The modal system of English in its development provides an ideal perspective on language variation and change. Since the sociocultural and socio-historical situation in specific postcolonial communities promotes diversity among New Englishes, it is likely to also affect their modal systems. In… read more
To find empirical evidence for Schneider’s (2007) periodisation for the emergence of Hong Kong English, Evans (2014, 2015) scrutinised various historical documents, such as newspapers, council proceedings and jury lists. Taking the increasing use of the terms Hongkonger and Hongkong people during… read more
This paper presents a quantitative and qualitative investigation of the use of the modal verbs will and would in six New Englishes (Fiji, Indian, Singapore, Trinidadian, Jamaican and Bahamian English), with British English considered for comparison; will/would in their future use are also compared… read more
Although Sridhar and Sridhar pointed out as early as 1982 that the two linguistic fields of second language acquisition (SLA) and New English studies could benefit from each other, the gap between the two disciplines has never been closed. This article draws attention to some of the reasons why… read more
The outer circle varieties of English in Fiji, Samoa and the Cook Islands show similarities as well as differences, due among other things to the Melanesian and Polynesian substrate influence. Possible candidates would be a preference for conversion (to broom the room) or the special usage of… read more