Firstly, what is a 'native speaker' of any language?
In some countries such as Kenya, India, and various East Asian countries, "mother language" or "native language" is used to indicate the language of one'sethnic group, in both common and journalistic parlance (e.g. "I have no apologies for not learning my mother tongue"), rather than one's first language. Also in Singapore, "mother tongue" refers to the language of one's ethnic group regardless of actual proficiency, while the "first language" refers to the English language that was established on the island through British colonisation, which is the lingua franca for most post-independence Singaporeans due to its use as the language of instruction in government schools and as a working language.
One can have two or more native languages, thus being a native bilingual or indeed multilingual. The order in which these languages are learned is not necessarily the order of proficiency. Other examples are India, Malaysia and South Africa, where most people speak more than one language.
First language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Here's an interesting on-line discussion:
How would you define "native speaker of english"?
And here's a more academic study:
Native
speaker: A unitary fantasy of a diverse reality
Posted
October 23rd, 2012 by webadmin
Date: Thu,
2004-01-01
Writer(s): Mitsuo Kubota, Kansai Gaidai University
The use
of the term "native speaker" has been critically discussed in the
field of teaching English (e.g., Davies, 1991; Kachru & Nelson, 1996;
Paikeday, 1985; Phillipson, 1992; Rampton, 1990). This article attempts to
examine the term as it is used in an EFL context as well as raise awareness
about the multiplicity of the term. Five major factors defining a native
speaker are then put forward followed by a brief discussion of a study which
investigated the construct of a native speaker of English (NES) among
university students in Japan, as well as their model speaker for learning
English.
What
is a Native English Speaker?
In
theoretical linguistics, the native speaker is a person who is qualified to
judge the grammaticality of sentences (Chomsky, 1965). In the SLA (Second
Language Acquisition) studies, the native speaker provides the target models
for learning. However, the term has not been defined clearly in either of these
fields, yet it has been used widely as if it is a self-explanatory term. In
response to this situation, some researchers (e.g., Kachru and Nelson, 1996;
Paikeday, 1985; Rampton, 1990) have asserted that the casual use of the term
"native speaker" needs to be questioned and problematized. After
reviewing the literature regarding the term, I have isolated five defining
issues for a NES:
1. whether
the person acquired English from birth (Davies, 1991; Liu, 1999; Paikeday,
1985; Phillipson, 1992)
2. whether
the person is a competent speaker (Davies, 1991; Paikeday, 1985; Rampton, 1990)
3. whether
the person acquired English formally through education or informally through
daily use (Davies, 1991; Liu, 1990; Phillipson, 1992)
4. what
variety of English the person uses (Davies, 1991; Kachru & Nelson, 1996;
McConnell, 2000)
5. the
race of the person (Amin, 1997; Kachru & Nelson, 1996; Liu, 1999; Lummis,
1975; Tsuda, 1990).
Keeping
the above criteria in mind, I asked Japanese university students about their
definition of a NES and their model for learning English. Based on the
findings, I will discuss what needs to be considered in terms of the definition
and the target for learning English in the Japanese context.
The
Study
The
participants were 260 Japanese university sophomores majoring in English.
Because the university has a large number of English teachers and international
students, many of whom the participants consider to be NESs, it is reasonable
to say that the participants in the present study have exposure to NESs.
Discussion
These
Japanese university students define a NES as a person who acquired English from
birth onward. The participants report neither the variety of English that the
person speaks nor the race of the person as important defining criteria. The
important issue is whether the person uses English continuously in at least one
domain of their daily life. Their model for learning English is similar to
their definition of a NES, however, criteria such as being a speaker of the
Inner Circle and lack of a foreign accent seem to be important.
The second-largest English-speaking country is India:
Is India or US the biggest English-speaking country? | Antimoon Forum
List of countries by English-speaking population - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The rapid growth of India's economy towards the end of the 20th century led to large-scale population migration between regions of the Indian subcontinent and the establishment of English as a common lingua franca between those speaking diverse mother tongues.
Indian English - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
And as such, Indians not only speak excellent English:
"An English-speaking Indian has native-like intuition in English, unlike a Chinese for whom English is assembled by a more academic thought process. For an Indian, English is more like an adjunct native language. We do some of our thinking in our Indian language and other things in English — that is, we have a native competence that spans two or more languages. No wonder we do so well in Toefl."
Indians beat English at their language - Times Of India
But it is replacing 'local' languages:
In Bangalore and elsewhere in Big City
India, factors like great mobility, a demanding school system and mixed
marriages are churning up a startling consequence: a generation of urban
children is growing up largely monolingual — speaking, thinking and dreaming
only in English.
“How
do we define Ahana’s mother tongue?” asks Mr. Nagaraj. He speaks Kannada with
his mother; his wife speaks Bengali with hers. Both grandmothers live nearby
and attempt to converse with Ahana in their respective tongues. But she
responds only in English.
It is an issue that at once cheers and
distresses an entire band of middle-class Indians.
On the one hand, English has opened the
doors to great job mobility in the past decade and much economic success. In a
country of so many varied languages, English is the only linguistic
commonality. Yet as the language increasingly becomes the de facto mother
tongue in urban families, many are dismayed at the trend, contending that its
rampant use will strip them of their sense of Indian-ness.
“English is unifying us with the rest of
the world but alienating us from our familial and cultural roots,” says Mr.
Nagaraj, who still turns to Kannada metaphors when he needs to drive home a
point.
India's New 'English Only' Generation - NYTimes.comEnglish is an official language in most former British colonies:
List of countries where English is an official language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
But not in Malaysia:
The official language of Malaysia is Malaysian,[2] a standardised form of the Malay language.[182] Historically English was the de facto administrative language, with Malay becoming predominant after the 1969 race riots.[183] English remains an active second language, and serves as the medium of instruction for maths and sciences in all public schools.[184][185] Malaysian English, also known as Malaysian Standard English, is a form of English derived from British English.
Malaysia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
And it should not be confused with the 'Anglosphere' which some see as a rather romantic, backward-looking anti-European notion:
Anglosphere - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
English has been chosen often for political reasons:
Nigeria has one of the biggest collection of languages in the world (if not THE biggest), and they use English as the national language, because it's neutral to all the other ones (and it's used as a lingua franca to boot). Some people though have English as a native language in the country.
Can a Nigerian be classified as a Native English speaker? - Yahoo! Answers
Nigerian English - definition and examples of Nigerian English
But it's often a question of education and class:
The official language of Nigeria, English, the former colonial language, was chosen to facilitate the cultural and linguistic unity of the country. English, however, remains an exclusive preserve of the country's urban elite, and is not widely spoken in rural areas, which comprise three quarters of the countries population.
Languages of Nigeria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This can often have racist overtones:
Native English speakers who are of Asian descent or candidates with Asian looks will NOT be consideredNative English speakers (Caucasians ONLY) from the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada need apply
Who is a native speaker of English?- eChinacities Answers | answers.echinacities.com
This paper argues that the English Language
Teaching (ELT) industryoften does not treat all speakers of English as equal in
its hiring practices.Rather, it gives preferential treatment to White native
speakers of English.
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