Exploring Discourse and Identity in the Diverse and Evolving Varieties of Southeast Asian Englishes

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to invite you to consider submitting your papers for this Special Issue, entitled "Exploring Discourse and Identity in the Diverse and Evolving Varieties of Southeast Asian Englishes". This Special Issue explores and examines the complex and fascinating topic of Southeast Asian varieties of English and their relationship to identity and discourse.

The role of English in Southeast Asia cannot be overstated, as it has become a de facto language of the ASEAN since its inception in 1967, and was formalized as a working language of the ASEAN in 2007 (Azirah Hashim and Leitner, 2021). In recent years, the Southeast Asian region has witnessed the flourishing development of English and an increasing number of English language learners (Tupas, 2018; Noor Azam et al., 2016). Consequently, Singapore English, Philippine English, Malaysian English, and Brunei English have been recognized as legitimate varieties of English; at the same time, the emerging varieties of English in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao, and Myanmar are continually developing. This trend has resulted in the evolution of a wide range of English varieties across the region, reflecting their multilingual, multicultural, and plurilingual nature (Jenkins, 2015).

This Special Issue seeks to explore the unique representation or construction of identities and discourses that are embedded within each of these varieties of Southeast Asian English, which present opportunities for research and exploration. It investigates how English has influenced and shaped individual and collective identity, sociocultural dimensions of language use, discourse strategies and communicative practices, and the impact of cultural factors on the discourse of Southeast Asian English (Zafar, 2020; Tan, 2018).

This Special Issue will provide a valuable contribution to the existing literature on Southeast Asian English. It offers a comprehensive and in-depth exploration of the diverse and evolving varieties of English across the region, and how they have been used to represent and construct identity in different modes of communication (Zafar, 2020; Tan, 2018; Pakir, 2012). Furthermore, the issue will shed light on the interplay of language and identity in Southeast Asian English (Tan, 2018).

We encourage scholars and researchers interested in Southeast Asian English to submit their work for publication. This offers a unique opportunity to share research and findings on an important and emerging field of study. We are confident that your contributions will spark interest within the wider academic community.

We invite scholars interested in this area to submit their research for publication. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Language and identity construction;
2. Discourse strategies and communicative practices of Asian Learners;
3. Role of English in shaping individual and collective identity;
4. Sociocultural dimensions of discourse and language use in Southeast Asian English;
5. Role of English in the representation and construction of Southeast Asian identity in media;
6. Interplay of language, power, and identity in Southeast Asian English;
7. Use of English in digital communication and the emergence of new identity practices in Southeast Asia;
8. Representation of identity in literary works in Southeast Asian English;
9. Contrastive studies of structures of Southeast Asian English;
10. Attitude studies on the structures of Southeast Asian English.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editors ([email protected]; [email protected]) or to the Languages editorial office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of this Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blinded peer-review.

References

Azirah Hashim and Leitner, G. (2021). English in Southeast Asia and ASEAN Transformation of Language Habitats. Routledge.

Bolton, K., & Kachru, B. B. (Eds.). (2019). World Englishes: Critical Concepts in Linguistics. Routledge.

Lim, L. (2021). Singapore English: The Globalisation of a Local Dialect. Edinburgh University Press.

Foley, J. A. (Ed.). (2021). English in Southeast Asia: Status, Features, and Trends. Routledge.

Gupta, A. F., & Lee, J. J. (Eds.). (2019). English in Southeast Asia: Features, Policy and Language in Use. John Benjamins Publishing.

Jenkins, J. (2015). Repositioning English and multilingualism in English as a lingua franca. Englishes in Practice, 2(3), 35–66.

Kirkpatrick, A. (Ed.). (2021). The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes. Routledge.

Low, E. L., & Brown, A. (Eds.). (2020). English in Southeast Asia: Research, Policy and Practice. Springer.

Noor Azam Haji-Othman., McLellan, J., & Deterding, D. (Eds.) (2016). The use and status of language in Brunei Darussalam: A kingdom of unexpected linguistic diversity. Springer.

Pakir, A. (2019). The Handbook of World Englishes. Wiley-Blackwell.

Sultana, S. (2021). Sociolinguistics of English in Southeast Asia: Language Variation, Contact and Change. Routledge.

Tan, P. K. W. (2018). Discourse and power in Southeast Asian Englishes: A corpus-based analysis. Routledge.

Tupas, R. (2018). Singlish in the classroom: Is Singapore ready for additive bidialectalism? International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(8), 982–993. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2016.1226757

Zafar, A. (2020). Digital communication and identity construction in Southeast Asian Englishes. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 24(2), 139–161.

Dr. Francisco Perlas Dumanig
Dr. Leah Gustilo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Languages is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Southeast Asian Englishes
• discourse
• identity
• language use
• language attitudes