […] Consider the following argument: a language such as English can only be claimed to have attained an international status to the very extent it has ceased to be national, i.e., the exclusive property of this or that nation in particular (Widdowson). In other words, the U.K. or the U.S.A. or whosoever cannot have it both ways. If they do concede that English is today a world language, then it only behooves them to also recognize that it is not their exclusive property, as painful as this might indeed turn out to be. In other words, it is part of the price they have to pay for seeing their language elevated to the status of a world language. Now, the key word here is “elevated”. It is precisely in the process of getting elevated to a world status that English or what I insist on referring to as the “World English” goes through a process of metamorphosis.”

RAJAGOPALAN, K. The identity of "World English”. New Challenges in Language and Literature. Belo Horizonte: FALE/UFMG, 2009, p. 99-100.

TEXT 5

“In other words, there are those among us who argue that the future of English is dependent on the likelihood or otherwise of the U.S. continuing to play its hegemonic role in world affairs. Since that possibility seems uncertain to many, especially in view of the much-talked-of ascendancy of emergent economies, many are of the opinion that English will soon lose much of its current glitter and cease to be what it is today, namely a world language. And there are those amongst us who further speculate that, in fifty or a hundred years’ time, we will all have acquired fluency in, say, Mandarin, or, if we haven’t, will be longing to learn it. […] Consider the following argument: a language such as English can only be claimed to have attained an international status to the very extent it has ceased to be national, i.e., the exclusive property of this or that nation in particular (Widdowson). In other words, the U.K. or the U.S.A. or whosoever cannot have it both ways. If they do concede that English is today a world language, then it only behooves them to also recognize that it is not their exclusive property, as painful as this might indeed turn out to be. In other words, it is part of the price they have to pay for seeing their language elevated to the status of a world language. Now, the key word here is “elevated”. It is precisely in the process of getting elevated to a world status that English or what I insist on referring to as the “World English” goes through a process of metamorphosis.”

RAJAGOPALAN, K. The identity of "World English”. New Challenges in Language and Literature. Belo Horizonte: FALE/UFMG, 2009, p. 99-100.

TEXT 4

“It must be fairly obvious from the discussion in the foregoing paragraphs that the very concept of ‘World Englishes’ throws a number of challenges at all those of us who are in one way or another involved in it. For ELT professionals all over the world, it means, among other things, having to take a fresh look at many of the things that have been taken for granted for long.

Consider, for instance, the following. World English is not the mother-tongue of anyone – and this includes even those who used to rejoice in their status as the ‘native-speakers’ of their own varieties of English. This is so because World English is a language that is in the making and, from the looks of it is bound to remain so for the foreseeable future. Incidentally, any temptation to consider World English a pidgin would be totally misguided in that it is not a make-shift language, nor one that is progressing towards a full-fledged language in its own right. Nor, for that matter, is it gathering a new generation of native speakers. Rather, it is resistant to the very terminology that the linguists resort to in describing conventional ‘natural’ languages.”

RAJAGOPALAN, K. The identity of "World English”: New Challenges in Language and Literature. Belo Horizonte: FALE/UFMG, 2009, p.104. 

TEXT 4

“It must be fairly obvious from the discussion in the foregoing paragraphs that the very concept of ‘World Englishes’ throws a number of challenges at all those of us who are in one way or another involved in it. For ELT professionals all over the world, it means, among other things, having to take a fresh look at many of the things that have been taken for granted for long.

Consider, for instance, the following. World English is not the mother-tongue of anyone – and this includes even those who used to rejoice in their status as the ‘native-speakers’ of their own varieties of English. This is so because World English is a language that is in the making and, from the looks of it is bound to remain so for the foreseeable future. Incidentally, any temptation to consider World English a pidgin would be totally misguided in that it is not a make-shift language, nor one that is progressing towards a full-fledged language in its own right. Nor, for that matter, is it gathering a new generation of native speakers. Rather, it is resistant to the very terminology that the linguists resort to in describing conventional ‘natural’ languages.”

RAJAGOPALAN, K. The identity of "World English”: New Challenges in Language and Literature. Belo Horizonte: FALE/UFMG, 2009, p.104.