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This book challenges the cultural imbalance in current research traditions, and argues for a culturalist perspective in facilitating better intercultural exchange amidst accelerated processes of globalization. It is the first engagement with discourses in non-mainstream cultures. Covering a wide range of issues in public, professional, media, and intercultural communication, the twelve essays tackle culturally pressing issues by aligning viewpoints from various geo-political contexts.

The lingua franca role of English, coupled with its status as the official language of ASEAN, has important implications for language policy and language education. These include the relationship between English, the respective national languages of ASEAN, and thousands of local languages. How can the demand for English be balanced against the need for people to acquire their national language and mother tongue? While many will also need a regional lingua franca, they are learning English as the first foreign language from primary school in all ASEAN countries. Might not this early introduction of English threaten local languages and children's ability to learn? Or can English be introduced and taught in such a way that it can complement local languages rather than replace them? The aim of this book is to explore questions such as these and then make recommendations on language policy and language education for regional policymakers.

Having analysed the most common English errors made in over 600 academic papers written by Chinese undergraduates, postgraduates, and researchers, Steve Hart has written an essential, practical guide specifically for the native Chinese speaker on how to write good academic English. English Exposed: Common Mistakes Made by Chinese Speakers is divided into three main sections. The first section examines errors made with verbs, nouns, prepositions, and other grammatical classes of words. The second section focuses on problems of word choice. In addition to helping the reader find the right word, it provides instruction for selecting the right style too. The third section covers a variety of other areas essential for the academic writer, such as using punctuation, adding appropriate references, referring to tables and figures, and selecting among various English date and time phrases. Using English Exposed will allow a writer to produce material where content and ideas—not language mistakes—speak the loudest.

This collection is the seventh volume in the Asian Englishes Today series. Singapore makes an interesting case study of various issues in socio-linguistics, not least because it is an ethnically and linguistically diverse society, but also because the country has a history of attempts at social engineering. The ongoing tensions between what the state envisions for the people and their actual language practices are some of the phenomena that provide the grounding for in-depth analyses. The chapters in this book revolve around four closely related themes relating to language policy in Singapore: the ecology of English in Singapore, reconceptualizing “English”, ethnicity and ownership, and English in education.

Independent learning is not a new concept for language educators, but while teachers, curriculum designers and policy makers have embraced it as underpinning modern notions of education, it remains a dynamic and vibrant field for researchers and academics who aim to broaden its scope and deepen our understanding of how it may be applied most effectively both inside and outside the classroom. The contributors to this book use their experience of applying the concepts related to independent learning in various geographical, cultural and pedagogical tertiary-level learning contexts to present new perspectives on how independent learning can inform and support policy, teaching methodology, curriculum development and the nurturing of successful learners. While the first section of the book provides a view of the field from three broad curriculum development perspectives, the remaining chapters primarily focus on the experience of learners, teachers and curriculum developers in applying principles of learner autonomy, self-regulation and self-direction with various types of learner — each with their own identities, motivations, expectations and goals. These learner and teacher stories provide insights that are important for an understanding of some of the impacts an independent learning approach to language learning have on learners in various educational contexts.

Religion has permeated Anglophone literature in Malaysia from colonial times to the present. This study provides insights on the practices of everyday religiosity as represented in literature, which is often starkly opposed to the religious rhetoric promoted by the government. The book also reveals the intersections between religion and other facets of colonial and postcolonial identity such as class, gender and sexuality.

This book provides a starting point for understanding the contexts of learning and teaching in the Chinese classroom. Drawing upon recent research in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and China, this book aims to bridge the gap between traditional texts on educational psychology and the unique nature of the Chinese learner and their teacher. It draws on recent research to illustrate the application of these theories, thereby helping teachers and students in teacher education programmes understand the variability in student achievement.

What exactly is legal about legal language? What happens to legal language when it is used across linguistic, national, socio-political, cultural, and legal systems? In what way is generic integrity of legal documents maintained in multilingual and multi-cultural contexts? What happens when the same rule of law is applied across legal systems? By bringing together scholars and practitioners from more than ten countries, representing various jurisdictions, languages, and socio-political backgrounds, this book addresses key issues arising from the differences in legal or sociocultural systems. The discussions are based not only on the analysis of the legal texts alone, but also on the factors shaping such constructions and interpretations.

Whereas in previous decades autonomous, self-directed, or “ independent” learning may have been assumed to be an alternative to classroom learning, the emphasis has now shifted to the point where learner autonomy, viewed as the capacity to take charge of one's own learning, is increasingly being promoted as a goal for general language education. Autonomy, as pointed out in one chapter in this book, has “become part of the current orthodoxy of language teaching and learning research and practice: an idea that researchers and teachers ignore at their peril”. This volume brings together work by theorists of autonomy in language education, as well as locally situated accounts by autonomy practitioners working with secondary-level, university, or adult migrant learners, or engaged in teacher education and curriculum development. Localising autonomy in such settings, different views of autonomy emerge as social practice, much less an abstract set of discrete skills, attitudes, or behaviours to be developed, and much more a historically and socially situated process that evolves through relations among persons-in-action in specific contexts of practice. Different chapters explore learners' and teachers' voices to raise thought-provoking questions about roles, resources, and practices important to any pedagogy for autonomy.

The volumes in this series set out to provide a contemporary record of the spread and development of the English language in South, Southeast, and East Asia from both linguistic and literary perspectives. The volumes in this series reflect themes that cut across national boundaries, including the study of language policies; globalization and linguistic imperialism; English in the media; English in law, government, and education; “hybrid” Englishes; and the bilingual creativity manifested by the vibrant creative writing found in a swathe of Asian societies. This book provides an overview and analysis of the role of English in the Philippines, the factors that led to its spread and retention, and the characteristics of Philippine English today.

This book presents ten studies of communication practices in a variety of professional contexts. Drawing on diverse methodologies from fields such as conversation analysis, intercultural communication, and organizational studies, the essays examine how language is constructed, managed, and consumed in various professional situations, ranging from academic settings to business negotiations. One important theme is an emphasis on collaboration between researchers and professionals. The contributors strongly believe that such collaborative partnership will provide direct implications for improving workplace communication and enhance better understanding of the construction of professional identity and organizational behavior.

This book provides a research-based account of how to teach and learn Chinese as a foreign language. Specially written for Chinese language teachers, student teachers, and applied linguists, this is the first book written in English that addresses all major aspects involved in teaching and learning Chinese as a foreign language. It identifies five key areas: pronunciation (tones and pinyin), characters and words, sentences, discourse and pragmatic competence, and cultural competence. It covers all the fundamental grammar elements in Chinese, explains their functions in discourse and communication, and explores different strategies for teaching and engaging students in learning the language.