Exploring World Englishes

Beginning with a discussion of real-life challenges relating to world Englishes that are faced by language professionals the book explores and illustrates the ways in which the actual use and management of English play an increasingly important role in contemporary globalized society.

Routledge Introductions to Applied Linguistics is a series of introductory level textbooks covering the core topics in Applied Linguistics, primarily designed for those beginning postgraduate studies, or taking an introductory MA course as well as advanced undergraduates. Titles in the series are also ideal for language professionals returning to academic study. The books take an innovative 'practice to theory' approach, with a 'back-to-front' structure. This leads the reader from real-world problems and issues, through a discussion of intervention and how to engage with these concerns, before finally relating these practical issues to theoretical foundations. Additional features include tasks with commentaries, a glossary of key terms, and an annotated further reading section. In this book Philip Seargeant surveys varieties of English existing within the world today, and the debates and controversies surrounding its present forms, functions and status in diverse world contexts. It examines how English has evolved to become a ‘global language’ and looks at the political and cultural history that has influenced this evolution. Beginning with a discussion of real-life challenges relating to world Englishes that are faced by language professionals – particularly in the contexts of language education and language planning – the book explores and illustrates the ways in which the actual use and management of English, as well as the beliefs and ideologies associated with it, play an increasingly important role in contemporary globalized society.

Assuming no prior knowledge, this book offers an accessible overview of English dialects, with activities, study questions, sample analyses, commentaries & key readings. It is structured around four sections: introduction, development, exploration & extension.

In this book, leading scholars in the field of World Englishes (WE) offer fresh perspectives in re-thinking issues on the use of English as a global language in an interconnected world. Established as a legitimate field of study, WE offers a conceptual framework which has influenced scholarship in many related disciplines: contact linguistics, postcolonial Englishes, English as a lingua franca, English as an international language, and applied linguistics. This seminal volume will have an excellent balance between theoretical and empirical works focusing on scholarship that has arisen in relation to the Kachruvian Three Concentric Circles model. This book covers topics such as state-of-the-art review of WE, WE and contact linguistics, post-colonial Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca, English as an International Language, WE and applied linguistics, language measurement and testing in WE, language policy and management, language education and dynamic ecologies, language typology, WE as a new canon, WE and corpus linguistics, WE and multimodalities, and makes predictions about the future of WE. It contains a comprehensive and up-to-date bibliography of major works published in the field.

English in the World: History, Diversity, Change examines the English language as it has developed through history and is used across the globe today. The first half of the book outlines the history of the language from its fifth-century roots through its development as a national, a colonial, and now a global language. In the second half, the focus shifts to the diversity of the language today. The book explores varieties of English across the English-speaking world, as well as English-related varieties such as pidgins and creoles. It also examines complex processes of variation, hybridity and change in English, and in the shifting styles of individual speakers. Throughout, the focus is on the international nature of English and its use alongside other languages in a diverse range of communities. Drawing on the latest research and The Open University’s wide experience of writing accessible and innovative texts, this book: explains basic concepts and assumes no previous study of English or linguistics contains a range of source material and commissioned readings to supplement chapters includes contributions from leading experts in their fields including Joan Beal, Suresh Canagarajah, David Crystal, Jonathan Hope, Kay McCormick, Miriam Meyerhoff, Rajend Mesthrie, Robert Podesva and Jennifer Smith has a truly international scope, encompassing examples and case studies from the UK and North America, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Asia, and Africa is illustrated in full colour to bring the fascinating study of the English language alive includes a comprehensive index as well as useful appendices showing the historical timeline of English and a brief introduction to the description of linguistic features English in the World: History, Diversity, Change is essential reading for all students of English language studies.

Provides a ground-breaking attempt to unite discussions on the pedagogical implications of the global spread of English, and lobby for change.

This book provides a collection of articles that reflect the current state of affairs in the blossoming field of World Englishes by bringing together several innovative synchronic and diachronic approaches. It contributes to the ongoing theoretical discussion concerning the criteria that make a low-frequency item represent an incipient change and examines the suitability of the sociolinguistics of globalisation theory for the study of non-traditional avenues for the spread of vernacular varieties of English (recent migrations, the entertainment industry, the web). It explores crucial aspects of language change and dialect evolution through the study of grammatical phenomena and the particular linguistic and socio-historical factors conditioning them. Together with theoretical questions, the volume shows a concern for methodological issues, such as sociolinguistic interviews, map-task experiments, metalinguistic comments, acceptability judgments and corpus-based methods. This volume represents the latest trends in the field and will undoubtedly set the agenda for the years ahead.