African skilled migrants and their circular and return migration strategies have received relatively little attention in the literature, with the previous focus of much African migration literature being on the net loss of skills to countries with developed economies in the global north. This article considers 13 interviews with African skilled…

This article recounts the lived experience of a Rwandan English teacher's journey from his village to international opportunities for scholarship and work, enabled by his agency in navigating the country's changing linguistic landscape. Using the narrative inquiry research method, the study uncovers an insider's perspective on Rwanda's switch from…

This paper aims to establish that globalised social and linguistic changes have a more complicated impact on local behaviours and attitudes than is believed. Based on statistical analysis of nationally representative surveys in Japan, the paper presents evidence against the following two propositions: (1) globalisation increases local demand for…

This article analyses the labour and social trajectories of seven multilingual and well-educated young men from Africa in the Barcelona area (Catalonia, Spain) over a 5-year period. Our data consist of life history interviews combined with ethnographic observations in a settlement non-governmental organisation (NGO). We adopt a critical…

This study explores the experiences of a culturally and linguistically diverse group of immigrant adult students as they attended a 12-week employment preparation course for newcomers to Canada. The main aim of the course was to equip the immigrants with knowledge and skills, including English for employment purposes, which are necessary to be…

While skilled migrants make influential contributions to development through remitting cash and exchanging knowledge, we argue for greater scrutiny of the role of language in the so-called "migration-development nexus". Noting the transnational context within which the everyday life of many migrants proceeds, we develop a broader reading…

This is a comparative study of English language education in Japan and Singapore and the role English plays in both countries. English language education in Japan has not been very effective. Although the communicative approach to teaching English was introduced in the 1980s, schools still use the grammar-translation method and most Japanese do…

Globalisation and increased patterns of immigration have turned workplace interactions to arenas for intercultural communication entailing negotiation of identity, membership and "social capital". For many newcomer immigrants, this happens in an additional language and culture--English. This paper presents interaction experiences of four…

This article discusses how in South Korea, English-medium international schools, initially established to educate foreign residents, have recently transformed themselves into private providers of global education for South Koreans. The article explains the social, economic and political circumstances under which the South Korean government has…

This study examines the influence of English language usage and international media on the strength of either national or global identity. The regression analysis of 354 responses reveals that individuals who studied at universities that use English as a medium of instruction show significant differences in the extent to which they embrace a…