Functional Variations in English: Theoretical Considerations and Practical Challenges

Abstract

This new volume exploring functional variations of English is the latest – but most certainly not the last – scholarly effort contributing to our understanding of the ways in which English is used in different contexts worldwide and the implications that these uses have in various social domains. As this is also my own area of academic interest, I am immediately drawn to any book dealing with this topic. The first question that drives my curiosity is: “what will I learn that is new, fresh and exciting?”And this is precisely the spirit with which I approached the present volume. As Ravinder Gargesh (to whom the volume is dedicated) reminds us in his foreword, this broad topic has been an active area of research for decades. Consequently, the quest for new perspectives and insights becomes simultaneously more arduous but also more intriguing. In this case, the novelty of the volume is, according to Nobuyuki Honna, evident: