The importance of English both as a link language, a means of communication and as a medium of instruction has been steadily growing since Independence, so that the total number of learners of English in India today would easily exceed the total populations of many countries of Europe. Moreover, we have now more speakers of English in India than in Britain.
Learning a language is different from learning about a language, but to acquire proficiency in a language at all the levels of listening, speaking, reading and writing, and an ability to express both functional and conceptual meaning it is not enough to know the language. However, since natural language use is richly variegated it is only when a good command of the language has been acquired that the learner can proceed to develop his personal linguistic repertoire through a knowledge of how a language works. A student of literature must also know how to apply the insights of linguistics to the appreciation of literature.
Thirty essays that constitute this volume explore in-depth various aspects of the English language, English Language Teaching, functional, notional and communicative approaches to material production and syllabus design, different kinds of English, different uses of English in literary works, application of linguistic theories to the study of literature, translation and semantics.
Teachers and students who are engaged in teaching/learning the English language, ELT, Linguistics and Applied Linguistics will find the book extremely valuable and anybody interested in these area will also find the book quite interesting.
Mohit K. Ray, a full Professor since 1982, is one of the senior-most Professors in the country. He has published three books and a large number of research papers in scholarly journals in India and abroad, which reflect his wide range of scholarship including Criticism, Comparative Literature, New Literatures, Canonical Literature, Comparative Poetics and Translation Studies.
Professor Ray has attended and chaired sessions as an invited participant in many international Conferences, Seminars, and Colloquia held in different parts of the globe—England, France, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Estonia, America, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, etc.
Professor Ray has studied several languages including Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic, French, German, etc.
He has edited several anthologies of critical studies, and edits three research journals.
Professor Ray is a distinguished member of many international bodies including Association Internationale de Littérature Compareé, Paris, and Association Internationale des Critiques Littéraires, Paris.
Professor Ray had also done a course in ELT at the Centre for Applied Language Studies, University of Reading, U.K.
