Entanglements

Entanglements

Between Decolonial and Southernizing Linguistics

$49.95

Publication Date: 12th August 2025

This book explores the ways in which language is understood, and how linguistic theories – and the idea of language as an object – fail to represent a reality that is inherently multi- and trans-. It offers a glimpse of a decolonial linguistics that centres entanglement – between the North and South and between the personal and the theoretical.

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This book explores the ways in which language is understood, and how linguistic theories – and the idea of language as an object – fail to represent a reality that is inherently multi- and trans-. It offers a glimpse of a decolonial linguistics that centres entanglement – between the North and South and between the personal and the theoretical.

Read More
Description

This book explores the ways in which language is understood in diverse contexts, and how linguistic theories – and the idea of language as an object – fail to represent a reality that is inherently multi- and trans-. The chapters tease out the way that an understanding of language as a social practice, and the central role of the speaker(s) and their repertoire, allows for a more nuanced interpretation of language in contexts ranging from English as an international ‘neutral’ language in research and teaching, to the importance of life trajectories and multilingualism in the development of theoretical perspectives. The book offers a glimpse of a decolonial linguistics that recognizes the importance of entanglement – between languages, between the North and South and between the personal and the theoretical.

Details
  • Price: $49.95
  • Pages: 278
  • Publisher: Channel View Publications
  • Imprint: Multilingual Matters
  • Series: Global Forum on Southern Epistemologies
  • Publication Date: 12th August 2025
  • Trim Size: 6.85 x 9.65 in
  • ISBN: 9781836681090
  • Format: Paperback
  • BISACs:
    LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General
Author Bio

Sinfree Makoni is a Professor in Applied Linguistics and African Studies, Director of African Studies and Interim Director of the Africana Research Centre at Pennsylvania State University, USA. He holds Extraordinary Professorship, Visiting Professor and Researcher positions at several South African institutions: North-West University, Nelson Mandela University, University of the Western Cape and University of Zululand.

Unyierie Idem is a Professor in the Academic ESL Department, Holyoke Community College, USA.

Edwin Appah Dartey is a PhD candidate in the Department of Applied Linguistics and the African Studies Program at Pennsylvania State University, USA. His research interests include language policy and planning, multilingualism and southern epistemologies. Edwin's recent works have appeared in the Journal of English for Specific Purposes, Current Issues in Language Planning and the International Journal of Multilingualism. 

Bassey E. Antia is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. His teaching and/or research interests span multilingualism (in higher education), language policy, terminology and decolonial approaches to sociolinguistics. He is co-editor with Sinfree Makoni of Southernizing Sociolinguistics: Colonialism, Racism and Patriarchy in Language in the Global South (Routledge, 2023).

Table of Contents

Contributors

Cécile Vigouroux: Foreword 

Sinfree Makoni, Unyierie Idem, Edwin Dartey and Bassey Antia: Introduction: Political and Linguistic Entanglements

Chapter 1. Sinfree Makoni and Henry Widdowson: In Conversation  

Chapter 2. Lynn Mario de Souza: Southernizing Linguistics

Chapter 3. Ofelia García, Ricardo Otheguy and Sinfree Makoni: In Conversation

Chapter 4. Susan Gal and Judith Irvine: Signs of Difference: A Conversation

Chapter 5. Joseph Errington: Living with Lingua Francas: English in Indonesia and Indonesian

Chapter 6. Stephanie Rudwick: Southernizing the Study of English as a Lingua Franca

Chapter 7. Ellen Hurst: African Youth Language Research: Stylects and Decolonial Practice                

Chapter 8. Rachel Wicaksono: Ontologies of English: In Applied Linguistics, TESOL and Beyond

Chapter 9. Mary Louise Pratt: Epilogue 

Chapter 10. Yecid Ortega: Palabras Finales

Index

This book explores the ways in which language is understood in diverse contexts, and how linguistic theories – and the idea of language as an object – fail to represent a reality that is inherently multi- and trans-. The chapters tease out the way that an understanding of language as a social practice, and the central role of the speaker(s) and their repertoire, allows for a more nuanced interpretation of language in contexts ranging from English as an international ‘neutral’ language in research and teaching, to the importance of life trajectories and multilingualism in the development of theoretical perspectives. The book offers a glimpse of a decolonial linguistics that recognizes the importance of entanglement – between languages, between the North and South and between the personal and the theoretical.

  • Price: $49.95
  • Pages: 278
  • Publisher: Channel View Publications
  • Imprint: Multilingual Matters
  • Series: Global Forum on Southern Epistemologies
  • Publication Date: 12th August 2025
  • Trim Size: 6.85 x 9.65 in
  • ISBN: 9781836681090
  • Format: Paperback
  • BISACs:
    LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General

Sinfree Makoni is a Professor in Applied Linguistics and African Studies, Director of African Studies and Interim Director of the Africana Research Centre at Pennsylvania State University, USA. He holds Extraordinary Professorship, Visiting Professor and Researcher positions at several South African institutions: North-West University, Nelson Mandela University, University of the Western Cape and University of Zululand.

Unyierie Idem is a Professor in the Academic ESL Department, Holyoke Community College, USA.

Edwin Appah Dartey is a PhD candidate in the Department of Applied Linguistics and the African Studies Program at Pennsylvania State University, USA. His research interests include language policy and planning, multilingualism and southern epistemologies. Edwin's recent works have appeared in the Journal of English for Specific Purposes, Current Issues in Language Planning and the International Journal of Multilingualism. 

Bassey E. Antia is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. His teaching and/or research interests span multilingualism (in higher education), language policy, terminology and decolonial approaches to sociolinguistics. He is co-editor with Sinfree Makoni of Southernizing Sociolinguistics: Colonialism, Racism and Patriarchy in Language in the Global South (Routledge, 2023).

Contributors

Cécile Vigouroux: Foreword 

Sinfree Makoni, Unyierie Idem, Edwin Dartey and Bassey Antia: Introduction: Political and Linguistic Entanglements

Chapter 1. Sinfree Makoni and Henry Widdowson: In Conversation  

Chapter 2. Lynn Mario de Souza: Southernizing Linguistics

Chapter 3. Ofelia García, Ricardo Otheguy and Sinfree Makoni: In Conversation

Chapter 4. Susan Gal and Judith Irvine: Signs of Difference: A Conversation

Chapter 5. Joseph Errington: Living with Lingua Francas: English in Indonesia and Indonesian

Chapter 6. Stephanie Rudwick: Southernizing the Study of English as a Lingua Franca

Chapter 7. Ellen Hurst: African Youth Language Research: Stylects and Decolonial Practice                

Chapter 8. Rachel Wicaksono: Ontologies of English: In Applied Linguistics, TESOL and Beyond

Chapter 9. Mary Louise Pratt: Epilogue 

Chapter 10. Yecid Ortega: Palabras Finales

Index