English varieties in Asia: Features, implications and practices

Abstract

Asian English users are considered to have a different, perhaps better grasp of English than native English speakers. The roles and use of English have been expanding. As a vehicle of linguistic communication, a nativised medium and one of the pan-Asian languages of creativity, English has been shaped and reformed by Asian users, arousing the interest of English teachers, scholars and learners. As an English-language teacher and teacher trainer in China, the writer benefits greatly by relating concepts, theoretical framework, principles, and cases to English-language teaching practices in the Chinese context. The book offers insights into practising English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching in Asian local contexts. Therefore, the writer recommends the book to scholars, teachers and students. The 11 chapters of Is English an Asian Language? provide the first comprehensive account of the distinctive features, implications and practices of Asian English by analysing the Asian English corpus. Andy Kirkpatrick traces the history of English development in Asia and discusses and illustrates the changes and reforms of English to suit the cultures and needs of Asian users. The book offers a significant contribution to ‘lingua franca’ research. The book is divided into three parts, with 11 chapters in addition to the introduction. The introductory chapter articulates the notable contributions and the organisation of the book. Part I (Chapter 1) outlines the historical development of English in the two major population centres of Asia (India and China), Southeast Asia and the Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as the similarities and differences among the countries discussed. English is an efficient communication vehicle, and a widening gap is forming between proficient users and non-proficient English users. As Graddol (2010: 10) remarked in the context of India, ‘We are fast moving into a world in which not to have English is to be marginalised and excluded’. Speakers from these countries and beyond increasingly use English as a lingua franca. Part II analyses Asian English varieties (Chapter 2– Chapter 5). Andy Kirkpatrick introduces Asian corpus of English (ACE) compilation and operation to investigate the use of English as a lingua franca by Asian multilingual speakers and how it has been shaped as an Asian language (Chapter 2). Chapter 3 describes Asian varieties of English developed in certain Asian countries and notes how people sharing similar linguistic and cultural backgrounds use those varieties as markers of identity. Then, as English is adopted as a lingua franca across Asia, speakers focusing primarily on communication and code mixing between English and the relevant Asian languages are less likely to be understood by those who are not familiar with their native