Review: English Today

English Today

If you’re reading this I can guess that you are either a language teacher (current, former or prospective) or that you have some other affiliation (work, pleasure or both) with the English language. You’re also likely one of 500 million speakers of the most global language in history. Nonetheless, I can’t possibly guess where you are right now – you maybe at home or at work, on a train or in a tuk-tuk, by the coast or in the mountains, for we English teachers manage to get almost everywhere, in the same way as the object of our profession manages to spread itself unceasingly into every sphere of the global human network. The language of the World Cup, as denoted by Fifa™, is English, and England, the birthplace of both English and football, nowadays has a major impact on neither. It is the de-facto language of academic publication, of international trade, and is probably the most widely learnt second language in the world. English is everywhere, for better or worse, and even critics of linguistic imperialism cannot deny the appeal of a language that has managed to not only become the primary means of international communication but also pervades the mother-tongue of most languages in the world in the form of loanwords; even in their unmodified form, English words are often used for creating ‘special effects’ in many languages around the world.

To illustrate this point, I would like to retell the story of my first encounter with an English Today (henceforth ET) article ‘The language of shop-signs in Tokyo’ (MacGregor, 2005), which I stumbled upon while researching English loanwords in the Japanese language. The piece is set around a local train station in Tokyo, not far from my current abode. The author, a language teacher and writer, sets out to evaluate the impact of foreign loanwords (mainly from English) by investigating the language used in Japanese shop signs around her home station. She counts the number of occurrences of words displayed in the different Japanese scripts, of which there are four (if we include romaji, the roman alphabet used for transliterations), and also the use of foreign words such as English. She finds that a variety of Japanese forms are used, as could be expected, and English words are used only occasionally. Clearly, the salience of English words for English speakers makes one think that there is a much greater use of English in Japan than there really is, when compared to Japanese text. Though not particularly revealing in terms of English use in Japan, this study shows English is often an additional language that can be used when ‘special effects’ are needed by advertisers, for example, in conveying modernity, sophistication or success, by appealing to the exotic, or for other reasons that nobody can fathom other than the writers (if even they know).

I thought this was a novel and intriguing piece and was impressed by the relaxed approach to fieldwork and the accessible style of writing. It struck me that both language research and writing can be fun and you don’t have to be an academic to have a go. By reporting on language use in local communities, as is frequently found in ET, teachers’ voices can be heard and new insights can be gained. Actually, the ‘shop signs’ articles often appear in ET; a recent one was ‘Forms and functions of English in multilingual signage’ (McCormick and Agnihotri, 2010). So, if you see a foreigner walking around with a notepad and pen, gaping at shop signs and taking notes, you may want to ask them if they’re writing a piece for ET, and if you don’t see any, well, how about writing one yourself? The editors of ET suggest reading a few issues to get a feel for the type of article, the style, number of references, audience and so on, before submitting though: sound advice, I think.

Started in 1985, by Tom McArthur, the journal boasts a strong and varied readership including active and retired teachers, linguists and scholars, but also a wider stock of journalists, writers and researchers. The readers are, naturally, most often also the contributors: the recent centennial issue was celebrated with notes of admiration and respect from a host of leading scholars such as David Crystal, Brab Kachru, and Suzanne Romaine. The text types include reportage, comment, research and review. In sum, I think ET is a highly accessible journal for teachers to browse and potentially contribute to. It also serves as a primary source for researchers of the English language.

To get a better feel for the content of the journal, a glimpse at the titles always gives a better indication than I can do in the same number of words, so here goes. Articles in the reviewed issues include: ‘Learning English in corporate China’; ‘An exploratory study of the perception of British and American English in Portugal’; ‘The importance of English communication skills in multilingual Southern Africa’; ‘Electronic English in Malaysia’; ‘English in Slovenia’; ‘Sri Lankan English: a distinct South Asian variety’; ‘J.R.R. Tolkien and the art of translating English into English’; ‘English as a trademark of modernity and elitism’; ‘’Sweet as!’: the intensifier as in New Zealand and Australian English’; and ‘Writing in Cameroon in pidgin English’. As is obvious from this non-exhaustive selection of titles, world Englishes, language learning and socio-cultural language issues are topics which feature prominently, and also somewhat less frequently featured are linguistic description and comment.

To round off, I’d like to say that reading ET can be informative, entertaining and inspiring. It is the closest thing to a ‘Sunday’ journal as I’ve found (i.e. you don’t need a double espresso to get through an article), but it is also valuable reference material. Keeping up with ET is one way in which we can broaden our view and understanding of the English language, its impact on countless societies around the world, and its progression from the language of a small island to a language found pretty much everywhere.

A sample copy of English Today can be downloaded from the Cambridge Journals website http://journals.cambridge.org/ (browse or search for the actual journal). At the time of going to press, only organizational subscriptions appear to be available both for print and online or online only – for individual subscriptions, please contact the team at the address above.

References

MacGregor, J. (2005). The language of shop-signs in Tokyo. English Today, 19 (1), pp.18-23.

McCormick, K. & Agnihotri, R.K. (2010). Forms and functions of English in multilingual signage. English Today, 25 (3), pp.18-29.