This textbook by Jennifer Jenkins offers a comprehensive and an updated introduction into a rapidly developing field of study called World Englishes. This is the third edition previously published as World Englishes. Because English has grown in importance as a major lingua franca on the global arena, the revised version extends its scope to comprise the discussion of English in international contexts where it is used primarily amongst non-native speakers. The book can be recommended as a major reading in sociolinguistic courses at the undergraduate level in addition to other classics such as, for instance, Schneider (Reference Schneider2011). In a way, the two textbooks, I believe, complement each other very well as the latter focuses on the historical development of English world-wide and the former contains more discussion on the most recent trends attested globally. With that said, I am also very tempted to recommend it to high school teachers working with upper-intermediate and advanced learners of English as the general topic treated here is rapidly developing into an important societal issue.

The textbook is divided into four major parts following the traditional template of this book series: A Introduction; B Development; C Exploration; D Extension. The first section of the book sets out the main concepts employed in the field of World Englishes. The second section consolidates the knowledge acquired in the first part of the book. The main goal of the third section is to provide the reader with linguistic examples and language data stemming from World English research. This section also helps students to get on with their own projects in the field. The final section of the textbook offers a fine selection of texts on the main topics discussed in the book. The texts are written by leading experts, thereby offering the reader an opportunity to contrast her newly acquired knowledge in a given area with the opinions voiced by the key players in the field. All the topics covered in the book are supplemented with recommendations for further reading (pp. 249, 250). Sections B, C, and D contain a plethora of activities aiming at consolidating and expanding on the learner's knowledge. Some of these are well suited for self-study; others can be used as classroom activities in order to activate students and to encourage critical sociolinguistic thinking and metalinguistic awareness. Furthermore, the book is supplemented with a glossary of linguistic terms, which the reader might find useful. Clearly structured and written in a very accessible manner, Jenkins’ textbook has many offerings for trained linguists, teachers of English and more general public interested in the study of language. The space does not allow me to provide an in-depth analysis of this work. In the remainder of this article, I will thus focus on some specific issues that caught my attention as I was perusing the text. I hope the reader will find them useful.

Firstly, Section A contains a very succinct yet useful overview of the historical context accompanying the development of what Jenkins calls Global Englishes. The shift in focus from the ‘nation bound’ to more subtle spaces that English occupies in the modern world is also very informative. It actually invites the sociolinguist to reconsider the categories that she is operating with while reconstructing the local realities of English around the globe today. To illustrate this point, I am currently working on a project exploring variation in the domain of quotative marking in a German student community at the university of Mannheim. I was initially trying to ascertain how exposure to native-speaker English (well-bounded speech communities) affects students’ production of innovative quotative be like, e.g. And I am like, ‘Oh, my God! What are you doing here?’ At a later stage of the project and this was by and large a result of my encounter with the textbook under review, I realized that the actual sociolinguistic reality of my students is far more complex and I also needed to account for their exposure to English in lingua franca contexts in order to get a more realistic snapshot of the data. And so I did.

Secondly, the book contains a good discussion of the models of English although I was surprised that some models (for instance, Schneider Reference Schneider2003, Reference Schneider2007) were omitted altogether. The author might consider including this model in the future editions, as it has been highly influential in previous sociolinguistic research.

Thirdly, the author might also consider including topics related to the role that the mass media plays in the spread of modern English given the advances in technology over the past two decades. This is a hotly debated topic in the field that is also very popular with students. The more general public might likewise find it useful.

As mentioned earlier, the textbook includes a plethora of activities for work in the classroom. I found the ones listed on pp. 72, 76, 130, 140 particularly useful. They encourage exchange amongst students, hone the cognitive skills requiring a change in perspective, and most importantly, provide opportunities for working with real language data.

In conclusion, the revised edition of Jennifer Jenkins’ textbook Global Englishes has come at an opportune moment and is very likely to help nurture a new generation of sociolinguists.