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In:World Englishes: New theoretical and methodological considerations
Edited by Elena Seoane and Cristina Suárez-Gómez
[Varieties of English Around the World G57] 2016
► pp. 229–252

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On the globalization of English

Observations of subjective progressives in present-day Englishes

ORCiD logo with link | University of Eastern Finland
ORCiD logo with link | Linnaeus University
Published online: 25 May 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g57.10lai
This article discusses the globalization of English and suggests that the changing role and nature of English in the expanding circle requires new methodological approaches and new empirical materials which better represent non-native global English(es), that is, when English is used as an additional linguistic resource alongside L1s. Our case study investigates how ongoing grammatical changes are adapted in global use, and focuses on a specific use of the progressive: the subjective sense with an intervening adverbial. Our findings corroborate those of Hundt & Vogel (2011) on the progressive in general, but also show that stretched, special uses of progressives are fully established in non-native global usage. We conclude that as the globalization of English continues to blur the neat division of the English varieties, better data is needed to take into account the diversity of texts emerging in the expanding circle and to represent a variety of text types from natural, non-instructional settings.
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