32.2778, Review: English; General Linguistics; Sociolinguistics: Bolton, Botha, Kirkpatrick (2020)
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Subject: 32.2778, Review: English; General Linguistics; Sociolinguistics: Bolton, Botha, Kirkpatrick (2020)
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Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2021 22:42:28
From: Teresa Ong [ongtesa at gmail.com]
Subject: The Handbook of Asian Englishes
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36718097
Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/31/31-3873.html
EDITOR: Kingsley Bolton
EDITOR: Werner Botha
EDITOR: Andy Kirkpatrick
TITLE: The Handbook of Asian Englishes
SERIES TITLE: Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics
PUBLISHER: Wiley
YEAR: 2020
REVIEWER: Teresa Wai See Ong, Griffith University
SUMMARY
“The Handbook of Asian Englishes”, edited by Kingsley Bolton, Werner Botha,
and Andy Kirkpatrick, consists of an introduction and 37 chapters that are
grouped into four parts: (i) The History and Development of Asian Englishes,
(ii) English in Outer Circle Asian Societies, (iii) English in Expanding
Circle Asian Societies, and (iv) New Frontiers of Research. The handbook is
levelled at the large audience of students and scholars interested in
understanding the varieties of English in Asia.
The volume begins with Chapter 1 (“Asian Englishes Today”) written by the
three editors. It briefly discusses Braj B. Kachru’s model of “Three Circles”,
which is widely used to distinguish varieties of Englishes across the globe.
In this volume, the variation of Englishes developed in the multilingual and
complex Asian societies are organised according to Kachru’s Outer and
Expanding Circles.
Part I consists of chapters on how English was introduced in the Asia region
and its development. Chapter 2 (“Asia before English”, by A. R. Coupe and F.
Kratochvíl) describes the linguistic situation in South and Southeast Asia
before British and European colonisation. The region was heavily influenced by
the summer and winter monsoonal patterns, which determined the agricultural
practices, trade network, and spread of migration. All these activities
involved commercial and cultural exchanges that led to language contact.
Chapter 3, entitled “The Statistics of English across Asia”, by K. Bolton and
J. Bacon-Shone, discusses statistical data related to English in Asia. The
authors provide basic data to estimate the number of English users in both
Outer and Expanding Circle Asian societies. The data are based on government
censuses and language surveys. The authors also compare the assessments of
English proficiency, such as TOEFL, IELTS, and EF, that are commonly used in
Asian societies.
In Chapter 4 (“English and Language Policies in East and Southeast Asia”), A.
Kirkpatrick and A. J. Liddicoat address the social and official roles played
by languages in Asia. They discuss the development and range of issues related
to status, corpus, and language-in-education policies. Using several case
studies, the authors illustrate the linguistic and cultural diversity of the
region while showing the complexity of the implementation of those policies.
Chapter 5 (“English in Asian Schools” by E.-L. Low) surveys English language
education in Asian schools through a selection of 10 Outer and 10 Expanding
Circle countries as examples. In each country, a brief historical context is
provided, followed by the contemporary issues linked to the use and teaching
of English. Low concludes her survey by stating that the differences and
similarities found are due to the adoption of teaching systems that vary
greatly from one another.
Chapter 6 (“English in Asian Universities”, by K. Bolton and W. Botha)
explores the current spread of English in Asian higher education. The authors
present examples based on recent surveys from the Outer and Expanding circle
contexts. They conclude that there is clear evidence of English being adopted
as the medium of instruction in Outer Circle rather than Expanding Circle
contexts and that the influence of university rankings has impacted its
adoption and spread.
In Chapter 7 (“The Features of Asian Englishes: Morphosyntax”), W. Botha and
T. Bernaisch present an overview of some current issues pertaining to the
features of Asian Englishes, particularly in relation to morphosyntax. They
provide examples using different varieties from L2 speakers and suggest
possible future directions for research, such as comparing those features and
interpreting large-scale patterns against historical perspectives.
Chapter 8, entitled “The Features of Asian Englishes: Phonology” (by I. A.
Gardiner and D. Deterding), outlines the many phonological features of
different varieties of English in both the Outer and Expanding Circle
countries. Gardiner and Deterding conclude that the separation between Outer
and Expanding Circles has diminished but that there is a significant
distinction when these Circles are compared to the Inner Circle.
The last chapter of Part I (“The Lexicography of Asian Englishes”, by J.
Lambert) provides a holistic understanding of the lexicographical resources of
Asian English. Some varieties, like the Englishes of India, Singapore, Hong
Kong, Malaysia, and the Philippines, have better coverage, while others have a
limited subset of vocabulary. Lambert concludes that none of these varieties
have come close to the varieties of English in the Inner Circle until the
present-day.
Part II comprises chapters related to the varieties of English from the Outer
Circle countries. It begins with “Indian English” (Chapter 10, by S. N.
Sridhar), which is considered “the oldest non-native variety of the English
language” (Sridhar, 2020, p. 244). Sridhar gives a brief historical overview
of the development of English in India, followed by the status, functions, and
grammatical features of Indian English. He concludes that English is valued
highly among Indians in multilingual India today.
Chapter 11, by T. Rahman, discusses “Pakistani English”. The author states
that English in Pakistan helps the younger generation to climb up the social
ladder, while those who lack such skills consider it as a major impediment. As
in Chapter 10, the author presents an overview of the historical development
of English in Pakistan and some features of Pakistani English.
In Chapter 12 (“Bangladeshi English”), M. O. Hamid and Md. M. Hasan examine
the sociolinguistic reality of English in Bangladesh. Although Bangla is
dominant in most areas of the society, many private sectors increasingly rely
on English. The authors also illustrate the functions of English in different
domains, ranging from education to non-government organisations.
Chapter 13 describes “Nepali English”. R. A. Giri gives an account of the
historical background of how English was introduced in Nepal, followed by its
status and functions. English has impacted contemporary Nepali society, which
subsequently caused a decline in the number of students enrolling in mother
tongue schools. Attitudes towards English have changed as it is now perceived
as an appropriate language for Nepali society.
Chapter 14 (by T. I. Ekanayaka) deals with “Sri Lankan English”. English was
introduced in Sri Lanka during the late 18th century when it became a British
colony. Since then, English has played an important role in Sri Lankan society
even after Sinhala replaced it as the sole official language in 1956. The
author presents some linguistic features of Sri Lankan English and its
influences on Sri Lankan popular music.
Chapter 15 (“Myanmar English”, by K. K. Aye) addresses the role of English in
the linguistic ecology of Myanmar, a culturally and linguistically diverse
country. Aye describes how English was introduced in Myanmar and later became
an important language of education and development. She continues her chapter
by discussing the features of Myanmar English, suggesting that more research
is needed on this issue.
In Chapter 16 (“Malaysian English”), A. Hashim begins by discussing the role
of English during British colonial days, followed by the current language
planning policies that shape its functions and status. English plays an
important function in three key domains: government and law, the education
system, and higher education. The chapter ends with a description of the
phonological, grammatical, and lexical features of Malaysian English.
Following next is J. Mclellan’s discussion (Chapter 17) of “Brunei English”.
Brunei is a small Islamic sultanate country located on the island of Borneo.
Although English plays an important role in Brunei’s bilingual education
system, its spread does not threaten the position and status of Malay as the
country’s official language because each language remains strictly within its
own domain of use.
In Chapter 18 (“Singapore English”), F. Cavallaro, B. C. Ng, and Y.-Y. Tan
examine one of the most researched varieties of English in the Asia region.
Singapore English has today become a distinctive variety due to its
development of unique syntactic and lexical features that differ from other
Englishes. To many young Singaporeans, English is considered their mother
tongue, so much so that they are trapped between their heritage languages and
English.
Chapter 19, “Hong Kong English” (by K. Bolton, J. Bacon-Shone, and K. K.
Luke), focuses on addressing the shift and struggle of English as the Hong
Kong government promotes trilingualism after the Chinese takeover in 1997.
English continues to enjoy high prestige in official domains although there
are significant changes in the new policies. Although Cantonese holds power
and prestige in Hong Kong society, English remains important in the lives of
the vast majority of the people of Hong Kong.
The last chapter in Part II (“Philippine English”, by I. P. Martin) discusses
the role of English seen as several sub-varieties in a range of situations and
contexts in the Philippines. English in the Philippines was influenced by
American colonisation, which later developed into Philippine English as a
non-standard variety that is now used in everyday contexts. Martin illustrates
with examples of lexical properties. She ends the chapter by challenging
scholars to “explore the sociolinguistic realities of English language use in
the Philippines” (Martin, 2020, p. 496).
Part III deals with varieties of English in the Expanding Circle Asian
Societies. It begins with K. Bolton, W. Botha, and W. Zhang providing an
overview of the status, functions, and features of “English in China” (Chapter
21). Over the past two decades, there has been increasing attention and demand
paid to English in the domain of education and learning of English as a
foreign language. With the many studies conducted, the authors present
examples of linguistic features of Chinese English.
Chapter 22, by W. Botha and A. Moody, focuses on the status and functions of
“English in Macau”. The learning and use of English in contemporary Macau is
motivated by Macau’s modernisation process via education, media, and the
casino world. Nevertheless, more research is needed on this variety as it
competes with Portuguese and Chinese.
Chapter 23 (“English in Taiwan”, by P. I. Kobayashi) deals with how English
was introduced in Taiwan and its development in the current era. As English
operates as a semi-official language in Taiwan, many Taiwanese universities
offer courses in the English medium due to its importance. The promotion and
current spread of English have prompted a preference for American English.
In Chapter 24, “English in Japan” by P. Seargeant, English functions
predominantly as an ornament/decoration rather than as a form of communication
within Japanese society. Seargeant concludes that although many efforts have
been made to increase the society’s fluency and proficiency in English, the
use of English in everyday life or even in the business sector remains
relatively low.
In Chapter 25 (“English in Korea”, by J. S. Lee), English is regarded as “the
language of ultimate importance” in modern South Korean society (Park, 2009,
p. 1). With the ever- increasing contact with English, “Konglish” has emerged.
Features of Konglish are discussed, with its influences on music, advertising,
and television. Lee concludes that English is becoming increasingly
functional among the younger generation.
Chapter 26 (“English in Indonesia”, by A. F. Lauder) discusses English in
Indonesia from a broad perspective. As a multilingual and diverse country,
Indonesia allows English to have a special status due to its function as a
global language and a foreign language, and it is compulsory in schools. Due
to the many problems of implementation in classrooms, suggestions have been
made to set up a portal for archives and to make available for online download
English teaching lesson plans.
Chapter 27 (“English in Thailand”, by S. Pechan-Hammond) addresses the role,
status, and functions of English in the Kingdom of Thailand. English is
categorised as a foreign language in Thailand, and thus many initiatives have
been taken by various institutions to provide English courses. The author
provides some examples of features of the Thai variety of English, although
the development of this variety remains unclear.
In Chapter 28 (“English in Cambodia”), S. H. Moore and S. Bouchan attempt to
deliver a comprehensive overview of key issues concerning the function and
status of English in today’s Cambodia. With Cambodia joining the Association
of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) in 1999, the status and functions of English have
been elevated. English serves as a lingua franca in Cambodia and its
importance is recognised in various sectors, including tourism and education.
In Chapter 29, “English in Laos”, L. Achren and D. Kittiphanh explore the role
of English in the multilingual and multiethnic state of Laos. English has
contributed to the state’s economic development regionally and globally.
Nevertheless, disadvantaged children continue to fall behind due to lack of
Lao language skills. The authors argue for the need to support these children,
because the introduction of English as a compulsory subject in Grade 3 has
further burdened them.
In the final chapter of Part III (Chapter 30: “English in Vietnam”), P.
Sundkvist and X. N. C. M. Nguyen assert that English functions in various
sectors in Vietnam, including communication, education, and the greater
society. They illustrate this variety with features of English spoken and
written by Vietnamese students. The authors conclude that the use of English
in Vietnam remains for instrumental purposes.
Part IV, New Frontiers to Research, presents chapters on contemporary research
in English within the Asian region. Chapter 31 (“Globalisation and Asian
Englishes”, by M. Saraceni) tackles the broad phenomenon of globalisation that
is influencing the development and spread of English in Asia’s complex
sociolinguistic environments. Within the Outer and Expanding Circle societies,
English has become an Asian lingua franca, serving as an important language in
the fields of education, tourism, government, media, and communication.
Chapter 32 (“English as an ASEAN lingua franca”, by A. Kirkpatrick) describes
the history and current role of English in ASEAN. As English becomes the sole
working language of ASEAN, emphasis has been made to teach English where the
cultures of ASEAN are included in its curriculum. This emphasis demonstrates
the vitality of English as an important medium of communication and its
growing future prospects in ASEAN.
As Asian Englishes have increasingly received much attention, in chapter 33,
“Corpus Linguistics and Asian Englishes”, J. Murkerjee and T. Bernaisch
discuss how scholars use corpora as a tool to conduct research on these
varieties. The authors give a brief introduction on the principles of corpus
linguistics, followed by examples of Asian Englishes corpora, and end by
presenting some new developments in this field of research.
In Chapter 34 (“English in Asian Popular Culture”), A. Moody surveys the
literature on the roles of English in Asian popular cultures. He discusses two
dominant themes of bilingual creativity/language mixing and expression of
identity within the language of pop culture. Moody illustrates the
exonormative and endonormative varieties of English using two case studies –
the Japanese pop band, Love Psychedelico, and the Singaporean television
program, Girls Out Loud.
The next chapter (Chapter 35: “Asian Literatures in English”, by S. G.-L. Lim,
C. B. Patterson, Y-D. Troeung, and W. Gui) examines topics related to Asian
literatures in English. The authors highlight the historical position of
English literature in postcolonial Asian settings, followed by its development
up to the 2000s. They conclude by stating that new artistic forms and concepts
will emerge in future English literature writings.
Chapter 36 (“English and Asian Religions”, by P. G.-L. Chew) addresses the
role of English in Asia’s religious domain. Chew begins her chapter with an
overview of the literature on language and religion. She continues the
discussion on how English, as a foreign language, has impacted Christianity
through TESOL. Chew ends by providing some questions on the issue of language
and religion for future consideration.
As linguistic landscape research has become an evolving area of study in
recent years, in Chapter 37 (“English in Asian Linguistic Landscapes”), K.
Bolton, W. Botha, and S.-L. Lee review how English is contextualised in Asian
linguistic landscapes. They provide examples of studies from various countries
in Asia. Special focus is placed on Hong Kong’s “Lennon Walls” as the authors
illustrate the language conflict issues observed from the data.
In the final chapter of Part IV and of the handbook (Chapter 38: “English in
Asian Legal Systems”) R. Powell explores the de jure and de facto positions of
English in Asia’s jurisdictions. Some countries, such as Brunei and Singapore,
practice a monolingual English legal system, while others, such as Bangladesh,
Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, practice bilingualism. In countries such
as Japan and South Korea, the use of English in the legal system is seen as
spreading. All in all, the importance of English in today’s Asian societies
has produced patterns of contact between English and local languages in both
private and public law, which poses challenges to lawyers, translators, policy
makers, and interpreters.
EVALUATION
This handbook brings together topics related to English varieties in Asia,
which are receiving much attention in the present era. The wide range of
topics in the handbook do not solely cover the varieties but also take into
account research in applied linguistics, which is rather impressive. Each
chapter ends with a reference list that is useful to obtain further
information on the chapter. One criticism of this handbook is that it lacks a
concluding chapter to wrap up all the topics, something I felt to be wanting
when I completed reading the last chapter on English and the legal system.
Despite this criticism, the handbook is a perfect point to start off,
especially for those interested in or working on topics related to Asian
English varieties. Each chapter, which examines an English variety from either
the Outer or Expanding Circle Asian Societies, presents a comprehensive
overview, starting from the historical introduction of English in the
respective society to its current development, including examples of
linguistic features of the given variety. These chapters will definitely be of
interest to both theoretical and applied linguists. Even those linguists who
are familiar with the respective variety will probably find the handbook
convenient as a quick reference.
There are some points to emphasise about each section of the handbook:
Part I describes an overview of Asian Englishes. This section is useful for
understanding the history and development of Asian English varieties. The
chapters on policies and schools/universities are important as they present
background knowledge on the role of English in the domains of government and
education. Although it is understandable that the chapters on features of
Asian Englishes are intended to provide a general understanding, they are
somewhat repetitive as the same features are discussed in much greater detail
in Parts II and III.
Part II presents chapters on English in the Outer Circle Asian Societies.
Generally, they follow a similar structure of starting with the historical
background, followed by the development in the country, and finally engaging
with current policies. The examples of linguistic features provided are useful
for recognising the distinctive variety.
Part III is comprised of chapters on English in the Expanding Circle Asian
Societies. Most of the chapters give a historical overview followed by the
role of English in the present-day Expanding Circle countries. Nevertheless,
not all chapters present examples of linguistic features of the respective
variety, which may disadvantage those interested in investigating them.
Part IV consists of chapters related to the current linguistic research on
English in Asia. A variety of aspects are touched upon, including linguistic
landscape, which is a currently popular topic. Some of the chapters end with
questions for future consideration, which will provide inspiration for
early-career scholars.
In sum, “The Handbook of Asian Englishes” is definitely recommended for
scholars studying varieties of English, particularly in the Asian region,
because these varieties are still developing and have much potential for
future research. As Asia is growing and becoming the new frontier in the
economy sector, English plays a vital role and thus, there are many issues
that need investigation, including the inequality among languages as English
competes with local/regional languages. This handbook is definitely a useful
resource.
REFERENCES
Martin, I. P. (2020). Philippine English. In K. Bolton, W. Botha, & A.
Kirkpatrick (Eds.), “The handbook of Asian Englishes” (pp. 479-500). USA:
Wiley Blackwell.
Park, J. S. (2009). “The local construction of a global language: Ideologies
of English in South Korea”. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Sridhar, S. N. (2020). Indian English. In K. Bolton, W. Botha, & A.
Kirkpatrick (Eds.), “The handbook of Asian Englishes” (pp. 243-277). USA:
Wiley Blackwell.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Teresa Wai See Ong holds a doctorate in sociolinguistics from Griffith
University in Brisbane, Australia. Her research interests include community
language maintenance, children’s language acquisition and development, and
multilingualism. Dr. Ong is currently leading in a study related to
adolescents’ voices on family language policy in East Malaysia.
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