This book challenges the dominant tendency in world Englishes scholarship to rely on the ‘nation’ as a static spatial entity and reliable analytic category. Using the transnational Korean context as a case in point, the authors analyse how the practices and ideologies of the English language reflect the complex and unexpected flows of globalisation. Examining topics such as the spoken English of South Korean youth and English education in North Korea, this interdisciplinary work gathers both established and emerging scholars from a range of language-related fields to evaluate English as a dynamic and evolving language beyond purely ‘English-speaking’ countries. This edited collection will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of world Englishes, multilingualism, second language acquisition and globalisation.

The studies in this collection seek to examine the notions of ‘linguistic diversity’ and ‘hybridity’ through the lenses of new critical theories and theoretical frameworks embedded within the broader discussion of the sociolinguistics of globalization. The chapters include critical inquiries into online/offline languages in society, language users, language learners and language teachers who may operate ‘between’ languages and are faced with decisions to navigate, negotiate and invent or re-invent languages, local and global and virtual spaces. The research took place in contexts that include linguistic landscapes, schools, classrooms, neighborhoods and virtual spaces of Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, South Korea and the USA.

From K-pop to kimchi, Korean culture is becoming increasingly popular on the world stage. This cultural internationalisation is also mirrored linguistically, in the emergence and development of Korean English. Often referred to as 'Konglish', this book describes how the two terms in fact refer to different things and explains how Koreans have made the English language their own. Arguing that languages are no longer codified and legitimised by dictionaries and textbooks but by everyday usage and media, Alex Baratta explores how to reconceptualise the idea of 'codification.' Providing illustrative examples of how Koreans have taken commonly used English expressions and adjusted them, such as doing 'Dutch pay', wearing a 'Burberry' and using 'hand phones', this book explores the implications and opportunities social codification presents to EFL students and teachers. In so doing, The Societal Codification of Korean English offers wider perspectives on English change across the world, seeking to dispel the myth that English only belongs to 'native speakers'.

This collection critically reflects on the state-of-the-art research on Korean-as-a-heritage-language (KHL) teaching and learning, centering KHL as an object of empirical inquiry by offering multiple perspectives on its practices and directions for further research. The volume expands prevailing notions of transnationalism and translanguaging by providing insights into the ways contemporary Korean immigrant and transnational families and individuals maintain their heritage language to participate in literary practices across borders. Experts from across the globe explore heritage language and literacy practices in Korean immigrant communities in varied geographic and educational contexts. In showcasing a myriad of perspectives across KHL research, the collection addresses such key questions as how heritage language learners’ literacy practices impact their identities, how their families support KHL development at home, and what challenges and opportunities stakeholders need to consider in KHL education and in turn, heritage language education, more broadly. This book will be of interest to families, teachers, scholars, and language program administrators in Korean language education, heritage language education, applied linguistics, and bilingual education.

In South Korea, English is a language of utmost importance, sought with an unprecedented zeal as an indispensable commodity in education, business, popular culture, and national policy. This book investigates how the status of English as a hegemonic language in South Korea is constructed through the mediation of language ideologies in local discourse. Adopting the framework of language ideology and its current developments, it is argued that English in Korean society is a subject of deep-rooted ambiguities, with multiple and sometimes conflicting ideologies coexisting within a tension-ridden discursive space. The complex ways in which these ideologies are reproduced, contested, and negotiated through specific metalinguistic practices across diverse sites ultimately contribute to a local realization of the global hegemony of English as an international language. Through its insightful analysis of metalinguistic discourse in language policy debates, cross-linguistic humor, television shows, and face-to-face interaction, The Local Construction of a Global Language makes an original contribution to the study of language and globalization, proposing an innovative analytic approach that bridges the gap between the investigation of large-scale global forces and the study of micro-level discourse practices.

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

Provides a good overview of the Korean language in a readable way, without neglecting any important structural aspects of the language.