Neutral English vs Local English

[chuotyeumeo367]

I wonder what is the difference between Local English and Neutral English? If possible, could you give me some examples for that?

 

[5jj]

Where did you hear see the expression 'neutral English?'

 

[chuotyeumeo367]

In my Sociolinguistics subject for master degree. Actually, I cannot understand what neutral English is.

 

[5jj]

I don't understand, either. Could you provide a sentence or two which contain the expression?

 

[chuotyeumeo367]

This is a whole sentence that I quote from the material "What kind of English should Vietnamese users of English learn - native speakers’ English, neutral English or local English?"

 

[5jj]

This is a whole sentence that I quote from the material "What kind of English should Vietnamese users of English learn - native speakers’ English, neutral English or local English?"

I have no idea what can be meant by 'neutral' English. I suppose that 'local English' could mean 'a variety of English widely used in Vietnam'.

 

[LeTyan]

#######NOT A TEACHER#############


From the context, I would think of "Neutral English" as a type of English that is neither American English nor British English. It doesn't contain any representative elements from either of them(for example, American or British slangs, accents and etc).

 

[5jj]

From the context, I would think of "Neutral English" as a type of English that is neither American English nor British English. It doesn't contain any representative elements from either of them(for example, American or British slangs, accents and etc).

It is difficult to imagine such a thing. While the formal written versions of these two varities are not very different, it is hard to see how we can find a 'neutral' form between, for example the present perfect and past simple when the two varieties use different forms. And what is a non-British, non-American (non-Australian, etc) accent?

 

[LeTyan]

#########NOT A TEACHER############

I can give you an example.


Neutral English:"The weather's so hot. I am sweating all over" "Oh! I forgot to bring my bus card." "I will swipe mine for you"

Native speakers' English(I can't guarantee that everyone talks like this): "The weather is freaking hot. I am totally soaked" "Crap! I don't have my pass!""I got you. You get on first."

However, I have no idea what a Local Vietnamese English would sound like. Maybe you do.

 

[5jj]

"I forgot to bring my bus card."

Who is to say that this is 'neutral'? In certain contexts, a speaker of AmE might utter the first sentence when a speaker of BrE might use the present perfect. Is 'bus card' a neutral expression? I think the expression 'neutral English' is meaningless.

 

[LeTyan]

It is difficult to imagine such a thing. While the formal written versions of these two varities are not very different, it is hard to see how we can find a 'neutral' form between, for example the present perfect and past simple when the two varieties use different forms. And what is a non-British, non-American (non-Australian, etc) accent?

I suppose the threadstarter(or his material) was refering to oral or colloquial English.

 

[5jj]

I suppose that the writer of the material didn't know what they were on about.

 

[BobSmith]

[not a teacher]

There is such a thing as "Standard American English" (as related to accents), but I wouldn't put too much stock in that either. "Standard" here is merely academic, and not in any way "standardized", although sociologically, many people (perhaps those who count themselves as SAEs?) will claim it is "correct" or "more correct".

 

[5jj]

I can imagine 'neutral English' could be used in a sentence such as this, "Two speakers of very different dialects trying to converse with each other might both move towards Standard American English as a 'neutral' English"

 

[Tdol]

I assume it means English with a few regional or variant features, like international or offshore English- avoiding regional features and keeping things like idioms and slang to a minimum to make it comprehensible to as wide an audience as possible.

 

[JohnParis]

This is a whole sentence that I quote from the material "What kind of English should Vietnamese users of English learn - native speakers’ English, neutral English or local English?"

I believe that there is no such thing as neutral English. I also believe that you should carefully check the source material you have quoted, especially since you are studying for a master's degree in sociolinguistics. Not only does the question make little sense, it appears as if it has been written by a non-native speaker.
What kind of English should Vietnamese students learn? Vietnamese students should learn proper English, hopefully from a native English speaking teacher using textbooks written by native English speaking authors.

 

[BobK]

Where did you hear see the expression 'neutral English?'

I imagine the writer used it so as to avoid discussions about what 'standard' means. But I imagine it's referring to a non-existent 'flavourless' English.

b
PS If you don't get this, don't worry. But I'm reminded of Frank Muir's 'This is the way the world will end - not with a banger but with a Wimpy.' ;-)

 

[chuotyeumeo367]

As I search from the Internet, neutral English means:
- The language we use to communicate and then we can understand what the other person is saying or writing and vs. It is not native or local English.
- is a way of speaking or writing a language without regionalism.
- It is a dialect that is mostly used for public usage. When we are speaking or performing in a public forum / video station / TV announcement, etc, neutral English should be used to erase regional barriers and communicate effectively with the most people in the world.

What do you think then???

 

[5jj]

- The language we use to communicate and then we can understand what the other person is saying or writing and vs. It is not native or local English.
Unless they are studying language, many native speakers are not really aware of what parts of their language are 'local', so it is hard to imagine them using a so-called 'neutral English'.
- is a way of speaking or writing a language without regionalism.
See my previous comment.
- It is a dialect that is mostly used for public usage.
Well, it isn't. In Britain, BBC announcers used to speak RP, which could, I suppose, be termed a 'standard English', but it wasn't neutral. In recent decades, the BBC has moved away from this, and BBC announcers now speak with a fairly wide range of accents.
When we are speaking or performing in a public forum / video station / TV announcement, etc, neutral English should be used to erase regional barriers and communicate effectively with the most people in the world.
First you would have to try to agree on what a neutral English was. Even if you could agree on this, I don't think there are many native speakers who would feel it right that their natural way of speaking should not be considered acceptable in broadcasting[/QUOTE]

 

[chuotyeumeo367]

- The language we use to communicate and then we can understand what the other person is saying or writing and vs. It is not native or local English.
Unless they are studying language, many native speakers are not really aware of what parts of their language are 'local', so it is hard to imagine them using a so-called 'neutral English'.
- is a way of speaking or writing a language without regionalism.
See my previous comment.
- It is a dialect that is mostly used for public usage.
Well, it isn't. In Britain, BBC announcers used to speak RP, which could, I suppose, be termed a 'standard English', but it wasn't neutral. In recent decades, the BBC has moved away from this, and BBC announcers now speak with a fairly wide range of accents.
When we are speaking or performing in a public forum / video station / TV announcement, etc, neutral English should be used to erase regional barriers and communicate effectively with the most people in the world.
First you would have to try to agree on what a neutral English was. Even if you could agree on this, I don't think there are many native speakers who would feel it right that their natural way of speaking should not be considered acceptable in broadcasting

[/QUOTE]
Thanks for giving me useful comments.
I agree with you on that. Actually, I don't have any idea of what neutral English is. I know Native and Local but not Neutral. So now I have a big problem on that because I don't understand. Many people prefer RP for communicating in public or they can use local English wit each other especially when they come from the same area. I wish who could tell me what neutral English is.