The lingua franca role of English, coupled with its status as the official language of ASEAN, has important implications for language policy nd language education. These include the relationship between English, the respective national languages of ASEAN and thousands of local languages. How can the demand for English be balanced against the need for people to acquire their natural language and mother tongue? While many will also need a regional lingua franca, they are learning English as the first foreign language from primary school in all ASEAN countries. Might not this early introduction of English threaten local languages and children's ability to learn? Or can English be introduced and taught in such a way that it can complement local languages rather than replace them? The aim of this book is to explore questions such as these and then make recommendations on language policy and language education for regional policymakers. The book will be important for regional policymakers and language education professionals. It should also benefit language teachers, especially, but by no means exclusively, English language teachers. The book will be of interest to all who are interested in the development of English as an international language and the possible implications of this upon local languages and cultures.

The first volume of its kind, focusing on the sociolinguistic and socio-political issues surrounding Asian Englishes The Handbook of Asian Englishes provides wide-ranging coverage of the historical and cultural context, contemporary dynamics, and linguistic features of English in use throughout the Asian region. This first-of-its-kind volume offers a wide-ranging exploration of the English language throughout nations in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Contributions by a team of internationally-recognized linguists and scholars of Asian Englishes and Asian languages survey existing works and review new and emerging areas of research in the field. Edited by internationally renowned scholars in the field and structured in four parts, this Handbook explores the status and functions of English in the educational institutions, legal systems, media, popular cultures, and religions of diverse Asian societies. In addition to examining nation-specific topics, this comprehensive volume presents articles exploring pan-Asian issues such as English in Asian schools and universities, English and language policies in the Asian region, and the statistics of English across Asia. Up-to-date research addresses the impact of English as an Asian lingua franca, globalization and Asian Englishes, the dynamics of multilingualism, and more. Examines linguistic history, contemporary linguistic issues, and English in the Outer and Expanding Circles of Asia Focuses on the rapidly-growing complexities of English throughout Asia Includes reviews of the new frontiers of research in Asian Englishes, including the impact of globalization and popular culture Presents an innovative survey of Asian Englishes in one comprehensive volume Serving as an important contribution to fields such as contact linguistics, World Englishes, sociolinguistics, and Asian language studies, The Handbook of Asian Englishes is an invaluable reference resource for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and instructors across these areas. Winner of the 2021 PROSE Humanities Category for Language & Linguistics

English in Southeast Asia and ASEAN embeds English in its various regional Southeast Asian and political ASEAN language habitats. Addressing the history, developmental stages and contacts with other languages, it provides in-depth information on the region and its political organization. In doing so, it analyzes the geo-political division of the region between former Anglophone and non-Anglophone colonies and shows that this distinction has led to considerable differences in the status and texture of English. This analysis includes the role and impact of American English in mainland and maritime Southeast Asia to highlight the linguistic properties of English and its linguistic and sociopolitical development, English used in specific domains, language policies and concludes with the future of English and future challenges. This book therefore provides an integrative survey of the various roles of English in ASEAN member states and studies the transformation of entire language habitats, including the major national and regional languages that participate in this process. It also explains how new societies emerge with their conflicting identities and their aspirations to act regionally or even globally and is a valuable resource for scholars and students in the fields of World Englishes, Asian Studies and those interested in language contact, policy and planning.

A comprehensive account of how English is being used and reshaped by multilingual Asian speakers to fit their everyday needs.

The lingua franca role of English, coupled with its status as the official language of ASEAN, has important implications for language policy and language education. These include the relationship between English, the respective national languages of ASEAN and thousands of local languages. How can the demand for English be balanced against the need for people to acquire their national language and mother tongue? While many will also need a regional lingua franca, they are learning English as the first foreign language from primary school in all ASEAN countries. Might not this early introduction of English threaten local languages and children's ability to learn? Or can English be introduced and taught in such a way that it can complement local languages rather than replace them? The aim of this book is to explore questions such as these and then make recommendations on language policy and language education for regional policymakers. The book will be important for regional policymakers and language education professionals. It should also benefit language teachers, especially, but by no means exclusively, English language teachers. The book will be of interest to all who are interested in the development of English as an international language and the possible implications of this upon local languages and cultures. Andy Kirkpatrickis chair professor of English as an international language at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and director of the Institute's Research Centre into Language Education and Acquisition in Multilingual Societies. His research interests include the development of regional varieties of English and the history of Chinese rhetoric. "Much research has been carried out on varieties of English used in Southeast Asia, but how intelligible these varieties are to others and whether a shift towards an international 'standard' variety occurs in interactions between people from the region, has been much less discussed. This volume, which provides a comprehensive account of the roles and functions of English in ASEAN, and gives a linguistic description of the English spoken in the region, followed by an approach to teaching English called the 'multilingual model', is therefore a welcome contribution to studies on English in Asia." - Azirah Hashim, Professor of English, University of Malaya

This volume provides a first systematic, comprehensive account of English in Southeast Asia (SEA) based on current research by leading scholars in the field. The volume first provides a systematic account of the linguistic features across all sub-varieties found within each country. It also has a section dedicated to the historical context and language planning policies to provide a background to understanding the development of the linguistic features covered in Part I and, finally, the vibrancy of the sociolinguistic and pragmatic realities that govern actual language in use in a wide variety of domains such as the law, education, popular culture, electronic media and actual pragmatic encounters are also given due coverage. This volume also includes an extensive bibliography of works on English in SEA, thus providing a useful and valuable resource for language researchers, linguists, classroom educators, policy makers and anyone interested in the topic of English in SEA or World Englishes as a whole.

In today's global world, where Asia is an increasing area of focus, it is vital to explore what it means to 'understand' Asian cultures through English and other languages. This volume presents new research on English in Asia, alongside Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi-Urdu, Malay, Russian and other languages.