As You Like It
The Future of the English Language
This work examines the implications of current trends in the English Language for policy agendas. Run in association with Cambridge Assessment, and ESOL Examinations at the University of Cambridge, it will identify not only areas in which policy makers will have to change to meet the challenges posed by the emergence of variants of English - Englishes - but also how government and others can work with providers to take advantage of the many opportunites that 'Englishes' present...
...Or what you will
at 5:48pm on Tuesday, 27th March 2007
Jamie has just pointed me in the direction of an article in Newsweek that chimes with As You Like It. It's worth a look because it gives further examples to sit alongside those that we outlined in the pamphlet.
For instance, it talks about the degree to which different governments around the world are pushing English learning 'recognizing that along with computers and mass migration, the language is the turbine engine of globalisation'.
In another paragraph, the authors point out that 'new English-speakers aren't just passively absorbing the language—they're shaping it. New Englishes are mushrooming the globe over, ranging from "Englog," the Tagalog-infused English spoken in the Philippines, to "Japlish," the cryptic English poetry beloved of Japanese copywriters ("Your health and loveliness is our best wish," reads a candy wrapper. "Give us a chance to realize it"), to "Hinglish," the mix of Hindi and English that now crops up everywhere from fast-food ads to South Asian college campuses. "Hungry kya?" ("Are you hungry?"), queried a recent Indian ad for Domino's pizza. In post-apartheid South Africa, many blacks have adopted their own version of English, laced with indigenous words, as a sign of freedom—in contrast to Afrikaans, the language of oppression. "We speak English with a Xhosa accent and a Xhosa attitude," veteran actor John Kani recently told the BBC'
This last point is of interest because we're going to be looking in greater depth at the close link between language and identity and what this means in light of some of the policy challenges we raised in the pamphlet.
For instance, it talks about the degree to which different governments around the world are pushing English learning 'recognizing that along with computers and mass migration, the language is the turbine engine of globalisation'.
In another paragraph, the authors point out that 'new English-speakers aren't just passively absorbing the language—they're shaping it. New Englishes are mushrooming the globe over, ranging from "Englog," the Tagalog-infused English spoken in the Philippines, to "Japlish," the cryptic English poetry beloved of Japanese copywriters ("Your health and loveliness is our best wish," reads a candy wrapper. "Give us a chance to realize it"), to "Hinglish," the mix of Hindi and English that now crops up everywhere from fast-food ads to South Asian college campuses. "Hungry kya?" ("Are you hungry?"), queried a recent Indian ad for Domino's pizza. In post-apartheid South Africa, many blacks have adopted their own version of English, laced with indigenous words, as a sign of freedom—in contrast to Afrikaans, the language of oppression. "We speak English with a Xhosa accent and a Xhosa attitude," veteran actor John Kani recently told the BBC'
This last point is of interest because we're going to be looking in greater depth at the close link between language and identity and what this means in light of some of the policy challenges we raised in the pamphlet.
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