This book examines ways to understand the cultural and political implications of the spread of the English language. It explains how English has developed as an international language by examining its colonial origins, the connections to linguistics and applied linguistics and the relationship to the global spread of teaching practices. It offers a critical approach, developing an alternative understanding of English, suggesting that it can never be removed from the social, cultural, economic or political contexts in which it is used.

Acknowledgments Author's Acknowledgements Acknowledgments Publisher's Acknowledgements; Chapter 1 The world in English; Chapter 2 Discourse and dependency in a shifting world; Chapter 3 English and colonialism; Chapter 4 Spreading the word/disciplining the language; Chapter 5 ELT from development aid to global commodity; Chapter 6 The worldliness of English in Malaysia; Chapter 7 The worldliness of English in Singapore; Chapter 8 Writing back; Chapter 9 Towards a critical pedagogy for teaching English as a worldly language;