World Englishes Autonomization

The readings for this week (Canagarajah and You) specifically focuses, I think, on the status of WE both as an object of inquiry, and as something that merits inclusion into college composition studies. I think both Canagarajah and You are arguing for the autonomy of WE in terms of its discursive practices, and its potential to negotiate meaning without recourse to the lexical structure, and syntax of native languages. A very strong argument that runs through their articles is that it is not every time that lexical and syntactical varieties of WE are derived from native language interference; some times, it is the result of certain contextual demands. This is what leads You to investigate the rhetorical strategies in the postings of the virtual community  of white-collar Chinese workers as independent linguistic practices from the influence of Chinese language. Canagarajah also identifies his student's expression "can be able to" not as the result of native language interference, but as a conscious choice motivated by "ideological considerations." So while WE continue to be shaped by globalization, and native language interference, it can also be seen as an autonomous linguistic entity that merits inclusion in multicultural classrooms; and that also requires careful research methods as an object of inquiry.