On 4/9/19 9:38 am, Tom Worthington wrote:
Graduates will likely be working in international teams, using a form of
English, but not Australian English. I have to use American English when
submitting papers to international computing and engineering
conferences, even when these are run in Australia, or Indonesia.
Many journals publish in *either* international English or American
English (but they tend to prefer consistency within the article).
I've never yet had to adjust to US English, in >150 refereed and >200
edited articles. (Years ago, IEEE Computer chose to do a substantial
editorial job on one paper, but I had to re-correct a number of things
that didn't come through 'in translation'. 'Two similar cultures
separated by a common language', as Shaw and Churchill put it).
China is scaling up to teach millions of international students in
English, and they will likely use American English.
https://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/2018/12/globalization-of-chinese-education.html
They will likely use their own English dialects.
And that varies among the Chinese diaspora, and doubtless also among the
many Chinas within China.
I imagine that when a Shangainese, a Beijinger and a Shenzenee walk into
a pub, they look askance at one another from time to time, whether
they're talking in their own versions of Putonghua *or* of English.
I've often had to pause and think about what the well-spoken and
well-educated Hong Kong person would have said if they were speaking my
preferred dialect, i.e. international / BBC / ABC English. (But good
Hong Kong English is way more understandable than some Caribbean
dialects, many Indian dialects, and of course Glaswegian and Geordie).
'Vive la difference' is usually thought to mean 'long live differences!'
or 'isn't it good that there are differences', but it might as well mean
'differences live!'.
--
Roger Clarke mailto:[email protected]
T: +61 2 6288 6916 http://www.xamax.com.au http://www.rogerclarke.com
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science Australian National University
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