English Around the World

Sociolinguistic Perspectives

This volume looks at the little explored but increasingly important topic of the development of English as a world language. It gives a comprehensive account of our current knowledge of variation in the use of the English language around the world. Overview papers, written by specialist authors, survey the social context in which English is spoken in those parts of the world where it is widely used. Case study papers then provide representative examples of the empirical research that has been carried out into the English spoken in the areas covered by the overview. The volume therefore contributes both to our understanding of the English language worldwide and to a more general understanding of language as it is used in its social context. It assesses the extent of our current knowledge of variation in the English language and points to gaps in our understanding which future research might set out to remedy.

GREGORY R. GUY Introduction The English language is now completing 200
years of continuous usage in Australia. In that time it has supplanted the original
languages of the continent, and recruited most descendants of non-English
speaking immigrants, so that today it is the overwhelmingly dominant tongue
throughout Australia. Several features of the Australian situation yield a unique
insight on the development and diversification of English: its geographic isolation
, its social ...