Contending with Globalization in World Englishes

Edited by Dr. Mukul Saxena, Dr. Tope Omoniyi

Publication date:

28 May 2010

Publisher

Multilingual Matters

Dimensions:

210x148mm
6x8"

ISBN-13: 9781847692757

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.

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.