Subject: english is an asian language conference

the macquarie library pty ltd , publishers of the macquarie dictionary , is undertaking a series of conferences throughout south - east asia in cooperation with local institutions and associations dealing with language and linguistics . conference perspective the conferences have the general title english is an asian language , a statement which is then discussed in the context of each country . publication of proceedings - first conference the proceedings of the first conference in the series , held in manila 2 - 3 august 1996 , are now available . price aud $ 20 , plus postage . please contact susan butler , publisher , macquarie dictionary , sue @ dict . mq . edu . au if you wish to purchase a copy . the conference it is our aim to : * assess the role that english is already playing and may play in the future in the government , economics , trade and education in south - east asia * analyse what impact the new englishes of the region might have in reflecting the culture of these language communities * assess the requirements for an english - language dictionary for this region . topics to be covered in relation to the english of each country : * history * pronunciation * lexical items * standardness , particularly in the areas of newspaper publishing , book publishing and education , with comments on the relative importance of standards derived from within the country and those derived externally * business english * english as influencing and influenced by local culture * the literature on the subject a broad range of participants will be invited - educators , writers and journalists , linguists , english language teachers , government representatives , publishers , newspaper editors . participants will be encouraged to discuss each topic , as the exchange of views is of great importance in establishing a generally accepted point of view . the first two conferences the first two conferences were held in manila on 2 - 3 august 1996 and in bangkok on 8 - 9 august 1996 . the proceedings of the manila conference have been published ( see above ) and the proceedings of the bangkok conference will be published late 1997 . keynote speaker the keynote speaker for the first two conferences was professor braj b kachru speaking on the theme of english is an asian language . prof . kachru is one of the foremost scholars in the field of world englishes ; he has pioneered , shaped , and defined this field of scholarly inquiry . his research on world englishes , the kashmiri language and literature , and theoretical and applied studies on language and society has resulted in more than 20 authored and edited volumes and more than 100 research papers , review articles , and reviews . he is a founder and coeditor of world englishes and series editor of english in the global context . he has held editorial positions in more than a dozen scholarly journals and is associate editor of the oxford companion to the english language and a contributor to the cambridge history of the english language . his many graduate students , now teaching in asia , africa , europe , and the united states , have made recognised contributions to various areas of sociolinguistic research . conference organisers de la salle university , manila ( prof . maria lourdes s bautista ) . language center , national institute of development administration ( nida ) , bangkok ( associate professor dr tuanchai tan - ngarmtrong ) . the macquarie library pty ltd , sydney ( susan butler ) . the next conference kuala lumpur , malaysia on 18-19 august 1997 . conference organisers malaysian association of modern languages ( president : datin halimah mohd said ) . prof . dato ' dr asmah haji omar , professor of malay linguistics / dean , faculty of languages and linguistics , university of malaya . susan butler , the macquarie library pty ltd . background information on susan butler susan butler is a member of the editorial committee of the macquarie dictionary , the first comprehensive documentation of australian english . since 1970 she has worked on the major dictionary , and the smaller versions which have been produced from it . she has also worked on the macquarie thesaurus , an entirely original thesaurus produced from the macquarie dictionary . in 1990 she worked on a review of the dictionary source material , the results of which were published in a book entitled the macquarie dictionary of new words . this material was then incorporated into the second edition of the macquarie dictionary published in november 1991 . susan is now publisher ( books ) and executive editor of the macquarie dictionary and as such is involved in the policy-making which influences the range of lexicographical projects currently undertaken by the macquarie library pty ltd . keynote speaker - bro . andrew gonzalez andrew gonzalez fsc , is a member of the la salle brothers of the philippines . he is currently president of de la salle university in the philippines . he holds a doctorate in linguistics from the university of california at berkeley and has attended various workshops and seminars in higher education management . besides being a member of the board of trustees of several colleges and universities in manila , he is a member of the komisyon sa wikang filipino ( commission on the filipino national language ) and chair of the technical panel on the humanities , the social sciences , and communications of the commission on higher education ( ched ) of the republic of the philippines . he has published extensively in the field of applied linguistics and sociolinguistics and on philipppine higher education . for further information on the kuala lumpur conference contact either datin halimah mohd said malaysian association of modern languages fakulti bahasa dan linguistik universiti malaya 50603 kuala lumpur malaysia tel + 60 3 755 5889 fax + 60 3 759 3594 or ms susan butler macquarie dictionary macquarie university nsw 2109 australia tel + 61 2 9850 9800 , fax + 61 2 9888 2984 email sue @ dict . mq . edu . au
