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English in the World: History, Diversity, Change
English in the History, Diversity, Change examines the English language as it has developed through history and is used across the globe today. The first half of the book outlines the history of the language from its fifth-century roots through its development as a national, a colonial, and now a global language. In the second half, the focus shifts to the diversity of the language today. The book explores varieties of English across the English-speaking world, as well as English-related varieties such as pidgins and creoles. It also examines complex processes of variation, hybridity and change in English, and in the shifting styles of individual speakers. Throughout, the focus is on the international nature of English and its use alongside other languages in a diverse range of communities. Drawing on the latest research and The Open University’s wide experience of writing accessible and innovative texts, this English in the History, Diversity, Change is essential reading for all students of English language studies.
- GenresLinguistics
376 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
About the author
Philip Seargeant
25 books7 followersPhilip Seargeant is Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics in the Centre for Language and Communication, The Open University. He is author of The Idea of English in Japan: Ideology and the Evolution of a Global Language (2009), Exploring World Englishes: Language in a Global Context (2012) and From Language to Creative Writing (with Bill Greenwell, 2013); he is also editor of English in Japan in the Era of Globalization (2011) and English in the World Today: History, Diversity, Change (with Joan Swann, 2012).
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 13, 2013
Fascinating, but hard work! Part of my Ou course U214, which I hope to pass in 2013 as part of a Diploma in English Language Studies.
January 28, 2013
So much more interesting than I thought it would be. I now love English and history along side my passion for literature and this combined them all (even literature to a certain extent).
What a fascinating show of the changes in English that I will forever be able to use as research for generating fully rounded historical characters.
What a fascinating show of the changes in English that I will forever be able to use as research for generating fully rounded historical characters.
July 5, 2021
English in the world
History , Diversity , change
It is not easy to navigate the world of language, this vast world, rooted in our minds until the philosopher of language Noam Chomsky said that language is a material faculty inside our brains that formed hundreds of years ago until it reached this complexity that it is currently. Although this claim by Naoum, there are no agreed scientific theories in the scientific community for brain studies that support it, but the research in this aspect is trying to find a physical link between the formation of language in the brain and its social formation.
The world of language and the divergent dialects from it and what results from these various dialects of ways of saying and its phonetic, structural and grammatical attachments, and the connection of all of this with social structures and psychological complexities as well as other factors such as economic and political conditions and others, this link has a strong impact first on the formations of the language itself, and secondly on Social and psychological formations as well.
In language studies, they search for the relationship between language or dialect and the formation of identity for the individual or society, and to the extent that the individual or group is linked to a particular dialect, a strong psychosocial connection, as far as this dialect forms his social, psychological and cultural identity, and this link is strengthened and may reach the stage of intolerance in The form of a threat to identity if the dialect constitutes with social and psychological identity a religious identity in contrast to other religious identities that have a special dialect for them, and the sense of threat increases if other dialects identify with the political authority in the form of rule, colonialism or settlement. On the other hand, for whom the identity is formed through broad and general addresses, he will not feel this threat, especially when the individual realizes that the subject of dialects and their diversity is a global issue, and just as languages die and other languages are born, so dialects die and other dialects are born against them, the overlap of peoples and their communication through modern communication mechanisms Contributed to the extinction of dialects and the emergence of other dialects, so linking an individual's identity to a specific language or dialect is a threat to his existence in this universe. of identifiers.
Every language aspires to be the language of the world, but in order for the language to reach universality, it must be associated with knowledge, science, industry and technology, in addition to political factors. Politics may be the main gateway to all these other factors, and perhaps all factors are intertwined with each other and helped by certain conditions so that the language can The wide spread and wide use of it. This book sheds light on some of those titles in a detailed and extensive manner. I aspire to find a book with the same planning and linking between the titles that talks about the Arabic language and the extent of its spread during its prosperity period and its overlap with social, economic and political formations.
History , Diversity , change
It is not easy to navigate the world of language, this vast world, rooted in our minds until the philosopher of language Noam Chomsky said that language is a material faculty inside our brains that formed hundreds of years ago until it reached this complexity that it is currently. Although this claim by Naoum, there are no agreed scientific theories in the scientific community for brain studies that support it, but the research in this aspect is trying to find a physical link between the formation of language in the brain and its social formation.
The world of language and the divergent dialects from it and what results from these various dialects of ways of saying and its phonetic, structural and grammatical attachments, and the connection of all of this with social structures and psychological complexities as well as other factors such as economic and political conditions and others, this link has a strong impact first on the formations of the language itself, and secondly on Social and psychological formations as well.
In language studies, they search for the relationship between language or dialect and the formation of identity for the individual or society, and to the extent that the individual or group is linked to a particular dialect, a strong psychosocial connection, as far as this dialect forms his social, psychological and cultural identity, and this link is strengthened and may reach the stage of intolerance in The form of a threat to identity if the dialect constitutes with social and psychological identity a religious identity in contrast to other religious identities that have a special dialect for them, and the sense of threat increases if other dialects identify with the political authority in the form of rule, colonialism or settlement. On the other hand, for whom the identity is formed through broad and general addresses, he will not feel this threat, especially when the individual realizes that the subject of dialects and their diversity is a global issue, and just as languages die and other languages are born, so dialects die and other dialects are born against them, the overlap of peoples and their communication through modern communication mechanisms Contributed to the extinction of dialects and the emergence of other dialects, so linking an individual's identity to a specific language or dialect is a threat to his existence in this universe. of identifiers.
Every language aspires to be the language of the world, but in order for the language to reach universality, it must be associated with knowledge, science, industry and technology, in addition to political factors. Politics may be the main gateway to all these other factors, and perhaps all factors are intertwined with each other and helped by certain conditions so that the language can The wide spread and wide use of it. This book sheds light on some of those titles in a detailed and extensive manner. I aspire to find a book with the same planning and linking between the titles that talks about the Arabic language and the extent of its spread during its prosperity period and its overlap with social, economic and political formations.
December 26, 2019
'English in the World: History, Diversity, Change' is an excellent book to learn and reflect on the history, diversity and change of the English language. It includes very interesting activities, readings (some of which were specially commissioned for the book) and information on research studies.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in reading an introduction to linguistics and English language studies.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in reading an introduction to linguistics and English language studies.
January 25, 2020
Study book.
April 13, 2021
Examines in depth the developing history of the English language and its use now as a global language today.
December 31, 2014
Glad I finally finished this. Took too long to struggle through.
A decent course textbook that runs through the history, growth and variation of the English language. Covers a lot of ground but can really drag at times.
On to the next one anyway!
A decent course textbook that runs through the history, growth and variation of the English language. Covers a lot of ground but can really drag at times.
On to the next one anyway!
December 22, 2013
A great introduction to the history of our language both nationally and internationally, with its many variants.
January 27, 2014
A really interesting, easy to follow look at the origins and spread of the English language.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews