book notice: Globalization and Language Vitality: Vigouroux, Mufwene (Eds)

[Harold Schiffman]

Globalization and Language Vitality: Vigouroux, Mufwene (Eds)

Title: Globalization and Language Vitality
Subtitle: Perspectives from Africa
Published: 2008
Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd
                http://www.continuumbooks.com

Book URL: http://www.continuuumbooks.com

Editor: Cécile B. Vigouroux
Editor: Salikoko S. Mufwene

Abstract:

This book discusses the effects of globalization on languages in Africa. In
contrast to previous studies, the contributors examine whether or not
globalization is affecting African languages in the same ways and at the
same rate in different countries, and how local experiences of language
change vary from place to place. Rather than seeing English as the 'killer
language' par excellence, the contributors probe ways in which languages
are being used side by side to complement each other in some contexts while
competing against European colonial languages in others. The result is a
diverse canvas of language vitality in the African context, including
matters of endangerment and loss, through the lense of globalization in its
various interpretations.

This book is a must read for students and researchers interested in
language change and death and in the fate of European languages in the rest
of the world.

*Editors*
Cécile B. Vigouroux is Assistant Professor in the Department of Romance
Languages at Simon Fraser University, Canada.

Salikoko S. Mufwene is the Frank J. McLoraine Distinguished Service
Professor of Linguistics as well as Professor on the Committee on
Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago, USA.

*Reviews*
"If there is an African way of finding appropriate solutions for linguistic
interaction in a situation of increasing cultural, economic, and political
globalization then it is to be found in this book. The book presents a
range of exciting perspectives on how African societies have dealt and are
dealing with their communication problems."
- Professor Bernd Heine, Institute for African Studies, University of
Cologne, Germany.

"A superb collection of essays by well-known regional specialists on a
topic that will affect more and more African speech communities in the near
future."
- Professor Gerrit J. Dimmendaal, Institute for African Studies,
University of Cologne, Germany

http://linguistlist.org/issues/19/19-3557.html

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