Kachru’s three concentric circles
The three concentric circles (Kachru
1992a) show the relationship among countries
whose citizens use English to some degree.
The model begins with a small circle, called
the inner circle. The inner circle is the small
-
est in terms of population and is composed
of countries in which people speak English as
their first language. These countries include
the United States, the United Kingdom,
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, among
others. A larger circle behind the first one,
called the outer circle, is composed of coun
-
tries in which people speak an institutional
-
ized variety of English. In this circle, English
spread through native-speaker administrators
or colonizers: English primarily served a regu
-
lative function and then spread to serve other
sociolinguistic functions as well. Countries
such as India, Pakistan, and the Philippines
are part of the outer circle, as English is used
in education, government, or popular culture
(Kachru and Nelson 1996).
The English languages produced by the
inner circle and outer circle are called Englishes
to show the similarity of the languages to one
common root, but also to emphasize the differences.
English from these two circles then
spread to what is called the expanding circle.
The expanding circle is the largest of the three
and is placed behind the other two circles.
The expanding circle has the greatest number
of English speakers, and its characteristics
are evident in every other country in which
people speak English as a foreign language.
A majority of NSs who teach English are
probably in expanding circle countries. It
is important for NS teachers to understand
which circle the country belongs in because
the circle helps define the country’s use of
English. Each circle uses English for different
functions. Understanding these functions will
allow NS teachers to set appropriate objectives
for each class.
Let me give you an example of a teacher
who lacks the proper understanding of the
functions of English: It would be odd for
a teacher in an expanding circle country to
teach English by having students read the
U.S. Declaration of Independence or the U.S.
Constitution. What if those students studied
the speeches and writings of George Wash
-
ington or Thomas Jefferson? The function
that English fulfills in these documents and
speeches plays a specific role in U.S. society,
one that not many English learners outside
the United States need to study