Abstract Drawing on the concepts of the ‘context of situation’ of J. R. Firth and the Hallidayan meaning of ‘linguistic performance’, the early works of Braj Kachru presented a sociologically oriented linguistic model to the study of Indian English. Giving Indianness ‘functional relevance and formal “manifestation”’, Kachru laid the foundation for contextualizing world Englishes within a sociolinguistic framework. This paper revisits the early cultural wars of language, and Kachru's efforts to explain language variation in the multilingual, multicultural contexts of English around the world within the scope of ‘pragmatism and linguistic realism’ (Kachru, 1986, p. 32). This paper examines the research, studies and insights of scholars who have contributed to furthering the functional and pragmatic contexts in which world Englishes are used.

Abstract Braj Kachru proposes a redefinition of the concept of ‘nativeness’ of English, and advanced this proposal by distinguishing between ‘genetic nativeness’ and ‘functional nativeness.’ Drawing on Kachru's framework, especially his concept of ‘functional nativeness,’ this article discusses the pragmatic realities of English in Anglophone Africa against the perennial debate on the medium of instruction in public schools in the region. It makes the case for English to be viewed as a naturalized African language, with reference to both its forms and functions.

Abstract Drawing samples from Unpolished gem (2006) and Laurinda (2014) written by second generation migrant writer, Alice Pung, this paper employs the world Englishes and cultural linguistics frameworks to explore cultural conceptualisations of Chinese‐Australian authors in Australian literature. With a particular focus on three main conceptualisations: Family, Death, and Ancestor Worship, this paper examines how these conceptualisations are instantiated in the use of English and the linguistic strategies drawn on by the author, such as proper names, use of kinship honorifics, and the creation of humour. This study indicates that writing in Englishes for second generation migrant writers is a blend of home and host culture, and that their use of English, even though it may be their native tongue, extends beyond a monolingual mindset of linguistic and transcultural creativity, reflecting an idiosyncratic English variety of their own.

Abstract This article discusses the contribution of Professor Larry E. Smith to the field of world Englishes (WE), a linguistic and educational enterprise in which Professor Smith was a founding figure. The article traces the development of Smith's thinking on world Englishes from early attempts to theorize English as an ‘international auxiliary language’ (EIAL), to a full theorization of world Englishes as a dynamic new field of study in the 1980s and 1990s. This discussion of Larry Smith's work also acknowledges his contribution to such other related areas of study as intercultural communication, and intelligibility studies, as well as his enduring contribution to the World Englishes journal, and the International Association for World Englishes (IAWE).

Abstract Research on world Englishes and Second Language Acquisition has conceptualized language, language users, and language learning as diverse and dynamic, broadening conventional knowledge. Yet, research outputs have not influenced language education policies in Expanding Circle countries, which favor Inner Circle standardized English, promote teaching English to young learners, and require monolingual teaching of English, as seen in the case of Japanese primary and secondary education. These activities are perpetuated by macro‐level language ideology and broader political, historical, and economic forces including neoliberalism that exist at a super macro level. Examining the roots of these practices directs our attention to both macro and super‐macro issues as well as to complicities between research/researchers and broader ideological and structural issues. Recommendations are offered to invite researchers to begin exploring how research can make impacts on real‐world issues.

Within the fields of applied linguistics, educational linguistics, and sociolinguistics, two important and overlapping fields are those of world Englishes (WE) and Second Language Acquisition (SLA) ...

ABSTRACTThe articles in this symposium were first presented at a workshop in Trier, Germany, in 2015. The workshop title was ‘The future of the International Corpus of English (ICE): New challenges, new developments’. This introductory article looks back over the last twenty‐five years of the ICE project, and considers some of the issues that have emerged in that period in relation to corpus compilation and the analysis of world Englishes. Among those issues are the unprecedented advances in computer technology, and also the changing perceptions of English as a world language.