From Expensive English to minimal English

Abstract

Minimal English is a useful tool for improving communication between monolingual English speakers and multilingual Tok Pisin and English speakers in PNG. This chapter reports on the use of Minimal English in an agricultural development project in PNG, arguing that it can help to go ‘under’ the language barriers created by Expensive English, that is, English that is not easily understood by the majority of people in PNG. The chapter demonstrates two ways in which Minimal English can be useful in this multilingual context: (1) semantic explications in Minimal English can distinguish different senses of the same word used by agricultural training facilitators and participants, and (2) words that are important in the local context can be chosen to replace Expensive English words that are less familiar to participants. The chapter argues that Minimal English is a valuable tool in agricultural development training and can be used to improve communication in a multilingual context where English is the language of instruction.