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'Braj Kachru' was born around 1932 in Kashmir. He is a prominent scholar of world Englishes and of Kashmiri. His work in the field of English linguistics is well regarded by most scholars .

Contents

The circles of English

Personal

References

The circles of English

To better understand the use of English in different countries, Kachru conceived the idea of three concentric circles of the language, only one of which is predominantly white.

The “inner circle” represents the traditional bases of English, and most, but not all, of the speakers are white: the United Kingdom, the United States, English Canada and South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Malta, and some of Caribbean territories. 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.

Next comes the “outer circle,” which includes countries where English is not an official language, but is important for historical reasons (e.g. the British Empire) and plays a part in the nation’s institutions. 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. Virtually all these people are non-white.

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. This includes much of the rest of the world's population: China, Russia, Japan, most of Europe, Korea, Egypt, Indonesia, etc. The total in this expanding circle is the most difficult to estimate, especially because English may be employed for specific, limited purposes. The estimates of these users range from 100 million to one billion. Here too, the majority is non-white.

The United Kingdom, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and partly South Africa, Canada and the Anglophone Caribbean belong to the inner circle that is 'norm-providing'. That means that English language norms are developed in these countries - English is the first language there. To the outer circle - which is 'norm-receiving' - belong countries like Nigeria, India, Bangladesh, Kenya, the Philippines or Tanzania. The outer circle is seen as 'norm-developing,' because it is this circle where most of the creative potential of lingua franca-English is to be found.

Personal

He is the father of Shamit Kachru, a string theorist.

References

Among his works are ''The Alchemy of English'' (1986) and ''The Handbook of World Englishes'' (2006).