This chapter, which is of a theoretical-conceptual rather than an empirical nature, is concerned with the characterization of structural innovations in New English varieties and the question of whether they can be described as transfer phenomena and learner errors. It first gives a review of relevant empirical studies and presents the state of the art in research in second language acquisition on the nature of cross-linguistic influence and the factors that constrain it. Based on this, it subsequently proposes a model of how structural innovations in New English varieties might have emerged. In addition, previous methods of studying these innovations are discussed, and a best-practice methodology for future research is proposed. It is argued that the classification of a structure as either an error or as an innovation depends crucially on the speakers’ and speaker communities’ norm-orientation and attitudes.
2023. Negotiating social meanings in a plural society: Social perceptions of variants of /l/ in Singapore English. Language in Society 52:4 ► pp. 617 ff.
Ranta, Elina
2022. From learners to users—errors, innovations, and universals. ELT Journal 76:3 ► pp. 311 ff.
Sun, Yingbin, Linxin Liang & Yan Peng
2022. Crosslinguistic influence in Singapore English: Linguistic and social aspects. Ming Chew Teo, 2020, New York: Routledge. Asian Journal of Social Science 50:4 ► pp. 320 ff.
Quammie–Wallen, Patrice
2021. Vague language in Hong Kong English, ‘Something like that’. English Today 37:1 ► pp. 13 ff.
Baratta, Alex
2019. Non-inner Circle Englishes Versus Language Errors. In World Englishes in English Language Teaching, ► pp. 69 ff.
Ting, Shawnea Sum Pok & Janice Wing Sze Wong
2019. Factors affecting the acceptability of grammatical features of Hong Kong English. English Today 35:2 ► pp. 29 ff.
van Rooy, Bertus
2019. English in Africa. In The Cambridge Handbook of World Englishes, ► pp. 210 ff.
2014. Structural nativization, typology and complexity: noun phrase structures in British, Kenyan and Singaporean English. English Language and Linguistics 18:1 ► pp. 23 ff.
Hickey, Raymond
2012. Standard English and standards of English. In Standards of English, ► pp. 1 ff.
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