Probably the most important question facing all language policy makers in every country of the world is, “What is the impact of cultural internationalization and economic globalization on our local markets, cultures, and school systems?” The sticky corollary, of course, is “What is – or should be – the role of English in our country?” These questions are particularly pertinent to Asian nations, seeing as there are many more speakers of English in Asia than in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia combined. And the problems of cultural identity vis-à-vis English have yet to be fully worked out, whether the particular Asian state is “third world,” “developing,” or “developed.” It is these complex and contentious issues that are the subject of this excellent collection of essays edited by Amy B. M. Tsui and James W. Tollefson.

Both Tsui and Tollefson have strong backgrounds in language education and policy issues. Tsui is a discourse analyst and language pedagogist on the education faculty at the University of Hong Kong. Tollefson, formerly a language-education policy specialist at the University of Washington, is now at International Christian University in Japan. In many ways this book is an extension and a sequel to their earlier 2003 edited volume Medium of instruction policies: Which agenda? Whose agenda? (also from Lawrence Erlbaum), which tackles some of the same issues as this book. However, the editors this time have intentionally sought out coverage from places often underrepresented in language policy debates, making this an important addition to the literature.

After a good theoretical background and overview given by the editors in the first chapter, the remaining dozen country-specific articles are presented in three parts. Part 1 focuses mainly on globalization's impact on governmental language policies and attitudes. A variety of states are examined: Japan (Kayoko Hashimoto), South Korea (Yim Sungwon), Malaysia (Maya Khemlani David & Subramaniam Govindasamy), Singapore (Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew) and Cambodia (Thomas Clayton). Part 2 explores the intentional linguistic “(re)construction” of national identity by the local or national governments of Hong Kong (Amy B. M. Tsui), Brunei Darussalam (Mukul Saxena), and New Zealand (Richard A. Benton). Part 3 discusses the benefits and liabilities of the presence of English in India (Rama K. Agnihotri), Nepal (Selma K. Sonntag), Pakistan (Tariq Rahman), and Bangladesh (Tania Hossain & James W. Tollefson).

In the last chapter, the editors try to summarize the research given in the preceding chapters (no easy task, as each case is unique). They suggest that all Asian governments recognize the importance of English, both as necessary for their country to participate in the international arena and as an individual's tool for personal social mobility and advancement. This of course creates tension, because the Asian governments themselves are as complicit as the Euro-American superpowers in establishing an English presence in their countries. In many ways this book extends the debate over claims of English represented in Linguistic imperialism (Robert Phillipson, Oxford University Press, 1992) vs. Asian Englishes (Braj Kachru, Hong Kong University Press, 2005), which started a decade and a half ago, offering new contexts and developments in the 21st century. Thus, this is a valuable book for anyone interested in sociolinguistics and language policies and practices, regardless of their geographic specialization.