Whose property?

[lolwhites]

I suspect that even in the 18th century, there was still a consenses on what constituted "correct" Latin, while Spanish has an academy. I'm not sure about Arabic, but understand that Saudis and Emiratis find Moroccans hard to understand, but not vice-versa since the former speak a more "classical" variety of Arabic with less "slang" and fewer local loan words. English, on the other hand, has some more prestigious dictionaries (e.g. OED, Websters) but little in the way of definitive grammars that everyone can agree on.

[metal56]

"The defining features of a native speaker could be any or all of the following in any combination, with different components assuming prominence according to exigencies and demands of the particular context.


a) Primacy in order of acquisition
b) Manner and environment of acquisition
c) Acculturation by growing up in the speech community
d) Phonological, linguistic and communicative competence
e) Dominance, frequency and comfort of use
f) Ethnicity
g) Nationality/domicile
h) Self-perception of linguistic identity
i) Other-perception of linguistic membership and eligibility
j) Monolinguality

...

Although in theory it can be said that the more of these defining features one possesses, the more one becomes eligible for the native speaker status, in reality, in a lot of situations, ethno-political features have primacy over others. For instance, it is conceivable that one who fails criteria (a) to (e) above can still claim to be a native speaker and get acceptance if (s)he has Caucasian ethnicity and the right nationality.

Those who do not qualify (mostly by the ethno-political criteria) are dubbed non-native speakers regardless of their linguistic abilities. The traditional applied linguistic paradigm divides the non-natives into second and foreign language speakers/learners, with often little distinction between speakers and learners. This paradigm is still the basis on which decades of theory and practice of English language pedagogy and a multi-million dollar English language consumer industry, almost all developed in the two leading English-speaking nations on either side of the Atlantic, are built and made to thrive. In this native-nonnative paradigm, there is no doubt or dispute about who owns English. The native speakers own it, but are willing to transfer controlled possession and award guided right of use to the non-native [-3-] speakers, but may be forever unwilling to cede even a share of the ownership."

http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/t ... 1/f.1.html

[metal56]

"Whether native speakers own English or not, the dominant Received Wisdom of the Applied Linguistics industry certainly has not only gone about its business assuming that they do, but also has actively promoted and perpetuated the belief as a scientific fact (see Maley 1991)."

http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/t ... 1/f.1.html

From the most fanatical of the Pratorian Guards (See Prator 1968) to the most liberal of Applied Linguists (see, for instance, Strevens 1982) few can escape taking the us-and them attitude when talking about English speakers and users in the world and I have seen the bogey of the native speaker invoked countless times on the TESL-L network in the last couple of years.

http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/t ... 1/f.1.html


So, does such a bogey reside here on this very forum?

[Stephen Jones]

It's called diglossia.

Are you sure?

100% certain. The original work on diglossia was carried out by Ferguson, and referred to the two varieties of Arabic used by Arabic speakers.
Fishman suggested it could also be applied to bilinguals (in particular Spanish speakers in the US). There was, and still is, considerable debate as to whether you could have a stable diglosia in bilingual situations.

[Stephen Jones]

So, does such a bogey reside here on this very forum?

I would very much hope so!

[metal56]

So, does such a bogey reside here on this very forum?

I would very much hope so!

To keep your usage in check?