Margie Berns

English in the European Union

A consideration of the nature and use of the language in the EU in terms of Braj Kachrus model of the inner, outer, and expanding circles of world Englishes

In the presence of English. Media and European youth

The Presence of English Sociocultural, Acquisitional, and Media Dimensions.- English in Europe.- An Empirical Approach to the Presence of English.- Descriptive Findings on the Presence of English.- Determinants of Contact, Proficiency, and Attitudes.- English, Youth, and Media Environments.- In the Presence of English: A Resume After Step one of an International Study.

Catching up with Europe: Speakers and Functions of English in Hungary

In several studies it has been shown that, since the political and economic changes precipitated by the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989, English in the ‘new’ Hungary is in great demand and the number of its uses and users is expanding (e.g. Halasz, 1993; Medgyes, 1993; Petzold, 1994). This paper discusses the functional range of English and its penetration into Hungarian society and shows that in just a few years English has become an essential tool for modernization and economic development and a significant medium in the tourist and entertainment industries as well as education, and that need for the use of English in the workplace has had a major impact on its learning, especially in Budapest. The data is drawn from Petzolds comprehensive study of English in the capital city (1994). The authors offer an account of the sociolinguistic contexts of English in Hungary and provide insights into the reasons why Hungarians regard English proficiency as vital to their countrys efforts to catch up with its more prosperous neighbors to the west.

Applied linguistics: overview and history

Applied linguistics, an international and interdisciplinary field that encompass many aspects of language and its relationship with society, defies the traditional, taxonomic view of disciplinarity that seeks to draw clear and unambiguous boundaries. The historical section of this article provides an account of how this state of affairs came about and how the field developed as an area of study. The overview sections survey issues of concern and areas of interest to those who engage in the study of language problems that are relevant to the everyday lives of individuals, groups of individuals, or entire societies and cultures. Disciplinary challenges are also highlighted.

The use of English lexical items in German legal writings

This article reports on a study of the extent and nature of the use of English loanwords in the writing of German legal professionals. A variety of texts are examined, showing that although the use of English loans is limited, their use across texts is essential for serving various pragmatic functions. The study demonstrates the value of systematic genre-based studies in contributing to a general description of English loan use among speakers of German.

Applied Linguistics in Europe

In this article, some of the main developments in applied linguistic research in mainland Europe are described. Part of that research is linked to social changes that have taken place in Europe over the last 40 years. The research is discussed from three perspectives: language policy and planning, sociolinguistic aspects of multilingualism, and psycholinguistics aspects of multilingualism. Finally, some potential developments in the field are discussed.

The English Language Within the Media Worlds of European Youth

There are two ways to outline perspectives for cross-national research within this volume: a) papers on results of studies on a national level which could or should be replicated in other countries; b) papers on projects or project proposals which include a comparative dimension and are still in the process of applying for funding or looking for partners in other countries. Our presentation belongs to the latter category. We shall present a project proposal with the working title “The English Language in the Media Worlds of European Youth”; in addition to the theoretical framework of this project, we shall report first results of a pilot study in Germany.

Communicative Language Teaching

The term communicative language teaching identifies new pedagogical orientations that have grown out of the realization that knowledge of grammatical forms and structures alone does not adequately prepare learners for effective and appropriate use of the language they are learning. The inevitable outcome of increased attention to language use has been a proliferation of approaches to language teaching that claim to be communicative and of new terminology to refer to notions and concepts not addressed in previous form-oriented approaches. Understanding the nature of communicative language teaching and establishing a principled basis for its assessment depends upon familiarity with terms associated with it. Thus, the examination of communicative language teaching undertaken in this chapter begins with a review of the terms notion and function, and functional-notional syllabus.

Sociolinguistic Profiles: India, West Germany, and Japan

The preceding chapters focused on the nature of functional approaches to language study and three sociolinguistic concepts—communicative competence, intelligibility, and model—and how they can be used to gain insight into language use and pedagogy in nonnative contexts. This chapter considers three particular contexts in which English is learned and used as a second or foreign language—India, West Germany, and Japan. These countries are particularly interesting for a look at nonnative contexts of language learning and use since each can be associated with a distinct nonnative variety: English in India is an institutionalized variety of English; Japanese English represents a performance variety. English in West Germany represents a variety of English which is best placed on a continuum between a performance and institutionalized variety.

Functionally Based Communicative Approaches to Language Teaching

Functional linguistics serves as a perspective from which to gain insight into the key sociolinguistic concepts of communicative competence, intelligibility, and model, the nature of English language use in nonnative contexts, and the underlying framework of communicative approaches to language teaching. It further provides a theoretical basis for relating the practical concerns of materials and methodology design to learner needs and the sociocultural context in which the learning occurs. This link between theory and practice is achieved when materials identified as communicative are examined with respect to their functional basis.