Abstract

This book engages with English in globalization, re-examining and re-interpreting the contemporary contexts of its acquisition and use. The chapters contained in this book weave together four inter-related themes that define the role of English in the global context: the ‘centrality of structure’, ‘relationships of interdependence’, ‘social constructions of difference’ and ‘reproduction of inequality’. These themes enable the authors to draw attention to the dynamics of the contemporary realities of the ‘English-speaking’ and ‘English-using’ nations, especially as they compete for cultural, social, economic and symbolic capital in global networks. In engaging World Englishes with the sociolinguistics of globalization, the authors raise some fundamental questions about the status, structure, and functions of World Englishes.

Mukul Saxena is Assistant Professor in the Centre for Applied Linguistics, Warwick University, UK. Before this, he worked in Brunei Darussalam, Lancaster and York. His publications and research interests are in the areas of (English-)bilingual classroom interaction, Multilingual literacies, Language maintenance & shift, World Englishes.

Tope Omoniyi is Professor of Sociolinguistics in the School of Arts at Roehampton University, London (UK). His research interests straddle issues in language and identity, language in education, and language policy and planning in Europe and Africa. His scholarly articles and reviews have appeared in numerous journals. He is the author of The Sociolinguistics of Borderlands: Two Nations, One People (AWP 2004) and editor and co-editor of several volumes of essays.

There is a lot of interesting material collated in this book, and some of the contrasting approaches are thought-provoking…it presents some useful overviews about the current status of English in various places aroung the world, and furthermore it offers a valuable contrast between a range of approaches towards globalization, so it will certainly be appreciated by many researchers and students of World Englishes.

This book is an overdue and welcome treatment of what global English stands for. It definitely pinpoints the shift away from colonialization, native-like measurement and materials promoting native-speaker hegemony. Speakers using English should be ready to use the language with whoever is also speaking it. "Contending with Globalization in World Englishes" should be of interest to all using English in international contexts and specifically to applied linguists, as the issues discussed are relevant at the current time.

What roles are English and World Englishes playing in globalization? What effect is globalization having on English and World Englishes? What effect is globalization having on other languages? Anyone interested in exploring these crucial questions will find this book a most helpful and stimulating companion. The editors have assembled an appropriately diverse all-star cast of contributors, each of whom approaches the topic from a refreshingly innovative standpoint. To paraphrase Omoniyi’s poem which opens the book, readers will learn to 'waltz, salsa and lion-dance' (and hip-hop) their way through the complex cultural and linguistic steps of globalisation.

The widespread variation in English as used for international communication has provoked a correspondingly wide variety of views about its significance. This collection is an impressive testimony to how varied these views are, and how diverse the theoretical and ideological perspectives that inform them. There is a good deal in this stimulating book that calls for the careful and critical reflection about established ways of thinking.