The recognition and reception of the two major international varieties of English in Portugal.

English has become the predominant language of the globe and Portugal is no exception to this predominance. It is the language that Portuguese people mostly use in international settings, the idiom dominating youth culture, science and technology, and a skill generally required in the tertiary sector. Though proficiency in English is far from attained at a national level, it is a subject that has been taught from the fifth grade in Portuguese schools for almost thirty years and which was recently made compulsory in primary schools.

However, the presence of English in Portugal far antedates its use for international, professional and academic purposes and its elevation to an international, global or world (standard) language. This recent condition was prepared by a long history of contact with Britain and its varieties and by a more recent record of low-mediated contact with American English due to the influx of American mass culture.

A follow-up of Jin-Kyu Park's contribution in ET97 on ‘English Fever’ in South Korea, by examining one of the consequences in Singapore – the destination for thousands of ‘study mothers’ who migrate from South Korea and China to help their young children acquire ‘linguistic capital’ by learning English.

This paper focuses on the existence of around 7000 Chinese (PRC) and 5000 Korean study mothers in 2007 in the Republic of Singapore (Toh, 2008). Known in their respective home countries as ‘wild goose mothers’ (kirogi omma) and ‘study mothers’ (pei du mama), these mothers leave their husbands behind while they accompany their children, some as young as 7 years, to a foreign country in the pursuit of linguistic gold. ‘We have good science and maths at home but we need the English to make it work.’

Looking back over 100 issues of English Today, and forward at the prospects for English language museums.

‘ET's success’, said a young-looking Tom McArthur in his first editorial, ‘will depend on keeping one's balance and getting all the ingredients right’. A hundred issues later, we can say with some confidence that he certainly managed it. At the time, I don't think anyone knew exactly what all the ingredients were. Now, looking back over the coverage of those hundred issues, we have a pretty good idea. Who would have expected the journal to be so diverse? There are 18 themes identified in the Index to the first 60 issues, published in ET61. Take a look at them in the panel. It is the extraordinary range of the subject-matter, along with its copious and often quirky illustrations, both textual and pictorial, which has given the journal its identity and appeal. The models we looked at when planning the journal, such as History Today, seem staid by comparison.

Perspectives from both World Englishes (WE) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) can assist in the description of Hong Kong English phonology. Mario Saraceni's article (English Today 94) provides some useful insights into the current debates about English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). His discussion of the background to this debate identifies three viewpoints: a traditional ENL view with its adherence to native-speaker models; the WE (World Englishes) paradigm with its ‘pluralised and pluricentric view of English in the world’; and the emerging ELF position, with its rejection of native-speaker norms in favour of ‘endonormative realisations of lingua franca varieties’ (Alessa Cogo, English Today 95). However, Cogo believes that the second and third positions are not separate paradigms, and that ELF sits ‘comfortably within a WE framework’, as claimed by Jenkins (2007:17). In this article, I would like to show how the two positions can work together to inform pedagogy by exploring the possible options for English pronunciation models in Hong Kong.

A study of English in China's business context.

China's rise and its potential markets are attractive enough for companies worldwide to want to do business in and with this country. Recognizing the important role played by language and culture in international business, this paper will explore the functions of English as a language of international communication in the business context in China. In particular it examines the rise in English learning fever and how English is perceived, mainly in companies. Our analysis will be based on a survey of 59 foreign and Chinese companies in mainland China in 2007. The results show that in these companies English is perceived as a tool for international communication, better pay, better jobs and a window to the world.

Institutional and learners' discourses about English and the implications for ‘China English’. China's politics and international relations with Western powers have historically determined the role and status of the English language in China (Adamson, 2004). Following the country's Open Door Policy in the 1970s, the entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Beijing Olympics, English, once considered a barbaric language, has been enjoying unprecedented popularity. The seven years leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics saw a series of foreign language campaigns in different sectors of Chinese society. The Beijing Olympics provided China with an opportunity to improve its world position and to ‘reclaim’ – and show the world – its glorious past. Since 2001, when China won the bid to host the Olympics in 2008, English learning campaigns have promoted both so-called ‘standard’ and ‘authentic’ English. The purpose of these campaigns was not only to ensure a successful Olympics, but also to equip the people with a tool essential for modernising and integrating China into the global community.

Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) railway system is a highly effective and rather inexpensive way of getting around the Lion City, although locals sometimes complain about overcrowding in the carriages and about noise levels experienced in apartment blocks situated near the lines. Generally speaking, passengers are well provided with information too, including maps of the MRT system in the stations, screen data about train arrivals, and clearly enunciated announcements (in English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil) inside the carriages about upcoming stations and connections. However, one quibble can be raised about the English version of these announcements, which sometimes features the verb ‘to alight’. This is explored.

Slovenia, like many former Eastern bloc countries, is now coming to terms with the increasing popularity of English.

Today English is the most widely used foreign language in Europe. It is used in business, education, science, the media, advertisements, music, graffiti, and in many other places, although its greatest use can be found in commerce, culture, science and education (Phillipson, 2003). The presence of English is felt more in some parts of Europe than in others, however. In the Scandinavian countries, for example, English manifests itself in all parts of society and the knowledge of English is so high that some consider it a second language (McArthur, 1996). In Eastern Europe, the acquisition and use of English has traditionally not been as widespread, although in recent years, the picture has changed greatly, as English has become more and more popular in what were formerly Eastern bloc countries.

In many ways Slovenia has been following the trends in other Central and Eastern European countries. The influence of English has been growing since the Second World War and in particular after the end of the Cold War. Its influence has intensified even more after Slovenia became an independent country. Today, Slovenes feel both cautious and enthusiastic about English. There is extensive legislation to protect the Slovene language, while at the same time there is a ‘certain enthusiasm for both “western” ideas and the world language, English’ (Schlick, 2003: 4).

‘Education fever’ drives the demand for English in South Korea today. One professor of politics has recently deplored the current pursuit of ‘English education’ (yeongeokyoyuk) in South Korea as a ‘collective neurosis of English fever’ (Y-M. Kim, 2002). What has brought this current English boom to South Korea? It can be traced back to the traditional ‘education fever’ (kyoyukyeol) or ‘preoccupation with education’ (Seth, 2002). The English boom resulting from the Korean education fever has led to a strong antipathy toward Koreans – even in English-speaking countries.

This article explains how the current English boom in South Korea has been founded on the long tradition of education fever in the country, and why more and more Korean children are sent abroad to learn the English language. In addition, I also attempt to show the connection between this English boom and an associated antipathy toward the Korean language and Korean speakers in English-speaking countries.

The International Civil Aviation Organization now requires all airline pilots to have at least a basic command of conversational English, but Walter Seiler is concerned that an over-emphasis on native-speaker varieties might lead to even more misunderstandings.

An account of the need for appropriate language skills in a developing multilingual context.

Language issues in Southern Africa have always been marked by political struggle. In South Africa, these were sometimes violent, as with, for example, the 1976 Soweto uprisings, in which protests over the medium of education were prominent. One of the priorities of the first democratically elected government of 1994 was to democratise the situation by making eleven languages official, in contrast to the two prior to that, namely Afrikaans and English. In other Southern African countries, language issues have also been characterised by debates and struggles. A prime example is the decision by the Namibian government to make English the official language of the country, even though English had never even been a colonial language in Namibia. Another example is Lesotho, a former British protectorate, with two official languages, English and Sesotho. In the last two decades, there have been numerous debates about the status of English as a subject necessary for a pass in schools and as a prerequisite for admission to university. Kramsch's observation that ‘[l]inguistic wars are always also political and cultural wars’ captures the situation well. Language issues are still on many speakers' minds and influence their sense of self and identity. As Baugh observes, ‘[i]n societies like the United States and South Africa, where race and language development have strongly been influenced by racial strife, many students do not aspire to “talk like Whites”’.

In Malaysia, English on the Internet is creating its own hybrid variety.

The Internet has been described as not just a technological revolution, but also a social. Different modes of communication on the internet such as chat, blogs and Twitter are speedily overtaking traditional forms of communication for both professional and leisure activities. In response to the communicative limitations of technology, a unique form of communication has emerged involving the use of new word forms, structures and styles of expression.

This paper discusses the impact of technology on English in Malaysia by examining data samples from blogs, chats/instant messages (IM), e-mails and text messages. We highlight the distinctive features of Malaysian English users from different ethnic groups in this medium. Since Malaysians are generally bilingual and multilingual, we examine how and when different languages are used and comment on the innovation and creativity involved. It is hypothesised that technology impacts on this variety of English which has itself arisen from the globalisation of English, further shaping it, and thus giving rise to new blends and new styles of communication.

We all need to relax. Teachers, doctors, solicitors, bricklayers, salesmen, shop assistants and even grossly over-paid footballers all need a break. Once we have performed whatever daily task it is that provides us with our daily bread, we need to recharge our batteries, ‘chill out’ (as they now say) and do something entirely different to help us unwind. There are those who like to take part in some form of sporting activity whereas others prefer to settle down with a good book or crash out in front of the telly. And then there are those who would rather have an enjoyable meal at a decent restaurant and take in a show or go to what we seem to refer to increasingly as the ‘movies’ where they can ‘check out’ the most recent Bond film or Spielberg production. Whatever our preference, entertainment of one form or another plays a vital role in everyone's life and some choices, whether we are aware of it or not, link us with ancient societies whose need to enjoy themselves now and again was no less than ours is today.

The etymology of travel.

In the not too distant past there were really only two reasons why people travelled: to wage war and to conduct trade. And setting off on a journey for whatever purpose was frequently, if not always, an arduous task. In the 21st century, when we think nothing of getting on a plane and landing a few hours later on the other side of the world, it is perhaps difficult to appreciate what travel involved for our forebears. A brief time exploring the etymologies of the relevant vocabulary, however, soon leaves us in little doubt about the sheer hard slog getting from one place to another used to be.

The problematic of the use of English as a teaching medium in China.

This paper presents a critical review of the Chinese-English bilingual education initiative from a sociological perspective. It consists of three major sections. The first section briefly discusses French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's (1986, 1991) theoretical work which informs the current critical review. The second section examines some of the major driving forces behind the runaway expansion of English-medium instruction. The final section analyses the implications and consequences of such instruction for China.

Will World English go the way of Latin? The phrase ‘Latin analogy’ was, it seems, coined by McArthur (1987), who distinguished a pessimistic or what he called ‘Babelesque’, perspective from an optimistic and a neutral (or pragmatic) perspectives to the comparison. The comparison continues to be made even today and generally it comes with a dire warning: the days of English as an international language, or a lingua franca for peoples from different parts of the world, are numbered. It will, sooner or later, break up into a number of different, mutually incomprehensible languages just the way good old Latin did. What is worse, in some cases this apprehension seems only to grow with the passage of time.

Yule and Burnell's 1886 Anglo-Indian dictionary still fascinates and informs today. It is not the finest of Salman Rushdie's writings, but this is the first paragraph of his essay Hobson-Jobson (italics in original):

“The British Empire, many pundits now agree, descended like a juggernaut upon the barbicans of the East, in search of loot. The moguls of the raj went in palanquins, smoking cheroots, to sup toddy or sherbet on the verandahs of the gymkhana club, while the memsahibs fretted about the thugs in bandannas and dungarees who roamed the night like pariahs, plotting ghoulish deeds.” (Rushdie, 1992:81)

Rushdie points out that the italicised words all appear in the celebrated dictionary Hobson-Jobson: a glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological, historical, geographical and discursive by Henry Yule & A.C. Burnell, first published in 1886.

This gem of a dictionary gives definitions and origins of words in common use by the British in colonial India in the late nineteenth century. Some of the entries won't be a surprise to readers – we all know that raj, mogul and memsahib are Indian words. But there are many words with their origins in Hindustani, Bengali, Sanskrit or other Indian or Eastern languages, whose origin is perhaps not quite so well known.

Will the final t become totally bottled up? It was about 15 years ago, I suppose, that I was told by an 18-year-old student that you shouldn't pronounce the final t in words like went. She meant in no circumstances. So struck was I by this that I reflected on my own practice, as a British English speaker, with such words. I decided that, in general, I released a final t before a following vowel, before a pause and before ‘soft’ consonants like h or w, but might sometimes keep it in before a ‘strong’ consonant, like m or b. So, I would say ‘I went away’, ‘What?’ and ‘That hospital’, but, pre-consonantal, either ‘He sent bottled water’ or ‘He sen’ bottled water’. You would, of course, refer also to words spelled with te at the end, like mate, as being pronounced with a final t.

Since that time, and particularly in recent years, I have noticed an increase in the non-released version of final t, pre-vowel or pre-pause, from BrE speakers in contexts where before I would not have expected it, as, for example, from BBC newsreaders.

Report on the inaugural conference of the International Society for the Linguistics of English (Freiburg, Germany, 8–11 October 2008)

Sri Lankan English belongs to the family of South Asian Englishes, of which Indian English is the best known and most established example – although Indian English itself is of course hugely diverse. Indian English and Sri Lankan English have much in common, as both varieties evolved from the English of the British colonials of the nineteenth century, and much common vocabulary developed to describe the common flora and fauna of the two countries, as well as their shared religious and cultural aspects. Both varieties include a number of words of Tamil origin, and many others derived from Sanskrit roots.

The main aims of this paper are to present the argument for the recognition of Sri Lankan English as a distinct variety of English, and to discuss some of the practical issues encountered in compiling a dictionary of this nature.