This book contributes new perspectives from the Global South on the ways in which linguistic and discursive boundaries shape inequalities in educational contexts, ranging from Amazonian missions to Mongolian universities. Through critical ethnographic and sociolinguistic analysis, the chapters explore how such boundaries contribute to the geopolitics of colonialism, capitalism and myriad, interwoven, forms of social life that structure both oppression and resistance. Boundaries are examined across time and space as relational constructs that mark the terms upon which admission to groups, institutions, territories, or practices are granted. The studies further present alternative educational approaches that demonstrate the potential for agency and transgression, highlighting moments of boundary crossing that disrupt existing linguistic ideologies, language policies and curriculum structures.

This study sheds light on the problem of communicative inequality, neglected both by linguists and communication scholars, among speakers of different languages. It provides a four-step Critical Theory analysis of language-based inequality and distortion between speakers of a few dominant languages, especially English, and speakers of minority languages in the context of international and intercultural communication. Based on a theoretical framework of “Distorted Communication” developed by J. Habermas and C. Müller, the analysis focuses on a critical description, definition, and interpretation of “Distorted Intercultural Communication”, and exposes the ideology that legitimates linguistic inequality and distortion in communication.

This book offers one possible solution in the pursuit of linguistic equality by exploring how the Structural Inquiry of Stigmatized English (SISE) approach to linguistics pedagogy can be used to empower linguistics students and researchers as ambassadors for change. By using stigmatized varieties of English (including African American English, Chicano English, and Appalachian English) as the primary linguistic data analyzed through detailed structural analysis, the SISE approach fosters linguistically principled and pluralistic language attitudes among students, as evidenced by the author’s own empirical research in applying the method. This book not only advocates for linguistic equality but also provides teachers and researchers with the tools they need to counteract prejudicial attitudes and disinformation about language both in and outside the classroom. It will be an essential resource for linguistics teachers, applied linguists, curriculum developers, students and scholars of language attitudes and language variation, and anyone seeking more information about the relationships between diversity, (in)equality, and language.

This prescient Handbook examines how legacies of colonialism, gender, class, and other markers of inequality intersect with contemporary humanitarianism at multiple levels.

Bringing together international authors, this edited collection addresses the need for greater inclusivity within organizational policy and practice, in order to tackle both visible and invisible inequalities amongst employees. Evidence suggests that more positive employment relationships can be brought about by tackling diversity issues, yet there are still ‘grey areas’ existing in the current legislative framework. Volume I explores the way that these hidden inequalities can be used to identify an individual as ‘other,’ and how this ultimately affects their wellbeing and welfare at work. Analysing social justice and stigma, as well as nuanced issues within the workplace, this book is a thought-provoking read for scholars of HRM, practitioners and policy-makers.

Language, while seemingly static, is dynamic and ever-changing, necessitating adaptability in various fields of language studies. It is especially true in a globalized world and an information age. In the field of language and its applications, it is essential to reconsider and redefine existing issues and envision how the changes may have impacts on human beings and on the entire globe. Redefining the Role of Language in a Globalized World is an essential scholarly publication that explores the role language will play in a globalized world and how language changes over time through its interdependent relationship with technology. Featuring a wide range of topics such as bilingualism, native speaker prejudice, and social inequality, this book is essential for educators, linguists, researchers, curriculum designers, academicians, policymakers, librarians, and students.

The social development of English as a world language emerges from a comprehensive account of our current knowledge of it as well as the gaps in understanding which future research can remedy.

New edition of widely-acclaimed textbook, including new sections on up-to-date topics for the 1990s.

Will language as we know it cease to exist? What could this mean for the way we live our lives? Shining a light on the technology currently being developed to revolutionise communication, The Future of Language distinguishes myth from reality and superstition from scientifically-based prediction as it plots out the importance of language and raises questions about its future. From the rise of artificial intelligence and speaking robots, to brain implants and computer-facilitated telepathy, language and communications expert Philip Seargeant surveys the development of new digital 'languages', such as emojis, animated gifs and memes, and investigates how conventions of spoken and written language are being modified by new trends in communication. From George Orwell's fictional predictions in Nineteen Eighty-Four to the very real warnings of climate activist Greta Thunberg, Seargeant explores language through time, traversing politics, religion, philosophy, literature, and of course technology, in the process. Tracing how previous eras have imagined the future of language, from the Bible to the works H. G. Wells, and from Star Wars to Star Trek, the book reveals how perfecting language and communication has always been a vital component of utopian dreams of the future. Questioning the potential ramifications of recent and future developments in communication on society and its ideals, The Future of Language is a no holds barred investigation into the state of civilisation and the impact that changes in language could have on our lives.

African countries and South Africa in particular, being multilingual and multicultural societies, make for exciting sociolinguistic and applied language analysis in order to tease out the complex relationship between language and identity. This book applies sociolinguistic theory, as well as critical language awareness and translanguaging with its many facets, to various communicative scenarios, both on the continent and in South Africa, in an accessible and practical way. Africa lends itself to such sociolinguistic analysis concerning language, identity and intercultural communication. This book reflects consciously on the North–South debate and the need for us to create our own ways of interpretation emanating from the South and speaking back to the North, and on issues that pertain to the South, including southern Africa. Aspects such as language and power, language planning, policy and implementation, culture, prejudice, social interaction, translanguaging, intercultural communication, education, gender and autoethnography are covered. This is a valuable resource for students studying African sociolinguistics, language and identity, and applied language studies. Anyone interested in the relationship between language and society on the African continent would also find the book easily accessible.