Buying into English is a welcome contribution to the current debate on global English, countering the view that a globalized English functions as a neutral lingua franca by demonstrating how its specific value and meaning have changed in response to shifts in international relations. The complicated, often paradoxical shifts in the value that English has carried for the individuals in Prendergast's case studies illustrate the error in identifying English in any fixed way with either imperialism, the 'free' market, or political freedom.-- "Bruce Horner, University of Louisville"
Full of stories, large and small, about the cheapening of English in a country where people had once fetishized it, going to great lengths to learn it for themselves and their children under a regime that placed as many obstacles as possible in their path.-- "The Nation"
In this unique blend of personal reminiscence and social analysis, Catherine Prendergast examines the relationships among language learning, political power, capital investment, and individual advancement. Buying into English should be required reading for anyone concerned with English as a global language and with the ways of writing about our own encounters with a changing world.-- "Seth Lerer, Stanford University"
Raising serious sociolinguistic and social issues, Prendergast's book reads like an inspiring fiction.-- "World Englishes"
Timely, interesting, enjoyable and thought-provoking. An innovative analysis of many processes that have import across the European Union and in wider global frames.-- "Thomas M. Wilson, Binghamton University"