English in Asia

Catalog description

Study of the expanding roles of English in South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. With more non-native speakers than native speakers, and more in Asia than elsewhere, English has acquired new identities. We will study functions of English in colonial and post-colonial times; how it competes with, and complements local languages in business, advertising, media, education, research, administration, judiciary, creative literature, call centers, and on the Internet; the evolution of dynamic new Asian Englishes, such as Indian English, and their social and cultural contexts; controversies regarding English medium education and its impact on local languages, relevance of native English standards, and implications for theory, description, and method in diverse disciplines, such as, business communication, cultural studies, English, lexicography, speech recognition, journalism, media studies, sociolinguistics, teaching English as a second language, and Asian Studies.