Translation techniques favoured by Tolkien in rendering Beowulf and other medieval poetry into modern English. J. R. R. Tolkien was a prolific translator, although most of his translation work was not actually published during his lifetime, as occurred with the greater part of his fiction. He never did any serious translation from modern foreign languages into English, but rather devoted himself to the task of turning Old English and Middle English poetry into something that could be readily understood by speakers of the modern idiom. His largest and best-known published translation is of the anonymous 14th Century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which was published posthumously with two other translations from Middle English in the volume Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Sir Orfeo (Allen & Unwin 1975). The translation of Middle English texts constitutes the bulk of his output in this field, both in the above volume and in the fragments that appear in his lectures and essays. However, his heart really lay in the older, pre-Norman form of the language, and particularly in the greatest piece of literature to come down to us from the Old English period, the epic poem Beowulf.

Research on language contact phenomena (language switching and mixing, borrowing) shows that in a multilingual setting people's choice of language(s) is governed not simply by the need to be understood. Other factors play a role. These include various forms of positioning: the language, dialect, accent a speaker chooses for an interaction consciously or unconsciously displays particular aspects of his or her actual or aspired identity. These aspects cover, for example, being (or not being) educated/religious/from a particular region or social grouping. They position the speaker in relation to the person being spoken to. They may also indicate to the addressee not only how the speaker perceives him or her (for example as someone with particular background or attributes) but also as someone with particular aspirations. In multilingual societies language choice in commercial signage carries out similar positioning in addition to giving information about products or services: being understood is not always the sign producer's only or chief consideration. He or she needs to trigger aspects of identity and aspiration that are likely to create a desire for whatever is being sold. In this paper we focus on how English is used in relation to other languages in signage, mainly commercial signage, in two multilingual cities that are the centres of an ongoing research project on bilingual and multilingual signage: Delhi and Cape Town.

A report on an interdisciplinary e-course experiment on language, literature and culture in the Indian Diaspora.

One of the rich potentials of the World Wide Web is to enable international and interdisciplinary projects by utilizing e-learning technologies. Further, contemporary students are used to structuring much of their public and private life and learning around the use of electronic technologies. Certainly, when learning, thinking and working are no longer solitary activities, then traditional notions of teaching must be redesigned throughout our educational institutions in order to meet the challenges of the communication age – language teaching and the humanities at our universities cannot be an. Since the classroom can transcend spatially limited locations, it can transform the ‘traditional scene of instruction […] into a joint venture involving many scholars, including our students as active researchers’.

An examination of a function of the second person pronoun frequently forgotten in pedagogical grammars of English.

A lawyer friend told me the following story about a court case in Hong Kong that he had taken part in. His client was in the witness box and was answering questions in Cantonese while an interpreter relayed his words in English to a judge who was not Chinese. At one point the opposing counsel put a point that was detrimental to the client's case and asked if he agreed with it. The translation of the reply was ‘you could say that’, which was understood by the court as indicating agreement. Of course, what he actually meant was ‘you (the counsel) could say that’ (i.e. ‘not me’), but it was understood as ‘you (people in general) could say that’ (i.e. ‘it is acceptable to say that’). In standard spoken English stress (as shown by the bold type above) and weak forms would normally disambiguate, but it seems the interpreter (a native speaker of Cantonese) gave each word equal stress, thus allowing for the unintended interpretation. I am pleased to report that this misunderstanding had no bearing on the outcome of the case, which was won by my friend's client.

The recognition and reception of the two major international varieties of English in Portugal.

English has become the predominant language of the globe and Portugal is no exception to this predominance. It is the language that Portuguese people mostly use in international settings, the idiom dominating youth culture, science and technology, and a skill generally required in the tertiary sector. Though proficiency in English is far from attained at a national level, it is a subject that has been taught from the fifth grade in Portuguese schools for almost thirty years and which was recently made compulsory in primary schools.

However, the presence of English in Portugal far antedates its use for international, professional and academic purposes and its elevation to an international, global or world (standard) language. This recent condition was prepared by a long history of contact with Britain and its varieties and by a more recent record of low-mediated contact with American English due to the influx of American mass culture.

A study of English in China's business context.

China's rise and its potential markets are attractive enough for companies worldwide to want to do business in and with this country. Recognizing the important role played by language and culture in international business, this paper will explore the functions of English as a language of international communication in the business context in China. In particular it examines the rise in English learning fever and how English is perceived, mainly in companies. Our analysis will be based on a survey of 59 foreign and Chinese companies in mainland China in 2007. The results show that in these companies English is perceived as a tool for international communication, better pay, better jobs and a window to the world.

An account of the need for appropriate language skills in a developing multilingual context.

Language issues in Southern Africa have always been marked by political struggle. In South Africa, these were sometimes violent, as with, for example, the 1976 Soweto uprisings, in which protests over the medium of education were prominent. One of the priorities of the first democratically elected government of 1994 was to democratise the situation by making eleven languages official, in contrast to the two prior to that, namely Afrikaans and English. In other Southern African countries, language issues have also been characterised by debates and struggles. A prime example is the decision by the Namibian government to make English the official language of the country, even though English had never even been a colonial language in Namibia. Another example is Lesotho, a former British protectorate, with two official languages, English and Sesotho. In the last two decades, there have been numerous debates about the status of English as a subject necessary for a pass in schools and as a prerequisite for admission to university. Kramsch's observation that ‘[l]inguistic wars are always also political and cultural wars’ captures the situation well. Language issues are still on many speakers' minds and influence their sense of self and identity. As Baugh observes, ‘[i]n societies like the United States and South Africa, where race and language development have strongly been influenced by racial strife, many students do not aspire to “talk like Whites”’.

The etymology of travel.

In the not too distant past there were really only two reasons why people travelled: to wage war and to conduct trade. And setting off on a journey for whatever purpose was frequently, if not always, an arduous task. In the 21st century, when we think nothing of getting on a plane and landing a few hours later on the other side of the world, it is perhaps difficult to appreciate what travel involved for our forebears. A brief time exploring the etymologies of the relevant vocabulary, however, soon leaves us in little doubt about the sheer hard slog getting from one place to another used to be.

Report on the inaugural conference of the International Society for the Linguistics of English (Freiburg, Germany, 8–11 October 2008)

I recently had a conversation with a colleague about students who make rude comments in class. Many of us in higher education have experienced a student's inappropriately disparaging comment like ‘This is boring/stupid/worthless/a waste of time/you fill in the blank.’ I remember how shocked I felt the first time this happened to me. ‘Jack’ walked into class 10 minutes late, dropped into a desk in the back of the room and let out an audible yawn. That was the extent of his participation in class that day. He promptly leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't start snoring. A few minutes later, after I instructed the class to read a short text individually, I tapped Jack on the shoulder. Startled, he looked at me with what can only be described as a glare. Five minutes later, his head was down on his desk, eyes closed. I woke him up again and his response was, ‘But English classes are so boring. They're a waste of time. I'm just stuck here until I pass the TOEFL.’

Unfortunately, I've now come to expect a few of these comments to crop up every semester. At the risk of sounding like an uncaring teacher, I'll admit to sometimes writing these students off, letting them make their own choices, even if that results in failing the class. However, in my more patient moments, I try to reason with the student. Occasionally I've even asked a student for some practical suggestions to improve the class. But I always wonder, is this really my responsibility? After all, I'm their teacher, not their mother.