Featured topic: World Englishes
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Read and listen to a range of information about a particular area of applied linguistics. This month: World Englishes.
Book of the month | Podcast | Author interview | Related titles
Book of the month
About Andy Kirkpatrick
Andy Kirkpatrick is currently Head of the Department of English at Hong Kong Institute of Education and sits on the international editorial board of The New English Teacher. He is author of World Englishes, Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching (2007). From 1997–2005 he was Professor of Language Education at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. He developed and wrote the World Englishes unit currently taught at Curtin. He is a specialist in "China English" who has taught in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as in Australia, England, Myanmar and Singapore. He was editor of English Australia Journal from 1999–2004.

World Englishes
Andy Kirkpatrick
The model of English that should be used in classrooms has long been a subject of debate. World Englishes, Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching describes selected varieties of World Englishes, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of selecting a particular variety from the point of view of both teachers and learners. It aims to examine and re-evaluate concepts such as 'standard', 'variety', 'native speaker' and 'non-native speaker', and to validate the role played by multilingual and multicultural English language teachers, arguing that context and learner needs should determine the variety to be taught.
Podcast

'Learners need local models of English that are relevant to them.'
Andy Kirkpatrick talks about models of English and their relevance to classroom teaching.
- Kachru's concentric circles
- Exonormative and endonormative models
- Challenging current teaching policies
- Multilingual versus monolingual teachers
An interview with Andy Kirkpatrick
In this interview Andy answers questions about the inspiration behind his recent book, World Englishes, and the value of multilingualism and multiculturalism in teaching English.
Related titles
Language Teaching
- Contrastive Rhetoric, Ulla Connor
- Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching, McKay and Hornberger
General Linguistics
- World Englishes, The Study of New Linguistic Varieties, Rajend Mesthrie, Rakesh M. Bhatt
- Sociolinguistic Variation, Edited by Robert Bayley and Ceil Lucas
- One Language, Two Grammars? Differences between British and American English, Edited by Günter Rohdenburg and Julia Schlüter
- Postcolonial English, Varieties around the world, Edgar W. Schneider
- A History of the English Language, Edited by Richard Hogg and David Denison
Literary Theory
- Cambridge History of African and Caribbean Literature, F. Abiola Irele, Simon Gikandi
- The Cambridge Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures in English, C. L Innes