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This chapter articulates postcolonial studies and World Englishes, initially by exploring connections that have already been made, either explicitly or implicitly. It considers the different understandings of each term, before bringing the two together in terms of specific histories and also shared problems. Importantly, the chapter discusses the ways in which English’s spread is a form of linguistic imperialism, but it continues to examine the extent to which World Englishes escape from the assumptions associated with postcolonial studies. Finally, the chapter outlines the ways in which this book differs from previous articulations of the two fields.

This chapter discusses the incorporation of World Englishes into a History of the English Language (HEL) course, addressing questions about how to grapple with the geographical and geopolitical planes along which World Englishes have grown. Other questions considered here include diachronic formation, cultural contexts, relationships with other languages, and effects of globalization on forms of English that are both related to and yet quite distinct from the model of Standard English that frequently orients the HEL course. Two possible strategies for incorporating World Englishes into an HEL course are suggested. One strategy consists of focused lectures on the external history, social and cultural influences, linguistic features, and so on, of just one or two World English varieties, which can be combined with a second strategy that involves handing the research and even some of the teaching over to the students.

This chapter will address the teaching of “post-colonial Englishes,” focusing on the sociopolitical and cultural conditions that enabled changes in English as it was used during, and after, the colonial encounter. To capture the complexity of linguistic hybridities associated with plural identities, our disciplinary discourses of the global use and acquisition of English must (i) liberate the field of World Englishes from the orthodoxies of the past and instead connect it to a more general theory of the sociolinguistics of globalization, and, especially (ii) bring into focus local forms shaped by the local logics of practice. This chapter discusses specific examples of the practice of creativity in grammar, discourse, and sociolinguistic use of World English varieties.

In this chapter, debates revolving around the global spread of English, linguistic imperialism, World Englishes and the theories of postcolonial performativity are introduced. Is English a cultural imperialistic tool of the West, or is English being increasingly hybridized and used for their own daily purposes by many Southeast Asian people? How is language policy and planning (LPP) related to the creation of social and educational (in) equalities? The chapter discusses these issues and concludes with the proposal that Southeast Asian postcolonial societies need to develop their own LPP frameworks.

This chapter describes assignments used to teach the History of the English Language (HEL) and its contemporary counterpart the English Language in the World. In both of these courses, linguistic concepts can be linked to literary analysis, which helps students learn how to analyze code-switching and/or style-shifting in the context of a literary argument. For discovering and interpreting issues about the status and use of English around the world, students have a number of options. For example, after reading specific articles about slang generally and analyzing examples chosen in class, some students choose to write a final essay on slang or jargon used within online newspapers or films that represent different World Englishes (e.g., in Nigerian “Nollywood” films). Thus, World Englishes become realer for students rather than exotic abstractions or curious variants of English or American English.

This chapter addresses how the history of English as a linguistic topic has been taught in one South African university. The author focuses on the traditional Old–Middle–Modern English trichotomy as well as colonial and postcolonial synchronic varieties. Subsequent to a curricular shift from historical to applied linguistics in English departments, students taking History of the English Language (HEL) come to the course with little or no background in Old and Middle English. The author offers practical examples of how he accommodated this change in student preparation. Additionally, he addresses how the postcolonial era and globalisation have “revitalised the story of English.” Pidgins, Creoles, and World Englishes problematise the earlier genealogy of the Standard Language, making a linear history less easy to uphold. The author’s discussion of his complementary “Pidgins, Creoles, and New Englishes” course includes helpful pointers to instructors teaching these varieties within a HEL course.

The chapter assesses the role of the English Language Teaching Department—its structure, management, profitability, and publications—and its impact on the Press as a whole. The extraordinary growth of Oxford’s ELT programme resulted in part from a global shift towards English-language learning in old markets and a rapid growth of new markets around the world to which OUP had good access through its branches and established international trade. New ELT courses were developed or adapted for use in Africa, Central and East Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and, most successfully, in Europe. Successful series titles included Crescent English Course, Access to English, Streamline, and Headway. Despite intense competition and some unprofitable partnerships, OUP became the world’s leading ELT publisher through developing reliable titles for children and adults and placing a strong emphasis on market strategy.