Talk:International English

Is the first meaning of the term "International English" restricted to English spoken in British Commonwealth countries? What about the forms of English spoken in the non-Commonwealth countries like the United States and Ireland?

Yes. English spoken in the United States is referred to as American English. Irish English I'm not sure of. --Robert Merkel

This article simply has to go - I've been researching this for weeks, placing a dozen posts on alt.usage.english and reading every manual of English usage I can find, and simply NONE of them validate this term "International English" in the context of a grouping of non-American Englishes.

All of my references provide only two valid meanings for it: as a term used in the computer industry, and as reference to "English as a utility language for international communication". - MMGB

Since the only person who was supporting it has now gone, you can do what you like with it. --Zundark, 2001 Nov 18

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It is outragously illogical to define "International English" as "English language used in the British Commonwealth ...", This should be termed Commonwealth English.

I'll remind you english is used extensivly in europe (between foreign countries), India, Africa (There are hundreds of african languages, english is officialy used at schools), in the UN, scientific publications, english is the official Internet language, International affairs, and much more I have not written. Rotem Dan 15:19 Apr 13, 2003 (UTC)

Feel free to correct the article. The person responsible for propagating this term (in the sense of "Commonwealth English") all over Wikipedia left very suddenly in November 2001 and hasn't been seen since. Most references to the term have been removed, but the article itself remains (although the most absurd claims were excised). Manning Bartlett (MMGB) was intending to rework the articles on English dialects, but never got around to doing it. I assume his remark above about there being only two valid meanings is correct. --Zundark 17:10 Apr 13, 2003 (UTC)

I am not a linguist by any means, but I've found an interesting definition (with a cite) from alt.english.usage from 2003-01-06 04:14:30 PST:

International English

[Late 20c: with or without a capital i]. The English language, usually in its standard form, either when used, taught, and studied as a lingua franca throughout the world, or when taken as a whole and used in contrast with American English, British English, South African English, etc., as in International English: A Guide to Varieties of Standard English, title of a work by Peter Trudgill and Jean Hannah (London: Edward Arnold, 1982) that reviews both standard and non-standard varieties worldwide.

• See ISBN 0340586451 - International English: A Guide to Varieties of Standard English

-- Rotem Dan 09:16 Apr 14, 2003 (UTC)