World Englishes and Higher Education

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between World Englishes and Higher Education by focusing on the meaning making resources used by “users” of different varieties/dialects of World Englishes. The results of the study indicate that if we focus on the “uses” of language in particular contexts, we find patterns of similarities that are shared by speakers of diverse varieties of World Englishes. These findings support the broader literature on genres that show that language patterns on use—that is, patterns in language relate to specific contexts of use. In such contexts, the identity of the user seems to be less important than the purpose or use of the text. It is this “use” dimension of World Englishes that is explored in this paper using SFL as an informing linguistic theory. The paper shows that such studies can lead to interesting new ways of looking at variation across Englishes and that they can contribute greatly to our ability to use World Englishes research in our work on education, linguistics, and socio-economic development.