1

LOCAL AND GLOBAL COMMUNICATION

IN MULTICULTURAL SETTINGS
GEC06 MODULE 4
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 DEFINE AND DESCRIBE THE
FOLLOWING WORDS/PHRASES:
ladyboy presidentiable

lady bedspacer salvage carnapper

2
“ World Englishes refer to
“localized forms of
English” which are used
across the world.
Bolton, 2005 as cited in Xiao, 2009

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 LOCAL AND GLOBAL COMMUNICATION IN
MULTICULTURAL SETTINGS

▪ “Every country has its own way of saying things. The important thing is which lies
behind people’s words.” –Freya Stark
▪ Cultural differences result in misunderstanding, and “language more than anything
else, is the heart of culture.” -Stevenson in Lee (2017)
▪ Being proficient in English does not guarantee our being able to fully understand
what another speaker of English is trying to say unless we become fully aware of
how that speaker uses English based on his culture.

4
 COMMON ENGLISHES

British English American English

▪ The British first introduced the language to Americans when they reached these
lands by sea between the 16th and 17th centuries (British Council, 2020).
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 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN

Vocabulary

Pronunciation

Spelling
British American
English Grammar English
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VOCABULARY

Ground floor

First floor

7
VOCABULARY

First floor

Second floor

8
VOCABULARY

Flat

Apartment

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VOCABULARY

Aubergine

Eggplant

10
VOCABULARY

Bonnet

Hood

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VOCABULARY

Hood (of a car)

Trunk (of a car)

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VOCABULARY

Chemist’s

Drugstore

13
VOCABULARY

Dustbin

Garbage can

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VOCABULARY

Car park

Parking lot

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VOCABULARY

Lift

Elevator

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Word Analysis

Read and analyze the words shown.

Word Analysis

What have you noticed with the words:

Understanding of the
Speech Sounds
“Phonetics”
 SOUND
- Sound is movement. You can see or
feel an object even if it and everything
around it – is perfectly still, but you can
only hear an object when it moves.
When things move, they sometimes
Create disturbances in the surrounding
air that can, in turn, move the eardrum,
giving us the sensation of hearing.
 PHONETICS
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics
that focuses on the process of
production, and classification of the
speech sounds.

/a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/

Mad Gab

Read and guess the words implied by the misspelled words.

Wander Womb Hen

Wonder Woman
Mad Gab

Read and guess the words implied by the misspelled words.

Ail Huck Each Arm

A lucky charm
Mad Gab

Read and guess the words implied by the misspelled words.

Nosed Ring Sat Hatched

No Strings Attached
Mad Gab

Read and guess the words implied by the misspelled words.

Honey Duck Hiss

I need a kiss
Mad Gab

Read and guess the words implied by the misspelled words.

We Loaf Ore Chin

Wheel of Fortune
Mad Gab

Read and guess the words implied by the misspelled words.

Disguise They'll Him It

The sky is the limit
Mad Gab

Read and guess the words implied by the misspelled words.

Whole imp pig aims

Olympic Games
Mad Gab

Read and guess the words implied by the misspelled words.

Laws Din Trance Lay Sjin

Lost in Translation
Mad Gab

Read and guess the words implied by the misspelled words.

Ape Hand Hub Hair

A panda bear
Phonetic Symbols
“Phonetics”
VOICING

1. Voiced Sounds

are consonant sounds that cause a stronger

vibration in the vocal cords

Examples:
/b/ /d/ /g/ /j/ /l/ /m/
/n/ /r/ /th/ /v/ /z/ - /ƺ/
VOICING

1. Voiced Sounds
big /b/ exam /eg/
map /me/ desk /th/
dragon /dr/ black /ble/
dog /d/ robots /ro/
the /th/ of /v/
book /bu/ disaster /z/ - /ƺ/
eyes treasure/z/ - /ƺ/
/z/ - /ƺ/
measure /z/ - /ƺ/ pressure /z/ - /ƺ/
bugs /z/ dishes /z/
pleases /z/ these /z/
VOICING

1. Voiced Sounds
Beginning voiced /th/

that than the they

their them these they’d
they’ll though they’re they’ve
this those themselves therefore
thee thy thou therein
VOICING

1. Voiced Sounds
Middle voiced /th/

feather weather together bathing

Father mother clothing brother
weatherman either gather other
worthy another rather soothing
smoothest leather
VOICING

1. Voiced Sounds
Ending voiced /th/

breathe lathe scathe

bathe loathe
VOICING

2. Voiceless Sounds

are consonant sounds that cause a mild or

lesser vibration in the vocal cords.

Examples:
/sh/ /f/ /k/ /p/ /s/ /t/
VOICING

2. Voiceless Sounds

ice /s/ kiss /ki/ cellphone /se/

shy /sh/ clout /cl/ terrible /te/
fish /fi/ to /to/ typhoon /t/
off /f/ soup /su/ ceremony /se/
cat /ke/ creepy /kr/ hats /s/
VOICING

2. Voiceless Sounds
/ch/ and /sh/ sounds
sheep cheap
ship chip
chef chief
shoe chew
share chair
wish witch
wash watch
cash catch
sheet cheat
mash match
VOICING

2. Voiceless Sounds
/ sh / / ch /
1. Washing machine
2. Cheese sandwich
3. Polish your shoes.
4. Chocolate chip cookies
5. She’s washing the dishes.
6. Cheddar cheese is not cheap
7. The mushrooms and shrimp are delicious.
8. Does the butcher charge much for the chickens?
9. Shirley shopped for shoes.
10. The shirt should be washed.
SOUNDS – Phonetic Transcription

The following table exhibits the International Phonetic Alphabet.

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 SOUNDS – Phonetic Transcription

Spell the following words by based on the International Phonetic Alphabet.

1. tin
2. thin
3. thought
4. beige
5. link
6. jog
7. wash
8. june
9. English

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 SOUNDS – Phonetic Transcription

Transcription exercise 1:

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 SOUNDS – Phonetic Transcription

Transcription exercise 1:
In Britain and around the world, the image of the
family continues to change. The traditional "Victorian
family", in which the man was the breadwinner, the
woman - the homemaker, and the children - numerous
and obedient, is giving way to new ideas about what
the modern family should look like.
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 SOUNDS – Phonetic Transcription

Transcription exercise 2:

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 SOUNDS – Phonetic Transcription

Transcription exercise 2:
One of the most obvious characteristics of the new family is
that there’re not always two parents. Due mostly to the rise in
divorces since World War I, single-parent families are becoming
more and more frequent and accepted in British society.
Usually, it is the mother who takes responsibility for raising the
child, and she has to balance the pressures of earning a living
and raising her children at the same time.
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 SOUNDS – Phonetic Transcription

Transcription exercise 3:

52
 SOUNDS – Phonetic Transcription

Transcription exercise 3:

These changes together with other changes such as mixed

marriages, have altered the face of British society. Some people
deplore them as a breakdown of traditional values. Others praise
them as expressions of greater tolerance and diversity. But one
thing is for sure: British families are changing and will continue
to change.

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 SOUNDS – Phonemic Transcription

The following table exhibits how people interpret such sounds.

1. destination: [DEST] + [UH] + [NAY] + [SHUHN]
2. delicious: [DI] + [LISH] + [UHS]
3. procrastination: [PROH] + [KRAST] + [I] + [NAY] + [SHUHN]
4. development: [DI] + [VEL] + [UHP] + [MUHNT]
5. sinister: [SIN] + [I] + [STUH]
6. dangerous: [DAYN] + [JUH] + [RUHS]
7. communication: [KUH] + [MYOO] + [NUH] + [KAY] + [SHUHN]
8. freedom: [FREE] + [DUHM]
9. establishment: [I] + [STAB] + [LISH] + [MUHNT]
10. diabetes: [DY] + [UH] + [BEE] + [TEEZ]
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 PRONUNCIATION

▪ In terms of speech, the first British settlers in America spoke using

the rhotic speech where the ‘r’ sounds of words are pronounced.
▪ The higher classes in the UK wanted to distinguish the way they
spoke from the common masses by softening their pronunciation of
the ‘r’ sounds.
▪ Since the elite back then were considered the standard for being
fashionable, other people began to copy their speech, until it
eventually became the common way of speaking in the south of
England (British Council, 2020). 55
 PRONUNCIATION

Important to note the following differences when it comes to the

pronunciation of AmE and BrE;
1) differences in stress,
2) difference in pronunciation of words ending in -ile,
3) difference in the pronunciation of the letter ‘a’,
4) the sound of ‘r’ is stronger in AmE,
5) difference in the pronunciation of the words ending in -ization, and
6) the letter ‘t’ in the middle of a word can be pronounced like a fast ‘d’ in AmE
(Espresso English, 2020). [refer to the audio]
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 PRONUNCIATION

The following table exemplifies the difference in pronunciation between

AmE and BrE.

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 SPELLING

▪ In the UK, the dictionary was compiled by London-based scholars.

▪ In the US, the lexicographer was a man named Noah Webster.
▪ He allegedly made some changes on how words were spelled for the
American version to exhibit cultural independence from its mother
country (British Council, 2020).

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 SPELLING

▪ The common ones are presented in the following table.

BrE

1. Words ending in -re in BrE end in -er in AmE. (centre-center ; litre-liter)

2. Words ending in -our in BrE end in -or in AmE. (colour-color ; humour-humor)

3. Words ending in -ize or -ise in BrE end in -ize
(organize/organise-organize)
in AmE.
4. Words ending in -yse in BrE end in -yze in
(paralyse-paralyze)
AmE.

59
 SPELLING

▪ The common ones are presented in the following table.

AmE BrE

5. Words ending in -l in BrE end in -ll in AmE. (traveler-traveller)

6. Words spelled with double vowels (ae or oe)

(manoeuver-maneuver)
are just spelled with an e in AmE.
7. Nouns ending with -ence in BrE are spelled -
(licence-license)
ense in AmE.
8. Nouns ending with -ogue in BrE end with
(catalogue-catalog/catalogue)
either -og or-ouge in AmE

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 GRAMMAR

BrE AmE
Collective nouns can either be singular or plural In AmE, collective nouns are considered singular
in BrE, although the plural is most often used (e.g. The staff is given an important task).
(e.g. The staff are given an important task.)
Moreover, Americans continue to use ‘gotten’ as
The British are also more likely to use formal the past participle of ‘get’ which the British
speech such as ‘shall’ as compared to ‘will’ which dropped in favor of ‘got’. ‘Needn’t’ which is
Americans favor. commonly used in BrE, is rarely, if at all used in
AmE. In its place is ‘don’t need to’.

In BrE ‘at’ is the preposition in relation to time However, in AmE ‘on’ is used instead of the
and place. former and ‘in’ for the latter

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LESSON OUTLINE

LOCAL AND GLOBAL

LINGUISTIC PREFERENCES
COMMUNICATION IN
AND NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR
MULTICULTURAL SETTINGS

WORLD ENGLISHES AND LANGUAGE REGISTERS FOR

ENGLISH AS INTERNATIONAL MORE EFFECTIVE
LANGUAGE COMMUNICATION

62
2
WORLD ENGLISHES AND ENGLISH AS
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
GEC06 MODULE 4
63
ROLE PLAY

Each group will be exhibiting

English accents across
different nationalities. They
may choose only 1 accent.

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CRITERIA

Portrayal / Acting Skills – 10

Connection to the Theme – 10
Plot – 10
Impact - 20

65
WORLD ENGLISHES AND ENGLISH AS
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

66
WORLD ENGLISHES AND ENGLISH AS
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

67
 WORLD ENGLISHES AND ENGLISH AS
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

▪ As Devrim and Bayyurt (2010) aptly state “It is an undeniable fact that English
has become a global lingua franca. It is the most spoken foreign language,
language of media, language of technology and language of Science”.

▪ The globalization of English and the necessity of knowing English creates a great
need for better understanding of the relationship of the language and its native
speakers’ culture, and a great need for searching for the best possible ways to
improve ESL, EFL or EIL (English as an International Language) in the global
world.

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 WORLD ENGLISHES AND ENGLISH AS
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

▪ In the process of learning English as either a second language or a foreign

language, people from the outer and expanding circles develop an interlanguage,
a “learner language that deviates from the norms of the target language.
▪ The interlanguage results from several language-learning processes such as
borrowing patterns from the mother tongue, extending patterns from the target
language and expressing meanings using the words and grammar that are
already known (Richards,Platt&Platt,1997).
▪ This is a transitional linguistic system at all levels (phonology, morphology,
syntax, semantics, pragmatics).

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 PHILIPPINE ENGLISH: A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT

▪ Philippine English derives from US English, normally uses US spelling

conventions and vocabulary variants, and is rhotic. In mesolectal and basilectal
accents the / r / is an alveolar flap, not a semivowel. The vowel inventory is
reduced in ways typical of ‘New Englishes’. Philippine speakers are said to have
a ‘sing-song intonation’ and definite syllable timing.
▪ There is a range of typical Philippine vocabulary: borrowing from Spanish
(merienda ‘afternoon tea’), Tagalog/ Filipino (kundiman ‘love song’), loan
translations from local languages ( since before yet ‘for a long time’) and local
coinages (batchmate ‘person who studied, did military service, etc. with the
speaker’). Since nearly all speakers of Philippine English also speak Filipino, ‘mix-
mix’ code-switching is common in informal and intimate situations. 70
 PHILIPPINE ENGLISH: A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT Phonology

Bautista and Gonzalez (2009) have presented the following phonological features
for Philippine English.
1 absence of schwa
2 absence of aspiration of stops in all positions
3 substitution of [a] for [æ], [ɔ] for [o], [ɪ] for [i], [ɛ] for [e]；
4 substitution of [s] for [z], [ʃ] for [ʒ], [t] for [θ], [d] for [ð], [p] for [f], [b] for [v]；
5 simplification of consonant cluster in final position；
6 syllable-timed, rather than stress-timed, rhythm；
7 shift in placement of accents.
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 PHILIPPINE ENGLISH: A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT Phonology

Acrolectal speakers of Philippine English distinguish most of

the vowels Americans do; mesolectal ones merge CLOTH, THOUGHT
and GOAT as ［ o ］, KIT and FLEECE, GOOSE and FOOT. Because
Philippine English is largely syllable-timed, unstressed vowels are
often given their full spelling pronunciation and indeed vowel
reduction is a mark of formal speech and careful acrolectal style
rather than the other way round. ( Melchers & Shaw, 2011:178 )

72
 PHILIPPINE ENGLISH: A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT Syntax
▪ Written Standard Philippine English does not vary syntactically from other standard
versions, and because its domains of use are more limited than those of Singapore
English it has not developed the lectal range and exotic syntax of colloquial Singapore
English.
▪ Bautista and Gonzalez (2009) have identified the following characteristics of the
grammar, even among highly educated Filipinos.
1. lack of subject-verb agreement, especially in the presence of an intervening
prepositional phrase or expression；
2. faulty tense-aspect usage including unusual use of verb forms and tenses, especially
use of the past perfect tense for the simple past or present perfect；
3. lack of tense harmony； 73
 PHILIPPINE ENGLISH: A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT Syntax

4. modals would and could used for will and can；

5. adverbial placed at the end of the clause, not between auxiliary and main verb；
6. non-idiomatic two- or three-word verbs；
7. variable article usage – missing article where an article is required; an article
where no article is required；
8. faulty noun subcategorization, including non-pluralization of count nouns and
pluralization of mass nouns；
9. lack of agreement between pronoun and antecedent；
10. ‘one of the’ is followed by singular noun.
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 PHILIPPINE ENGLISH: A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT Lexis

In the Philippines, code-switching between English and the

local language is extensively used by urban Filipinos comfortable in
both languages. Therefore, it is hard to tell what is simply Tagalog and
what is borrowed into English. Nevertheless, one can identify local
lexicalizations either coined in English like bedspacer' person who is
sharing a flat’ or borrowed , like barkada ‘circle of friends’.

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 PHILIPPINE ENGLISH: A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT Lexis

Among foreignisms borrowed from Tagalog (BONFIRE NIGHT words) are

barong (shirt) ‘traditional smart shirt made from embroidered cloth’, dalagang
Filipina ‘traditional “good girl” and lechon ‘roast pig dish’ − as usual foreignisms
cluster round food, costume and traditional values.

From Spanish (apparently) comes maja blanca ‘coconut pudding’. The best
known foreignism formed from English lexical material is jeepney ‘taxi’ on a jeep
chassis. An interesting tautonym (ROBIN words) is standby ‘idlert, bystander.’
(Melchers & Shaw, 2011:179 )

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 PHILIPPINE ENGLISH: A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT Pridgins and Creoles

▪ Pidgins are used as lingua franca for trade or any other practical interaction
(Mooney and Evans, 2015). It uses words from the languages of both
communicators to understand each other, but it is not the language of either
communicator. The language providing vocabulary is the lexifier and the
language that provides syntactic structure is called the substrate.
▪ After an extended use of a pidgin in a community, it becomes a creole.
▪ In addition, according to Hickey, basically a pidgin is a restricted language which
arises for the purposes of communication between two social groups of which
one is in a more dominant position than the other. The less dominant group is
the one which develops the pidgin.
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 PHILIPPINE ENGLISH: A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT Pridgins and Creoles

▪ Historically pidgins arose in colonial situations where the representatives of the

particular colonial power, soldiers, sailors, tradesmen, etc., came in contact with
natives. The latter were more or less forced to develop some form of
communication with the former. This resulted in a language on the basis of the
colonial language in question and the language or languages of the natives.
Such a language represents a severely restricted form of the colonial one as it
serves a definite purpose, namely simple communication with the colonists. In
the course of several generations such a simplified language can become more
complex, especially if it develops into the mother tongue of a group of speakers.

78
 PHILIPPINE ENGLISH: A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT Pridgins and Creoles

▪ The interest of linguists in these languages has increased greatly in the last few
decades. The main reason for this is that pidgins and creoles are young
languages. In retracing their development it is possible to see how new
languages can arise. Furthermore, the large number of shared features among
widely dispersed pidgins and creoles leads to the conclusion that creoles at least
show characteristics which are typical of language in the most general sense,
the features of older languages such as complex morphology or intricate
phonology arising due to the action of various forces over a long period of time
after the birth of these languages. In type, creoles are the nearest one can get to
an original language and can be shown to embody universals of structure in the
clearest and most observable form.
79
 THE TERMS ‘PIDGIN’ AND ‘CREOLE’ Pridgins and Creoles

There are a number of views on the origin of the term pidgin, none of which has
gained sole acceptance by the academic community.
1) Chinese corruption of the word business. As the word is used for any action or
occupation (cf. joss-pidgin ‘religion’ and chow-chow-pidgin ‘cooking’) it should not
be surprising that it be used for a language variety which arose for trading purposes.
2) Portuguese ocupaçao meaning ‘trade, job, occupation’. This suggestion is
interesting as the Portuguese were among the first traders to travel to the third
world and influence natives with their language. Phonetically the shift from the
original word to a form /pidgin/ is difficult to explain.

80
 THE TERMS ‘PIDGIN’ AND ‘CREOLE’ Pridgins and Creoles

3) A form from the South American language Yayo ‘-pidian’ meaning ‘people’. This
form occurs in tribal names like ‘Mapidian’, ‘Tarapidian’, etc. This claim rests on a
single occurrence of the word ‘Pidians’ in a text from 1606. But as several authors
have pointed out this might be a spelling error for ‘Indians’ seeing as how the author
has other misspellings in the text in question.
4) Hancock (1972) suggested that the term is derived from ‘pequeno portugues’
which is used in Angola for the broken Portuguese spoken by the illiterate. This view
is semantically justified seeing that the word ‘pequeno’ is often used to mean
‘offspring’, in this case a language derived from another. Phonetically, the shift to
/pidgin/ is not difficult to account for: /peke:no/ F /pege:n/ F /pigin/ F /pidgin/
(stages not attested, however). 81
 THE TERMS ‘PIDGIN’ AND ‘CREOLE’ Pridgins and Creoles

5) Hebrew word ‘pidjom’ meaning ‘barter’. This suggestion is phonetically and

semantically plausible, hinges however on the distribution of a Jewish word outside
of Europe and its acceptance as a general term for a trade language.

The term ‘creole’ There is less controversy on this issue than on the previous one.
The term would seem to derive from French ‘creole’, it in its turn coming from
Portuguese ‘crioulo’ (rather than from Spanish ‘criollo’) which goes back to an
Iberian stem meaning ‘to nurse, breed, bring up’. The present meaning is ‘native to a
locality or country’.

82
 GENERAL FEATURES OF PIDGINS Pridgins and Creoles

The essential characteristic of a pidgin is its structural simplicity. This has to do

with the fact that pidgins are recent languages and so have not had time to go
through a cycle which would lead them later to morphological complexity as, for
instance, with the older Indo-European languages. The simplicity applies on a formal
level, above all to the areas of phonology and morphology. However pidgins very
often have more complex verbal systems than other languages, especially in the
area of aspectual distinctions, a fact which has led many linguists to assume that
these are somehow more primitive (in the sense of original) languages.

83
 GENERAL FEATURES OF PIDGINS Pridgins and Creoles

Phonology. The phonology does not contain any difficult elements. If the input
language has clusters for instance then these are simplified. Marked sounds such
as /2 / and /3/ are usually replaced by non-marked equivalents, e.g. /t/ and /d/.
Morphology. The morphology is always analytic in type. By this is meant that there is
almost a one-to-one relationship between words and morphemes. For instance
plural nouns which are formed in English by inflectional {S} are frequently generated
by using a separate word along with the singular of the noun, e.g. for boats one
finds analytic phrases such as many boat, lot boat, etc. Plurality can furthermore be
expressed by dem (E ‘them’ in English-based pidgins) as with dem boats in Atlantic
pidgins or be implicit, i.e. recognizable from the context.
84
 GENERAL FEATURES OF PIDGINS Pridgins and Creoles

Other elements of pidgin morphology are the existence of second person plural
pronoun forms, frequently by using non-standard yous, yes or ye. This is an example
of a distinction being introduced (or maintained from archaic or regional English
input to the pidgin in question during the formative period) which is not present in
English any more, thus implying that the English situation is a marked one, reversed
by pidgins. Gender distinctions, if existent in the input language, are normally
eliminated. Furthermore, agreement between subject and predicate is often done
away with, both forms being unmarked, the context offering the necessary
information on sentence roles.

85
 GENERAL FEATURES OF PIDGINS Pridgins and Creoles

Syntax. The syntax of a pidgin is quite unsophisticated as one might expect. The
normal word order is SVO (subject-verb-object), more unusual orders such as VSO
(verb-subject-object), in simple declarative sentences, are practically unknown.
Complex sentence types, e.g. such features as raising (The car seems to be
missing) or multiple subordination do not occur.

86
 GENERAL FEATURES OF PIDGINS Pridgins and Creoles

Serialisation and reduplication. These are two syntactic features which are very
prominent in pidgins. By serialisation is meant that two or more verbs are used one
after the other (in a series) to express some aspectual distinction, e.g. that an action
has begun, as in i go start bigin tich ‘he started teaching’, lit. ‘he went started began
teach’. Such chains of verbs are one of the best indicators of pidgin origin for a
particular language variety (e.g. for Afrikaans). Reduplication is a feature on the
other hand which has been overestimated in its significance as a pidgin feature. It is
to be found in a number of long-established languages - e.g. in Italian - and is thus a
poor indication of pidgin origin.

87
 GENERAL FEATURES OF PIDGINS Pridgins and Creoles

Lexicon. The lexicon of a pidgin is derived solely from the environment in which it is
spoken. Because of this it is fairly limited to start with. However, as the lexicon is an
open class, it expands easily so that there are few restrictions in principle which can
be maintained as true generalisations. Note that the lexicons of many pidgins share
certain common elements. This fact has lead many linguists to assume that there
was a common base for the development of all pidgins. While this is a very strong
claim, it is nonetheless undeniable that the lexical similarities between pidgins
cannot be accidental, e.g. a form of saber for ‘know’ and pequeno for ‘little’ or
‘offspring’ is to be found in all English-based pidgins and creoles. A certain number
of nautical terms are also to be found in nearly all pidgins. For instance the term gali
now means any kitchen (in West African pidgins) and the term cargo refers to any
88
load.
LESSON OUTLINE

LOCAL AND GLOBAL

LINGUISTIC PREFERENCES
COMMUNICATION IN
AND NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR
MULTICULTURAL SETTINGS

WORLD ENGLISHES AND LANGUAGE REGISTERS FOR

ENGLISH AS INTERNATIONAL MORE EFFECTIVE
LANGUAGE COMMUNICATION

89
3
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

LINGUISTIC PREFERENCES AND

NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR
GEC06 MODULE 4
90
 LINGUISTIC PREFERENCES AND
NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR

Nonverbal behaviors, which Hall (1959) called the “silent language” are expressive
human attributes that impart feelings, attitudes, reactions and judgments which
need to be given continued attention because they are acquired mainly through
acculturation (adopting the traits of another cultural group). Moreover, they are
unspoken and largely unconscious, so the implied meanings are more felt than
understood. Take the following for instances from International Etiquette (2017) and
Dimensions of Body Language (2017):

91
 LINGUISTIC PREFERENCES AND
NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR

Australia The “thumbs up” sign is considered obscene.

France Your hands should be visible at all times even when seated at a table.
Germany Gum chewing in public is rude. It is impolite to put your hands in your
pocket.
Hongkong Maintain a two arm’s length distance with the person. Touching and
patting are taboo.
Indonesia When you are in a private home or mosque, be sure to remove your
shoes. Hugging and kissing in public is inappropriate.
Japan Keep your shoes in good condition and spotlessly clean because a
Japanese inspects them as he bows. To the Japanese, laughter can
mean confusion rather than reacting to something funny. 92
 LANGUAGE REGISTERS FOR MORE EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION

Saudi Arabia Expect greetings to be very emotional. To show mutual respect, two men
hold each other’s hand in public. When reaching or offering something, be
sure to use your right hand. Using left hand is considered as a taboo.
Singapore Gesture with your entire hand in conversation. Your feet should be used
for walking---nothing else.
South Korea It is considered good manners to acknowledge an older person by
standing when the person enters the room.
United When meeting someone, respect space by maintaining a two
Kingdom arm’s-length distance. Men should wait for a British woman to extend
her hand before shaking hands. When meeting someone, rather than
saying “It’s nice to meet you”, a more appropriate response is “How do
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you do?”
LESSON OUTLINE

LOCAL AND GLOBAL

LINGUISTIC PREFERENCES
COMMUNICATION IN
AND NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR
MULTICULTURAL SETTINGS

WORLD ENGLISHES AND LANGUAGE REGISTERS FOR

ENGLISH AS INTERNATIONAL MORE EFFECTIVE
LANGUAGE COMMUNICATION

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4
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

LANGUAGE REGISTERS FOR MORE

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
GEC06 MODULE 4
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 LANGUAGE REGISTERS FOR MORE EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION

The term “register” refers to particular varieties or styles of speaking and writing
which vary in their degrees of formality depending on the topic (what), purpose
(why), context (where) and audience (who) (“Register”, 2017). For instance, there is
a legal register, a register of advertising, registers of banking and a register of
weather forecasting.

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 FIVE VARIETIES OF REGISTERS

1. Very formal, frozen or static register- it rarely never changes (laws, policies)
2. Formal or regulated register- impersonal and one-way in nature (news reports,
official speeches)
3. Neutral, professional or consultative register - This is the normal style of speaking
between communicators who use mutually accepted language that conforms to
formal societal standards (teacher and student, doctor and patient)
4. Informal, group or casual register- informal language between peers, friends
which uses slang, vulgarities and colloquialisms (conversations, chat, tweets,
personal letters).

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 FIVE VARIETIES OF REGISTERS

5. Very informal, personal or intimate register- This is the private intimate language
reserved for family members or intimate people (girlfriend and boyfriend, siblings,
parent and child).

Refer to the table to exemplify the difference of the registers.

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END OF SLIDE
Any questions?

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