Coda 1 World Englishes and Second Language Acquisition: Working towards a common goal

Abstract

Although some have argued that world Englishes and Second Language Acquisition are in a relationship of conflict, my own view is that this is not necessarily the case. Indeed, it is possible to argue that the relationship between the two paradigms is better characterized as 'benign neglect' rather than that of conflict. Both fields, I would suggest, might benefit from truly collaborative research and scholarship, but such collaboration does not necessarily come easily, as researchers typically have expertise in one field rather than another, and this can frequently lead to miscommunication and misunderstanding, however well-intentioned potential collaborators might be. From the point of view of SLA, one might also question the heavy emphasis on 'Englishes' in this context, and I end this coda with a discussion of the writing of Lahiri (2016), whose written account of the learning of Italian illustrates the interconnection of both cognitive and social factors in second language development.