‘three circles’
model forconceptualising World Englishes.
The most common classification of Englishes, especially in the languageteaching world, has been to distinguish between English as a native language(ENL), English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language(EFL). Kachru (1992) however, put forward another classification outlining theroles of English in the world as three concentric circles: the Inner Circle, OuterCircle and Expanding Circle. The Inner Circle refers to countries where Englishis used as a mother-tongue language for example, USA, UK, and Ireland. TheOuter Circle refers to countries where English is used as a second language forexample, Singapore and India. The Expanding Circle refers to countries whereEnglish is used as a foreign language or an additional language for example,Thailand and China.