Speaker: James W. Tollefson (University of Hong Kong)

Date: October 14, 2014 – Tuesday

Time: 18:00

Venue: R606, Run Run Shaw Library, Hongkou Campus

Language: English

Summary: Many scholarly studies have examined the impact of globalization on language worldwide, particularly the spread of English and the loss of indigenous languages.  Less attention has been paid to competing discursive representations of globalization and language in policy texts and public discussion about language policy.

This lecture examines the representation of ‘globalization’ and ‘language’ from a historical perspective, with the aim of exploring the links between English promotion policies, language policy responses to globalization, and national cultural identities.  The presentation includes three parts:  (1) a historical analysis of shifts in language policy research; (2) a framework for analyzing language policies; (3) analysis of sample texts.

Speaker Biography: James W. Tollefson is professor of English at the University of Hong Kong. He is also Emeritus professor of English at the University of Washington and Professor of Media, Communication, and Culture at International Christian University in Tokyo. He is the author or editor of eight books, including Language Policy, Culture, and Identity in Asian Contexts (co-edited with Amy B.M. Tsui); Medium of Instruction Policies: Which Agenda? Whose Agenda? (co-edited with Amy B.M. Tsui); Language Policies in Education: Critical Issues; Power and Inequality in Language Education; The Strength Not to Fight: An Oral History of Conscientious Objectors of the Vietnam War; Planning Language, Planning Inequality; Alien Winds: TheReeducation of America's Indochinese Refugees; and The Language Situation and Language Policy in Slovenia. His articles appear in Journal of the Sociology of Language, TESOL Quarterly, Language Problems and Language Planning, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, and many other journals.