English as local designs: decolonial translanguaging and transcultural communication

Ishikawa, Tomokazu and Baker, Will (2025) English as local designs: decolonial translanguaging and transcultural communication. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies. (doi:10.1080/15427587.2025.2549343).

Record type: Article

Abstract

English has spread from the traditional Anglophone to the post-colonial world, and further to globalized networks. Nevertheless, the colonial legacy of linking English to the monolingualist, native standards of a few national varieties in the Global North continues to thrive even in regions that have never been directly colonized. This conceptual article highlights the need to reimagine English as a variable resource to bridge linguistic and cultural complexity in each local interaction. More precisely, the authors locate English in currently ubiquitous translingual and transcultural settings, critique colonial approaches to English as a universal Global-Northern product underpinned by a methodological nationalism, and propose decolonizing English to match multilinguals’ daily translingual and transcultural practices. Drawing on English as a lingua franca (ELF), translanguaging, transcultural studies, and examples from online platforms, the article highlights the potential for multilingual users of English to exercise their full agency to defy the symbolic power of colonial ideologies, as well as the importance for researchers, educators, and policy makers to move toward decolonial transformation in conceptualizing English.

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