For historical reasons, English has risen to prominence as the unchallenged lingua franca of the world. Over the past few decades, World Englishes has established itself as a major research area, aiming to examine emerging localised and indigenised varieties of English from around the globe. To date, while there have been accounts of different individual varieties of English (e.g. English used in India, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Singapore), English has rarely been explored together in a systematic way as part of a broader region. This volume edited by Ee Ling Low and Anne Pakir has bridged this gap, exploring in depth English(es) in East and South Asia (EESA). Unlike Englishes found in countries like the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, according to Kachru's (Reference Kachru, Quirk and Widdowson1985) Three Circles model, most of the Englishes found in East and South Asia may be understood to belong to Outer Circle and Expanding Circle varieties. As two geographically, linguistically and socioculturally distinct regions, East Asia and South Asia are united by their shared (semi)colonial history, to varying degrees, or at least by the influence of colonial and imperial powers over the past centuries. This, coupled with the inexorable trend of globalisation, explains why English occupies an (increasingly) important place in most of the East and South Asian societies.
As a first attempt to systematically examine EESA, the overall aim of the book is ‘to consider the cross-cutting issues surrounding policy, features and English in use in East and South Asia; to update previous research and to add to and, if possible, break new ground on the existing research in the post-Kachruvian era’ (p. 9). This edited volume has twenty chapters in total, covering the regions of China, India, Japan, Korea, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The book starts with the editors’ introductory chapter, which provides the general rationale, background and context for the entire volume (pp. 1–16). The remaining nineteen chapters have been well structured into three main parts, addressing the themes of policy (chapters 2–7), features (chapters 8–12) and language in use (chapters 13–20).
In part I ‘Policy’, the overarching goal is to set the scene and explore the historical context as well as the language planning policies for readers to better understand the development of these EESA varieties. In chapter 2 (pp. 19–32), Guangwei Hu provides a historical account of English in Mainland China, tracing the presence of English from the time it reached Chinese shores until the present day and examining current issues relating to English language policy in China. The author explores the shifting status of English in China against a backdrop of changes in the country's national language policies. Centred on the Japanese context, chapter 3 (pp. 32–46) by Kayoko Hashimoto and Gregory Paul Glasgow aims to offer historical insights into the English language education policy and its context in Japan. It engages with core issues in the government's attempts to help bridge the existing gap between pedagogical practice and policy through promoting the use of communicative approaches to English language teaching. In chapter 4 (pp. 47–60), Jamie Shinhee Lee looks into some critical issues in language policy and educational reform in Korea (e.g. English officialisation and English as a medium of instruction). Through a historical overview of English language education in Korea, the author highlights the vital role of English in the country's educational system, particularly against a backdrop of its globalisation drive as an East Asian nation in recent decades. Focusing on English language policy in multilingual India, in chapter 5 (pp. 61–74) Tej Bhatia contributes to Indian Englishes by providing fresh insights into relevant topics such as teacher education, English language curriculum, language teaching methodology and language acquisition in the South Asian nation. Attention in chapter 6 shifts to English in India's South Asian neighbour, that is, Pakistan (pp. 75–89). Ahmar Mahboob's chapter zooms in on the inequalities that have resulted from English attainment or the lack thereof in Pakistan. His chapter also touches upon the impact of deep semantics or crypto-grammar of English (Halliday Reference Halliday1990) on the evolution and current state of English in the country, as well as its impact on Pakistani people's lives. In chapter 7 (pp. 76–103), Indika Liyanage's contribution explores the impact of English in Sri Lanka as a medium of instruction (EMI). In this chapter, framed within a broader sociopolitical, economic and historical context, the author examines the place of English in Sri Lanka's education system both during and after British colonial rule, zooming in on the country's EMI policy. The current realities and future challenges are also mentioned.
In part II ‘Features’, attention is focused on a relatively systematic description of the various linguistic features of EESA countries. While the jury is still out as to whether Chinese English (CE) may be understood as a legitimate variety of English, in chapter 8 (pp. 107–21) Rong Yang, Ran Ao and Ee Ling Low provide a detailed description of some of the salient (vocalic, lexical and syntactic) features in this variety. For example, in terms of vocalic features, there is an observed absence of contrast for vowel pairs, absence of vowel reduction and schwa insertion. It is also observed that consonants such as /θ/, /ð/, /ʒ/ and potentially /l/ are relatively difficult for CE speakers. In addition, parallel structures, null subject/object utterances, topicalisation of adjuncts and ‘yes–no’ responses are among the distinctive syntactic features. However, as recognised by the authors, these features identified in CE are relatively unstable and may be subject to change on a constant basis. In chapter 9 (pp. 122–36), Jim D'Angelo, Toshiko Yamaguchi and Yasuhiro Fujiwara explore the features of Japanese English, another variety of English in the Expanding Circle. Drawing on various examples, the authors address, inter alia, phonological and morphosyntactic features, discourse and pragmatic features, as well as lexical creativity. It is argued that while American English serves as a strong exonormative influence, the English produced by Japanese speakers and the Japanese media in fact has a strong Japanese flavour as influenced by the Japanese language and culture and local Japanese teachers. Next, in chapter 10 (pp. 137–52), Jieun Kiaer and Hyejeong Ahn examine some emerging patterns of Korean English (KE). The study starts by drawing a distinction between ‘Englishised Korean’ and ‘Korean English’, before providing a discussion of relevant examples of the complicated hybrid phonological and lexical features observed in KE. Interestingly, the authors use the KE address term oppa as an example to illustrate the wider impact of the Korean Wave as the main stimulus for the spread of this particular word. Given the vibrant, dynamic and increasingly influential nature of KE (e.g. partly due to Korean pop culture), KE is used both by Koreans and also, to some extent, by other English speakers. In chapter 11 (pp. 153–67), through a relatively systematic overview of the state of the art, Pingali Sailaja explores the features and development of Indian English, using Schneider's (Reference Schneider2007) Dynamic Model. In chapter 12 (pp. 168–82), looking specifically at Sri Lankan English, Tobias Bernaisch takes account of the features of this variety from different perspectives and in particular compares it with British English and also Indian English, that is, its neighbouring variety. The author also, inter alia, explores the sound system, lexis, lexicogrammar and syntax of Sri Lankan English.
Having explored the historical context and the language planning policies as well as features of different varieties of English, part III engages with ‘Language in use’, that is, the vibrancy of the sociolinguistic and pragmatic aspects of authentic language use in a range of contemporary domains (e.g. the Internet, social media and pop culture). In a context of globalisation and rapid technological development, Zhichang Xu and Danya Zhang in chapter 13 (pp. 185–97) investigate English use on China's social media, drawing on data from a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. Salient features of English use on the social media have been identified. Notably, it is observed that linguistic hybridity is a salient feature, where code-mixing involving Chinese characters, Chinese pinyin, English and Chinglish is often found. In chapter 14 (pp. 198–211), James Stanlaw discusses English in the context of Japanese popular music. In his interdisciplinary study, he explores the ways in which English has had an impact on Japan's pop music and pop culture, highlighting how English is used as an important identity marker in Japan. Turning to the Korean context, Hyejeong Ahn in chapter 15 explores English and K-pop, using the popular band BTS as a case study (pp. 212–25). By means of an analysis of the popular songs of BTS, the study identifies features of English in K-pop lyrics, and reflects on the role of English in it, highlighting the often innovative, sophisticated and strategic use of language in the songs. In the author's view, the strategic use of bilingual resources in English and Korean helps contribute to storytelling and this is partly behind the band's great success globally. Moving beyond an East Asian setting, in chapter 16 (pp. 226–41), S. N. Sridhar and Kamal K. Sridhar explore the linguistic diversity and multilingual ecology of English in India. The sociolinguistic functions of English, the salient characteristics of the community of users of English, and the use of English in different modes in this country are discussed. In chapter 17 (pp. 242–55), Sham Haidar and Syed Abdul Manan examine English in Pakistan, focusing on language policy, features, and present-day use in education, professional communication and the society in general. Manel Herat in chapter 18 (pp. 256–70) explores the case of Sri Lankan English, with a particular focus on the complicated interrelationship between the Internet and English variations and the ways in which Sri Lankans use English variations for employment, communication and entertainment purposes on the Internet. In the penultimate chapter (chapter 19, pp. 271–91), Ee Ling Low sums up the major trends that have emerged from the different chapters of the book and past research on EESA, highlighting in general terms aspects such as policy, features and language in use in East and South Asia. In particular, the author calls for the need to rethink the paradigms employed in the modelling of World Englishes (WE) in the post-Kachruvian era, before discussing the prospect of English in the broader region and providing some future directions. As a continuation, in chapter 20, Ee Ling Low, Anne Pakir, Ran Ao and Rong Yang detail some of the main state-of-the-art published works on EESA (pp. 292–314).
Bringing together authors from different backgrounds and geographical locales, the edited volume is a first attempt to systematically explore English in East and South Asia from a range of perspectives in what is a dynamic and rapidly developing region in the world. In my view, what is particularly salient and innovative about this volume is the authors’ attentiveness to the authentic and most up-to-date English use in various platforms and modalities (e.g. in K-pop songs of BTS and also China's social media) in addition to some of the traditional epicentres of World Englishes (e.g. India). In addition to the three main themes, for readers interested in a particular variety of English (e.g. Korean English), the book also constitutes a valuable resource for variety-specific information, enabling them to gain in-depth insights into the variety from different perspectives. This volume overall promises to advance scholarship in World Englishes in general and, more specifically, English used in different parts of Asia, providing fresh insights into the spread and development of the various varieties and subvarieties of English against a historical, sociopolitical and cultural background. It is also commendable that the editors have included an extensive bibliography of relevant scholarly works relating to EESA, which is of great help for future researchers.
Despite the main strengths mentioned above, there is a relative lack of extensive discussion of World Englishes from a linguistic landscape perspective that involves an examination of authentic top-down and bottom-up signs evidenced in our societies. The linguistic landscapes of urban and rural spaces in these regions can provide, potentially, useful and vivid insights into the role of English as a dominant language, and also shed light on the regional and localised varieties of English used. Furthermore, most of the discussions in the book concern English written in the Latin script as people would normally expect. However, given the glocalised nature of English, English may disguise in the seemingly inscrutable local scripts, as seen for example in India and Pakistan (e.g. Manan et al. Reference Manan, David, Dumanig and Channa2017) and also in Dubai in the Middle East (e.g. Gu & Almanna Reference Gu and Almannaforthcoming). As such, to truly understand EESA, it may be useful to look beyond English written in the Latin script in a traditional and conventional sense and explore how the language has become indigenised using local scripts and even ‘passes off’ as local language. In addition, the volume seems to mostly cover East Asia and South Asia, without much coverage of Southeast Asia. For various historical and geographical reasons, Southeast Asia can be understood as a (sociolinguistic) buffer zone, which has been significantly influenced by East Asia (e.g. China) and South Asia (e.g. India) in terms of language, demographic profile, civilisation and religion. As such, including one or two chapters on English in Southeast Asia would have helped to provide a more holistic perspective on this issue. On a related note, the juxtaposition of only East Asia and South Asia Englishes in one volume (as opposed to Central Asia and West Asia Englishes) might need to be more clearly justified.
Overall, this is a highly timely and exciting book that has filled a gap in relevant literature, which promises to contribute to the growing area of World Englishes. It will be of interest to researchers and academics, policy-makers and also teaching professionals at the forefront of English language teaching. Featuring contributions from both established and emerging scholars in the broader field, this edited volume will no doubt serve as an important reference in related areas in the years and decades to come.
