This book aims to deconstruct the myths that are traditionally reproduced as factual accounts of the historical development of English, and to reveal new myths that are currently being constructed. Using concepts and interpretive sensibilities developed in the field of sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and sociocognitive linguistics over the past 40 years, the book unearths these myths and exposes their ideological roots. Based on the assumption that conventional histories of English are histories of standard English rather than histories of the varieties of English, he sets h ... More

This book aims to deconstruct the myths that are traditionally reproduced as factual accounts of the historical development of English, and to reveal new myths that are currently being constructed. Using concepts and interpretive sensibilities developed in the field of sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and sociocognitive linguistics over the past 40 years, the book unearths these myths and exposes their ideological roots. Based on the assumption that conventional histories of English are histories of standard English rather than histories of the varieties of English, he sets his goal as being not to construct an alternative discourse, but rather to offer alternative readings of the historical data. It defines what we mean by a linguistic ideology and shows how language myths, rather than simply being untruths about language, are derived from conceptual metaphors of language and are crucial in the formation of hegemonic discourses on language. He argues, in effect, that no discourse—a hegemonic discourse, an alternative discourse, or even a deconstructive discourse—can ever be free of ideology. The book argues that a naturalized discourse is always built on a foundation of myths, which are all too easily taken as true accounts, and is a call to study alternative ways in which the full range of “Englishes” may ultimately be accounted for historically. But the book also issues the warning that, whatever new histories are proposed, they, too, will ultimately need to undergo a thorough investigation with regard to the myths that may underlie them.