[ELTWeekly Volume 7, Issue 13 | June 15, 2015 | ISSN 0975-3036]
The methodical investigation into the ‘ideology’ of globalization would suggest that the early concept of ‘globalization’ was constituted around the scholarly consensus of English language being a global means of communication, representation, reception and comprehension. It has, therefore, been referred to and accepted as ‘world language’ – or as David Graddol (1997) puts it, ‘lingua franca of the modern era’. However, globalization of English has also raised certain questions of ‘legitimacy’ and ‘standardization’ of the language. Looking at this fundamental issue from an Indian perspective, it might rightly be questioned whether the multiple varieties of English in India, geopolitically consisting of 29 states, with 23 official languages and more than 1600 regional dialects,hasthe required ‘legitimacy’ or ‘standardization’ to identify itself collectively as Indian English.
In the Times of India article, “Indiaspeak : English is Our 2nd Language” (March 14, 2010), it was claimed that there are more Indians who speak English than any other language in India, with the sole exception of Hindi. English speakers in India outnumber those in all of Western Europe, not counting the United Kingdom. And interestingly, Indian English‐speakers are more than twice the UK’s population, with the users exceeding the number of 255 millions in the region.
However, most of these statistical figures fall short, if one neutrally examines the growth and development of India during the last decade. Due to the rapid growth in sectors like socio‐cultural work, education and research, media and entertainment, fashion, trade and commerce,the use of English has reached a new pinnacle. The academic fraternity, in India, needs to examine the forms and dynamics of the use of English language in all these sectors. Let’s investigate English Language Studies, Literary Studies, Linguistics, Stylistics, Contemporary Literary Theories, English Language Teaching, Testing and Evaluation, Multimedia and ELT, Translation Studies, etc. The Organizing Committee invites participation in all these areas.
The Organizing Committee of the proposed conference invites scholarly researched papers that examine the intersections of Language, Literature and Pedagogy and their sub‐disciplines with special reference to the Indian context. The primary focus of the proposed conference is to examine the new methodologies, theories, and sites of study that are emerging from this intersection.
Call for Proposals
The Board of Executive Directors of the Global Association of English Studies in collaboration with the H M Patel Institute of English Training and Research are pleased to issue this Call for Papers for a National Conference on English in India : Language, Literature and Pedagogy. The proposed Conference will be held on July 16 ‐ 17, 2015 at the H M Patel Institute of English Training and Research, affiliated to the Sardar Patel University, VallabhVidyanagar, Anand, Gujarat, India.
We invite proposals for paper presentations, workshops/interactive sessions, and poster exhibitions.Given below are the various types of Abstracts that the Organizing Committee will accept.
TYPES OF PROPOSALS
1. Table Sessions / Paper Presentation (15+5 minutes) : Interactive presentation/themed session focused on sharing, modeling, and discussing your proposed themed topic, while allowing for interaction among session participants
2. Interactive Workshop Sessions (40+10 minutes) : Best suited for teaching/sharing/demonstrating particular procedures, skills or techniques in the chosen field; academic research session focused on original research in higher education teaching and learning methods
3. All‐Conference Interactive Poster Sessions (2.5 hours) :Poster Presentation will facilitate presenting preliminary results of work in progress or for projects that lend themselves to visual displays and representations. Space will be provided by the Host Institution. You will use a 42×56 board to display your poster in a large room with others. All materials must be organized by the presenter(s).
For more information, please visit www.hmpenglish.com.