South African English : A Language Apart

Authors

James L. Sherman

Publication Date

1990-01-01

Abstract

When teaching English for Special Purposes, educators normally stress profession related vocabulary and perhaps some impacts of culture on language. This paper deals with the teaching of national expressions as ESP, illustrated with examples from South African English. The contention is made that more stress should be placed upon national variations of General English. The term General English is defined as the core of English usage which the major English speaking countries, i.e. Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States, have in common. Each of these countries has certain expressions which are either peculiar to that country alone, or are not shared by all the others. If we have in our ESL classes students/ professionals who are going to a given country, e.g. journalists to South Africa, they should be taught the special expressions of that country which deviate from General English. Although students/professionals will eventually learn the expressions when in the host country, they will operate much more efficiently, with less frustration and will reduce the aggravation of misunderstandings by being taught expressions peculiar to the target country. More emphasis should be placed in the classroom and in briefing sessions on national divergences from General English.

DOI

10.58837/CHULA.PASAA.20.1.7

First Page

55

Last Page

58

Recommended Citation

Sherman, James L. (1990) "South African English : A Language Apart," PASAA: Vol. 20: Iss. 1, Article 7.
DOI: 10.58837/CHULA.PASAA.20.1.7
Available at: https://digital.car.chula.ac.th/pasaa/vol20/iss1/7