This paper argues that Dev Virahsawmy, an author who manipulates literary translation for the purposes of linguistic prestige formation and re-negotiation, is a critical language-policy practitioner, as his work fills an important gap in language planning scholarship. A micro-analysis of the translation of a Shakespearean sonnet into Mauritian…

English has become important in the Pacific island nations for four reasons: the status of English as the official or unofficial national language of many Pacific island nations; the number of indigenous language varieties; the need for a lingua franca; and the need for a language for wider communication with the outside world for diplomatic and…

Despite the removal of the native English-speaking elite from their position of power in the Liberian social structure, English continues as the language of prestige and socioeconomic advancement. The continued strong role and use of English in Liberia demonstrates the importance of the spread of Western-based cultural values. (Author/DJD)

Discusses the varieties of Liberian English spoken in Liberia: Kru Pidgin English, spoken by Kru mariners and migrant workers; Settler English, spoken by descendants of 19th-century African American immigrants to Liberia; and Vernacular Liberian English (VLE), spoken by the rest of Liberia's English-speaking population. Focuses on tense aspect in…

Presents a multi-targeted model of interlanguage variation. Advanced learners handle variation differently than native speakers. The establishment of pedagogical norms or classroom replicas of the target language which reflect actual behavior of native speakers, appropriate for foreigners, is stressed. Two variable features of French illustrate…

Considers the linguistic creativity of West German users of English and their particular variety of English, its forms and functions, processes of nativization, the borrowing process, and West Germans' attitudes toward English, and highlights the unique social, cultural and linguistic role English plays in the German context. (Author/CB)

Sociolinguistic analysis of English borrowings in Japanese television and print advertising supported hypotheses that the primary reason for loanword use was to make the product seem more modern and sophisticated and that there was a relationship between loan functions and such audience characteristics as gender, age, occupation, and background.…

Presents issues related to power and politics of the English language specifically in relation to the unprecedented global spread of the language. Several linguistic and nonlinguistic perspectives used to conceptualize the relationship between language and power are considered. (Author/CB)

Discusses the language and linguistic transformation of Hawaii, viewing language as socially constitutive, creative, and recreative and pointing out similarities between the language transformation and the Western penetration of Hawaii. (Author/CB)

Describes the major types of studies used to determine language attitudes of native and nonnative speakers of English and highlights a number of differences in their methodologies. The article shows how one of the techniques used in sociolinguistic research with native speakers, called apparent time, would improve research into nonnative speaker…

Discusses the indirect style and vocabulary that many Japanese use when expressing themselves in English, explaining how the sequencing of information expressed in Japanese differs from the usual sequence in English. Also reviewed are the social norms that affect how Japanese communicate in English. (five references) (MDM)

Reviews opinions of senior Papua New Guinea (PNG) educators on the place of English in the country, and contrasts some characteristics of PNG English with standard English. It is concluded that PNG English is recognizable as a variety of English in its own right. A reference list of 28 citations is included. (Author/LMO)

The academic literature on issues related to the Philippine English language and literature is substantial. This bibliography surveys relevant work on such related fields as the sociology of language and language planning, Bilingualism, bilingual education, and languages in education, language attitudes, code-switching and code-mixing, Philippine…

Sociocultural and historical examination of the kind of English used in Japanese university entrance examinations suggests that such usage mirrors and reinforces general Japanese attitudes about language, language learning, and national interests, resulting in a closed system highly resistant to change. (28 references) (Author/CB)

Although English shares official language status with French in Vanuatu, enrollments in English-language schools have increased dramatically at the expense of French-medium schools. Bislama, an English-derived pidgin, has become a compromise language between the two colonial languages that have divided the country. (Author/CB)