English is now a global phenomenon, no longer a bounded facility primarily serving territorially, culturally and socially well defined functions. The Routledge Companion to English Studies will re-define the discipline of English studies and provide an authoritative overview of this area. Taking into account the changing conceptualisations of English as a means of communication and as a curriculum subject, this companion considers both historical trajectories and contemporary perspectives whilst also showcasing the state-of-the-art contributions made by the more established components of English studies.
English has to be tuned to other languages, and different contributors within the Companion indicate this with reference to concepts such as multilingualism and polylingualism. The use of language (including English) in communication is also increasingly mediated by digital technology, and the Companion devotes a whole section to English in New Communicative Technologies, where a number of key authors in the field address issues such as Digital Literacies, Multimodal Literacies and Games and Broadcast Language. There is also a section on Education in light of the revisions currently occuring to the notion of "English" in light of more social, ethnographic and global perspectives.
This collection of thirty-four newly commissioned articles highlights new and under-explored dimensions of the field of English Studies, such as English as a lingua franca and multimodality to provide a comprehensive and upߝtoߝdate picture of the dynamic and diverse field of English studies and will be an invaluable text for researchers in this area.