Globalization in English Studies
Editor: Maria Georgieva and Allan James
Date Of Publication: May 2010
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-1992-3
Isbn: 1-4438-1992-1
Globalization, the concept used to account for the multitude of linkages, interconnections and interdependences that currently transcend territorial and sociocultural boundaries in the world, has been in the centre of continual controversy over its meaning, scope, intensity and social significance for post-modern societies. However, whether considered from the narrow angle of current socio-economic developments, or from the broad perspective of evolutionary processes straddling all spheres of life, globalization is generally acknowledged to refer to a complex set of processes of modernization, technologization, liberalization and integration operationalized through language and in a language shared by all those involved. For a number of geo-historical, socio-political, economic and technological reasons the language that has firmly established itself as the language of international communication is English. As a result, Global English takes a primary place in discussions of the effect of globalization on world societies and culture.

The volume Globalization in English Studies addresses the issue of how globalization impacts upon culture, literature, language communication and language learning and use policies, which are taken to constitute the multiplex disciplinary space of English Studies. Written by authors with different language, cultural and theoretical backgrounds, this collection of eleven chapters throws light on how “global” and “local” entities are subtly intertwined, refashioned and rescaled in different geo-political and sociocultural contexts. The book is divided into four parts:

The first part, Globalization in Culture, dwells upon the effects of globalization in particular cultural domains and the institutional attempts in some countries at reducing its negative consequences for local practices.

The second part, Globalization in Literature, examines the impact of global integration processes on social life. In particular, it focuses on new developments as the “hybridization” and “technologization” of societies that tend to wipe out borders traditionally taken as reference points in building identity and a sense of belonging.

The third part, Globalization in Language Communication, focuses on intercultural communication and the opportunities different multi-modal settings offer for the the realisation of intertextuality and interdiscursivity. Of particular interest is how local people select, appropriate , and creatively utilize cultural entities designed for global consumption to make them appear as their “own”.

The last part, Global English and English Language Teaching/ Learning Policy, approaches the issue from a pedagogical perspective and examines the changes that globalization has caused for learners, learning environments and ways of speaking.

Ranging over a variety of domains subsumed within English Studies, this collection of studies can serve as a good base for the cross-disciplinary synergy of ideas and fruitful debate among scholars and practitioners with a vested interest in Global English.

Maria Georgieva, is Associate Professor in the Department of British and American Studies, St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia and the current President of the Bulgarian Society for English Studies. Her research interests and publications include applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, intercultural pragmatics and English as an international language.

Allan James is Professor of English Linguistics, University of Klagenfurt, Austria. Previous positions at the Universities of Tübingen, Nairobi and Amsterdam. Fellow of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study. Publications on the areas of phonetics, phonology, pragmatics, SLA and sociolinguistics. Current research interests also include spoken grammar, contact linguistics and international English(es).

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