Braj Kachru
Braj Kachru | |
---|---|
Born | Braj Bihari Kachru 15 May 1932 |
Nationality | Indian-American[1] |
Notable works | The Alchemy of English (1986) |
Notable awards | Joint First Prize, Duke of Edinburgh Book Competition (1987) |
Spouse | Yamuna Kachru |
Children | Amita Kachru Shamit Kachru |
Braj Bihari Kachru (15 May 1932 – 29 July 2016) was an
Personal life
Braj Bihari Kachru was a friend of Kashmiri poet and writer Zinda Kaul Masterji. Lala Sahab and his friends and colleagues had discussions on politics, literature and philosophy at his house. During their visits, Braj had the opportunity to interact with Masterji and his father's other teacher colleagues.[2]
In 1962 Kachru gained a
Career
He researched in the fields of World Englishes and Kashmiri language and published several books and research papers related to the field.[6]
Scholar and educationist
At the
Writer and author
Kachru has been on the editorial board of Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural development, International Journal of the Sociology of Languages, Asian Englishes, and Linguistics and the Human Sciences.[6] Along with authoring The Alchemy of English: The Spread, Functions and Models of Non-Native Englishes, Kachru is also the associate editor for Contributor to the Cambridge History of the English Language and the acclaimed The Oxford Companion to the English Language.[7]
The circles of English
To better understand the use of English in different countries, Kachru conceived the idea of three
The inner circle represents the traditional bases of English: the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, anglophone Canada, and some of the Caribbean territories.[citation needed] The total number of English speakers in the inner circle is as high as 380 million, of whom some 120 million are outside the United States.[citation needed]
Next comes the outer circle, which includes countries where English is not the native tongue, but is important for historical reasons and plays a part in the nation's institutions, either as an official language or otherwise.[citation needed] This circle includes India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, Tanzania, Kenya, non-Anglophone South Africa and Canada, etc. The total number of English speakers in the outer circle is estimated to range from 150 million to 300 million.[citation needed]
Finally, the expanding circle encompasses those countries where English plays no historical or governmental role, but where it is nevertheless widely used as a foreign language or lingua franca.[citation needed] This includes much of the rest of the world's population, including China, Russia, Japan, most of Europe, Korea, Egypt, Indonesia, and other nations. The total in this expanding circle is the most difficult to estimated because English may be employed for specific, limited purposes, usually business English. The estimates of these users range from 100 million to one billion.[citation needed]
The inner circle (UK, US, etc.) is 'norm-providing'. That means that English language
Bibliography
- The alchemy of English: the spread, functions, and models of non-native Englishes, University of Illinois Press, 1990 ISBN 0-252-06172-1
- World Englishes: critical concepts in linguistics, Volume 4, Publisher: Taylor & Francis, 2006, ISBN 0-415-31509-3
References
- ^ DNA India.
- .
- ^ Kachru, Braj B. (1962). "An analysis of some features of Indian English : a study in linguistic method".
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(help) - ^ "Kachru.com: Braj Kachru and Yamuna Kachru". Kachru.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
- ^ Czerniakowski, Michael, ed. (7 August 2016). "Obituary: Braj B. Kachru". Linguist List.
- ^ a b c "CAS Professor Emeritus of Linguistics". CAS (Centre of Advanced Studies, Illinois). Retrieved 7 October 2019.
- ^ "Writers and Columnists: Braj B Kachru". ikashmir.net. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
- JSTOR 3069227.
External links
- Faculty Page at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Braj Kachru: A Biographical Sketch