Ideologies of English in Asia: an editorial

Abstract That English has spread in Asia is well-known, but this critical reflection, and the five contributions book review that we hereby introduce, contribute to rectifying relative absence sociology of language literature studies approaching ideologies practices specific Asian contexts from local perspectives. We are not alone; our inspections journal archives show scholars increasingly responding recent years. What special issue offers further diversity both authors cases, moreover draws attention immutable, binary structure underlying various globally-circulating discourses East West as part investigating how socially constructed East-West binaries interact with about other languages. It shifts fixity – versus diversity, extending Easts Wests contributors identify examine multiple, endogenous “imaginative geograph[ies]” (from Arif Dirlik’s [1996] “Chinese history question Orientalism”, History Theory 35(4): 97) through Orientalist ideologies. founds approach on a combination theory recursive Orientalism scholarship. This generative new useful sociolinguistic analyses. Having laid out theoretical extension, editorial then provides an overview issue’s contributions, which interacting languages sub-national scales including Korea, China, Japan, Tajikistan Pakistan.