Revisiting the notion of maturation in new Englishes

:  For the past thirty years or so, research on new Englishes has been predominantly based on identifying at what point and to what extent these varieties of English deviate from the native or older varieties (typically British and American). Often considered and treated as outcomes of deficient or inadequate acquisition of the native and/or as heavily influenced by co-existing indigenous languages, these Englishes have been conceptually interpreted as growing or advancing or maturing in a progressive manner towards (rather than away from) the native or older Englishes. This paper refutes this notion of maturation and rather proposes that new Englishes are evolving according to the ecological realities of their present contexts.