A pioneering book on English for Peaceful Purposes

Francisco Gomes de Matos, Brazil

Francisco Gomes de Matos, an English language educator and applied peace linguist from Recife, Brazil. Currently President of the Board, Associacao Brasil America (www.abaweb.org). Professional interests: Peace Linguistics, Creativity in ELT. E-mail: fcgm@hotlink.com.br

2007 become a landmark in the still brief history of English for Peaceful Purposes, with the publication by U.K.-based ContinuumBooks of Patricia Friedrich´s Language, Negotiation and Peace. The use of English in Conflict Resolution (ISBN 978-08264-9373-6, X + 130 pp). Before the appearance of this book, a few articles had dealt with some dimensions of Peace Linguistics as applied to English Language Education (Gomes de Matos,1991,2002) or to Second Language Education in general (Crystal's speech,2004). Now, for the first time, a book-length treatment of a provocative universal issue is made available. Its author, a Faculty member of the Department of Languages, Cultures and History at Arizona State University, "argues that the growth of English(es) as lingua franca has the potential to foster closer bonds between communities, countries and continents" (backcover statement).

A 3-page Introduction is followed by 7 chapters:

1. Theories of peace and conflict and their relationship to language (14 p),
2. English around the world: varieties, users and uses (17 p.),
3. English as a lingua franca ( 15 p.),
4. English in the classroom: teaching empowerment through English (15 p.),
5. Linguistic rights and peace linguistics (16 p.),
6. The future of English: ecology of languages and peace (24 p.),
7. Making peace with English ( 5 p.).

There is a 3-page Glossary, a 5-page References section, and as an extra bonus for readers, an Appendix featuring the full text of The Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights. Also, a 4-page Author and Subject Index.

Having written a testimonial for this volume, may I exercise my right to quote from it :"Its author makes a courageous case for using language, and specifically English, for peaceful purposes (inter)nationally, making the book relevant to those researching and teaching languages, psychology, applied linguistics, and peace studies ". Implicit in that endorsement is the volume's relevance to all those who share a belief in/ commitment to humanised/humanising language education, as is the case with this magazine's readers.

In short, a must on the self of all teacher-/humanisers. Friedrich's work should prove inspiring to further research cross culturally/educationally/linguistically on a hitherto little probed dimension of Peaceful Language Use. May communicative peace be with you and your students.

References

Gomes de Matos, F. 1991. Using English for communicative peace. Braz-Tesol Newsletter, September, 1-2

Gomes de Matos, F. 2002 Teaching Vocabulary for Peace Education (11 Techniques), in ESL Magazine, August-September, 22-24

Crystal, David 2004 Creating a World of Languages. Opening speech at 10^th Linguapax Congress, Barcelona, 10 May

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