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The History of Late Modern Englishes provides an accessible and student-friendly introduction to the history of the English language from the beginning of the eighteenth century up until the present day. Taking an activity-based approach, this text ensures that students learn by engaging with the fascinating evolution of this language rather than by simply reading about it.
The History of Late Modern Englishes:
- Covers the development of Englishes around the world, not only in the British Isles, but also in the United States, Canada, India, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Melanesia, as well as in other countries around the world where English is used as a lingua franca;
- Accommodates the needs of both native and non-native speakers of English, with helpful features such as a glossary of key terms and questions to guide the reader through the book;
- Includes activity sections and discussion points to help students engage with the text;
- Is accompanied by e-resources which include further activities and additional coverage of points of interest in the book.
Written by an experienced teacher and author, this book is an essential course textbook for any module on the history of English and the perfect accompaniment to the author's own The History of Early English.
List of contents
1. Into the middle of things
2. 'Ascertaining English': the eighteenth century
3. The nineteenth century: English, standard and non-standard
4 A short interlude about variety
5. 'A tongue of small reach': England
6. 'A tongue of small reach': Wales, Scotland, Ireland
7. 'Immigrants goes to America': English in North America
8. A world apart?: Australia and New Zealand
9. Wider still and wider
10. Pidgins, Creoles, and Tok Pisin: a 'ghastly mutilated English'?
11. Worldwide
12. English: a language with a past . . . and a future?
Glossary
References
Index
About the author
Keith Johnson is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics and Language Education in the Department of Linguistics and English Language, University of Lancaster, UK.
Summary
This book provides an accessible and student-friendly introduction to the history of the English language from the beginning of the eighteenth century up until the present day. Taking an activity-based approach, this text ensures that students learn by engaging with the fascinating evolution of this language rather than by simply reading about it.
Report
'For both students and teachers, Keith Johnson's History of Late Modern Englishes is a godsend. The book adopts a refreshingly modern, sociolinguistic approach to its subject matter, exploring English in all its varieties. Like its masterful predecessor The History of Early English, it is written in an accessible and entertaining way, and its well-constructed and engaging exercises encourage students to make discoveries about English for themselves. A "must" for my course reading list!'
David Hornsby, University of Kent, UK
'While scholarly discussions of LModE have grown considerably since the turn of the millennium, it has been much less frequent to come across student-centred discussions of what present-day Englishes owe to their historical past. By focussing on geographical variation across time, this book outlines some important ways in which English has changed over the last three centuries.'
Marina Dossena, University of Bergamo, Italy
