The Bochum Gateway to World Englishes
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The Bochum Gateway to World Englishes |
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Asia |
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Books Literature on Indian Enligsh Baumgardner, Robert J. (ed.) (1996). South Asian English. Structure, Use, And Users. Urbana (et al.): University of Illinois Press. South Asian English is an anthology consisting of 16 papers, which were introduced at the First International Conference on English in South Asia, held in Islamabad in 1989. These papers are allocated under the topics “Contexts and Issues”, “Structure and Contact”, “Functions and Innovations”, “The Curriculum”, and “English and the Multilingual’s Creativity”. They raise critical viewpoints because the introduction of English on the cultural and social spheres in South Asia has not been accomplished without opposing voices. As a consequence, many of the essays deal with certain attitudes towards South Asian English, such as its usefulness, with regard to the numerous varieties of English that exist in this part of the continent. When it comes to Indian English in particular, Kamal K. Sridhar for instance analyzes the syntax of the English of Indian students in their last stage of second language acquisition, and S. V. Shastri browses through a corpus of Indian English in order to study its complementation. Concerning the requirements of linguistic knowledge, the anthology is located at an average level. Crystal, David (2004). English as a Global Language. Cambridge (et al.): Cambridge University Press. In his book English as a Global Language, David Crystal aims at answering the question why English has attained world-wide status. In a first step, the author expounds on the concept of a “global language”. Afterwards he gives geographical-historical and socio-cultural reasons for the international spread of English. It is mainly in this section of the book that Indian English is brought into focus. However, it also plays a role in the last part, where Crystal draws conclusions for the future of the global character of the English language like the development of new Englishes or an English family of languages. The book is written in a generally intelligible way and requires very little, if any, linguistic knowledge, because potentially unknown terms like “blend”, “code-switching” or “multidialectism” can be easily deduced from the context. [English seminar library: S BA 97002 / Central library: JDA 9788:2] Kachru, Braj B. (2005). Asian Englishes. Beyond the Canon. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Asian Englishes addresses students and researchers of World Englishes, and either serves as a collection of classroom texts or as a resource work. Braj Kachru’s book is a volume on the varieties and functions of Asian English, its cultural embedding, and its innovative character. More precisely, Kachru enlarges upon the distinctive features, the “Asianness”, of the Englishes on the continent as well as on the problems that come along with the Anglicisation. The references to India as a major English-using country are plentiful and appear in each of the six chapters “Contexts” (English in Anglophone Asia), “Convergence” (Anglicisation of native language vs. nativization of English), “Mantras” (creativity in Asian Englishes), “Predator”(English as a language murderer), “Pedagogy” (teaching of English in Asian schools), and “Afterword” (summary of the main theoretical, ideological , and ideational viewpoints). Rather advanced skills in linguistics are needed to work with this book, which includes many facts and figures and a wide range of topics. [English Seminar library: 4.0 Kach 2005] Kachru, Yamuna (2006). Mixers lyricing in Hinglish: blending and fusion in Indian pop culture. World Englishes, 25(2). 223-233. Kachru, Braj B.; Kachru, Yamuna; Nelson, Cecil (eds.) (2006). The Handbook of World Englishes. Malden, Mass. (et al.): Blackwell. This handbook is a selection of articles dealing with controversial aspects and case studies of English as a worldwide language, thereby touching the issue in theory and practice, from pedagogical and ideological viewpoints. References to Indian English can be found in several places throughout the book. However, there is also a special chapter on South Asian English, which begins with an inquiry of its functions such as the question which people communicate in English in a multilingual society like India. In the following, English language education and teaching are brought into focus, as is also the current state of English as opposed to the standard used by educated Indians. Yielding yet another topic, English in South Asian media and attitudes towards the language are discussed. In a final step, the author depicts the phonology, lexicon, syntax, and styles of South Asian Englishes, as well as the status of English in South Asian literature. As can already be seen from the book’s blurb where Kachru’s Three Circles are presupposed as familiar, the anthology is addressed to readers with proficient linguistic knowledge. [......] Kachru, Braj B. (ed.) (1992). The Other Tongue. English Across Cultures. Urbana (et al.): University of Illinois Press. The Other Tongue inspects the English language as a global phenomenon and predominantly studies it as a non-native concept due to its growing importance. Therefore, varieties of English, linguistic variation, and the spread of English are the major topics of interest. Indian English is dealt with in numerous papers of this anthology, for instance on the context of localized forms of English or when it comes to transplanted vs. non-transplanted varieties. In addition, the aspect of the development of non-native models in association with the question of the acceptance of a variety as a model is put forward with reference to Indian English. At another point, Indian English lexis (collocations) and the question of its intelligibility are considered. Finally, Indian English serves as an example for indigenized varieties of English in the eponymous paper, and the whole chapter on “Culture, Style, and Discourse: Expanding Noeties of English” is dedicated to Indian English. For readers with average knowledge of linguistics this book will be of great use. [English Seminar library: S BA 92009 / Central library: JDB 10403:2] Kachru, Braj B. (1990). The Alchemy of English. The Spread, Functions, and Models of Non-Native Englishes. Urbana (et al.): University of Illinois Press. In his book The Alchemy of English, Kachru explores non-native varieties of global English, their opportunities and critical issues. Subdivided into the four parts “Varieties and Functions”, “Models, Norms, and Attitudes”, “Impact and Change”, and “Contact, Creativity and Discourse Strategies”, the selection of investigations is of concern for the study of Indian English especially in the first three sections. Among the objects of investigation are formal aspects, such as the question how English is used by the Indian English speech community, or functional aspects like the reasons why English is used in India. Pragmatic explanations for the development of Indian English represent a particularly interesting passage in the book, ranging from prestigious motifs or a speaker’s role extension by switching languages to the widest range of functional registers (e.g. science and technology). Further topics with regard to Indian English, just to mention a few, are “Indianized” styles in literature, the distinction between the educated variety and non-standard varieties of Indian English or its relation to the so-called “Hinglish”. In order to cope with the contents of The Alchemy of English, advanced knowledge in linguistics is helpful. Still, the speech level is clearly understandable. Mehrotra, Raja Ram (1998). Indian English. Texts and Interpretation. Amsterdam (et al.): Benjamins. This book is a collection of Indian English text samples such as newspaper articles, lectures, literary excerpts, and miscellaneous writings like book dedications, letters or propaganda. With the help of explanatory notes, these samples are put into their context. By creating this text corpus, Mehrotra seeks to give a sociolinguistic description of Indian English, its varieties, and forms of usage. Obviously, the degree of difficulty of this book is as diverse as its sources, whereas the linguistic requirements are rather low due to the predominantly non-scientific content of the writings. [Central library: JDB 10924] Nihalani, Paroo; Tongue, R. K.; Hosali, Priya (2005). Indian and British English. A Handbook of Usage and Pronunciation. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. First and foremost this handbook addresses Indian speakers of English, especially teachers, journalists or university lecturers. As the title suggests, the focus of interest is put on the difference between Indian and British English in the fields of usage and pronunciation, because the authors consider it advisable to keep Indian English in contact with Standard British English, and to make Indian speakers aware of their linguistic peculiarities. In the first half, the lexicon of usage, the reader is confronted with about one thousand English items used frequently by the Indian speaker and provided with information about the correct version of the native (British English) standard. In the second half, the dictionary of pronunciation, entries are transcribed into phonetic script according to the Indian English pronunciation, followed by the British Received Pronunciation transcription in brackets. Both parts are arranged in alphabetical order. [NO SIGNATURE] Websites Thirumalai, M. S. Language in India. This website is a monthly-published online journal, which deals with languages spoken in India. It is important to note that it is a Web 2.0 service, i.e. everyone with an educational qualification may add articles, books, dissertations, etc. to the journal. Those are, however, evaluated before publication by a board of editors consisting of linguistics professors. Although there exist more than one hundred languages in India, the majority of articles is concerned with Indian English, many of those with its distinguishing features. Apart from a map of India with its territories, the website is kept in a text-based, simple outlook. Viswanathan, Roopa Nishi. Indian English or English in India. http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles/IsitIndianEnglishorEnglishinIndia.asp (status: unknown; retrieval: 12th Aug 2007). In this article, Roopa Nishi Viswanathan argues that the term “Indian English” is unfortunate because it conveys the impression that all Indians speak and write an incorrect version of English. She criticizes the way that people summarize colloquialisms and errors of Indian speakers of English under the umbrella term “Indian English” although these are also considered incorrect by Indian intellectuals. As a consequence, Viswanathan prefers the slightly different denotation “English in India” in order to leave open the possibility of distinctions between correct and incorrect models of the linguistic usage of English in India. Subsequent to the outlining of errors characteristic of Indian speakers of English, she comes to the conclusion that educated Indians as well as elite writers do not employ this so-called “Indian English” and judge it as unacceptable. On the whole, Viswanathan regards it as a slang of the kind that every language community worldwide possesses and which is not tolerated in formal use. The article is written in simple Words and does not require any linguistic knowledge at all.
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