New variety or learner English?

Abstract

In deciding whether non-native English is to be classified as a new variety or simply as learner language, a yardstick is needed against which the candidate variety can be tested. This paper offers such criteria for ESL-variety status, based on the three processes in the development of a new variety: expansion in function, nativization of form and institutionalization of a new standard. The criteria are exemplarily applied to the case of non-native English spoken on the European Continent, a recent controversial contender for variety status. It is suggested that if the proposed criteria are applied, Euro-English does not qualify as a New English.