Abstract

The chapters in this volume seek to bring hybrid language practices to the center of discussions about English as a global language. They demonstrate how local linguistic resources and practices are involved in the refashioning of identities in a variety of cross-cultural and geographical contexts, and illustrate hybridity as an enactment of resistance and creativity. Drawing on a variety of disciplines and ideological perspectives, the authors use contexts as diverse as social media, Bollywood films, workplaces and kindergartens to explore the ways in which English has become a part of localities and social relations in ways that are of significant sociolinguistic interest in understanding the dynamics of mobile cultures and transcultural flows.

Linguistic and cultural landscapes in our global society are changing so much and so fast as to render existing sociolinguistic theories hopelessly inadequate. In response, this book problematizes several concepts including hybridity and bilingualism, shedding critical light on metrolingual, transglossic, and transcultural phenomena. Voices from around the world present a compelling piece of analysis that our profession cannot afford to ignore.

This book is an important and valuable contribution to the growing literature on linguistic globalization. It offers a thoughtful reassessment of the nature and significance of the concept of hybridity, illustrating the key role it plays in the relationship between language-related issues and the process of globalization.

Rani Rubdy is an Associate Professor of English Language and Literature at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She has published widely on World Englishes, including Language as Commodity: Global Structures, Local Marketplaces (2008, edited with Peter Tan) and English in the World: Global Rules, Global Roles (2006, edited with Mario Saraceni).

Lubna Alsagoff is an Associate Professor of English Language and Literature at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She has published widely on Singapore English and language and identity, including Principles and Practices for Teaching English as an International Language (2012, edited with Sandra Lee McKay, Guangwei Hu and Willy Renandya). Both authors are co-editors with Lawrence Jun Zhang of the volume Asian Englishes: Changing Perspectives in a Globalised World (2011).

Covering diverse locations in the world, The Global-Local Interface and Hybridity: Exploring Language and Identity highlights how global linguistic flows produce local innovations of linguistic practices, requiring us to reconceptualize the notion of language. Yet, the book also pushes us to scrutinize the contested nature of hybridity arising from cultural and economic complexities.