Where East Looks West: Success in English in Goa and the Konkan Coast

Kurzon (English linguistics, Haifa U., Israel) investigates the success of speakers of Konkani, an Indian language spoken in Goa and adjacent areas, to learn English, as evidenced through consistently high scores on the TOEFL exam during the 1990s. The author first considers the historical and sociological background to the linguistic landscape of India in general, and of Goa and other Konkani-speaking areas on the west coast of India. He then reports findings from a small field study of some 300 students, exploring attitudes toward specific languages and the use of languages. Distributed by UTP Distribution. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR