The topic of this seminar will be the forms, functions and politics of English as the most important global language, for better or worse. It will introduce you to current issues concerning both research topics and research methods, enabling you to carry out your own research projects. To begin with, we will look at recent changes in major varieties of English around the world. We will then tackle English as a link language in international contexts, such as Euro-English and English as a lingua franca (ELF). English as a contact language has also given rise to hybrid and grassroots Englishes which are spoken by more and more people around the globe and also feature on the internet. We will also discuss what the globalization of English means for teaching standards.