The first decade of the new millennium has witnessed tremendous challenges, changes and innovations in various disciplines of knowledge. The main reason for this, one may argue, is globalisation and the inevitable impact it has had on humanity in general, and on knowledge in particular. Its forceful impact has also given rise to a phenomenon known as glocalisation, which may be seen as its antithesis, to check the imbalance in knowledge transfer from the West.

The rise of these opposing forces has created new realities and given rise to issues of negotiations, appropriations as well as border-crossing phenomena in many areas of knowledge. Indeed, these are significant realities and issues which have been centre-staged in various academic forums, including those on language (linguistics and literature) and culture.

In the area of language, a millennium reality that has become a global concern is the status of the English language as a “global language”. No longer the exclusive property of the British or the Americans, the English language has transcended borders and developed into new hybrids or “glocal” forms after negotiating the local languages and cultures. This scenario which exemplifies language contact in action clearly demonstrates that linguistic negotiations, appropriations and indeed changes are not one-way. In addition, it also affects language use, pedagogy, identity, culture etc.  In this regard, where Asia is concerned, the effect and impact of English on local languages, and their linguistics and cultures are new realities that require further research and understanding.

Yet another millennium reality which requires close scrutiny is the rise in cross-disciplinary work especially in the field of linguistics and literature. As regards linguistics, specific areas such as Critical Discourse Analysis has defied borders and formed close associations with Media Studies in order to show how the language of the media distorts reality and reinforces certain prevailing assumptions of the world, those that pertain to gender, class, ethnicity and minority groups.

By the same token, literature is studied using ideas drawn from a number of critical theories. It is also no longer studied on its own but in tandem with Film and Cultural Studies. New ideas and perspectives that have been generated have enabled the exploration of refreshing themes such as the search for identity, the perils of ethnic politics and the complexities of nation formation, which also happen to be the central concerns of new writings in English in Asia. These realities and transformations  have also impacted the field of Translation and they require further investigation.
The new realities, changes and innovations discussed above provide the impetus for ICLLIC 2010. The conference hopes to convene academics, researchers and educators to deliberate and debate on emerging matters and approaches in Linguistics, Litera­ture and Culture, particularly in Asia, as well as their implications on research, theory and pedagogy.