Ahmar Mahboob
Encyclopedia
Introduction
Ahmar Mahboob was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and received his early training in English literature and linguistics from Karachi University. Ahmar earned his PhD at Indiana University, Bloomington, in 2003, with a dissertation on Status of nonnative EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
speakers as ESL teachers
Teachers
Teachers may refer to:* Teachers, people who provide schooling for pupils and students* Teachers , one of the five Ascension Gift Ministries* Teachers , a British sitcom* Teachers Teachers may refer to:* Teachers, people who provide schooling for pupils and students* Teachers (ministry), one of the...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Ahmar has worked in the areas of language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
policy development, pidgin
Pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. It is most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different from the language of the...
and creole language
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
s, NNEST
NNEST
NNEST or non-native English-speaking teachers is an acronym that refers to the growing body of English language teachers who speak English as a foreign or second language...
studies, English language acquisition, English language teaching and teacher education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, World Englishes
World Englishes
World Englishes refers to the emergence of localised or indigenised varieties of English, especially varieties that have developed in nations colonised by Great Britain or influenced by the United States...
, pragmatics, and issues surrounding minority languages in South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
. His recent work has focused on Pakistani English
Pakistani English
Pakistani English is the term used to describe the English language as spoken in Pakistan. Pakistani English is slightly different in respect to accent and spellings of some words.-History:...
and on languages of Pakistan. Ahmar is the Past President of Indiana TESOL and the Past Chair of the NNEST Caucus in TESOL International. Ahmar was also the convenor of the 2011 TESOL Convention in New Orleans. Ahmar along with Naomi Knight are the co-convenors and co-creators of the Free Linguistics Conference.
Ahmar has made a significant contribution to the Non-native English Speakers in TESOL (NNEST
NNEST
NNEST or non-native English-speaking teachers is an acronym that refers to the growing body of English language teachers who speak English as a foreign or second language...
) movement. George Braine, in referring to Ahmar's work writes: "Over the years, Ahmar Mahboob has made a lasting contribution to the nonnative speaker movement. His doctoral dissertation titled “Status of nonnative English-speaking teachers in the United States” was one of the first to explore the nonnative speaker issue in English language teaching, and he later became an energetic Chair of the Nonnative Speaker Caucus within the TESOL organization." In addition to his PhD research, Ahmar's book The NNEST Lens sets a new direction in NNEST studies. In his own words, "The NNEST lens is a lens of multilingualism, multinationalism, and multiculturalism through which NNESTs and NESTs — as classroom practitioners, researchers, and teacher educators — take diversity as a starting point in their understanding and practice of their profession."
Related to work on NNESTs, Ahmar has also been working on issues of race and religion in TESOL. Among other things, Ahmar introduced the notion of 'enracement'. For Ahmar, the verb enrace represents actions and negotiations through which we acquire our awareness of race. He writes that the "verb enrace does not only mean that we are enraced by others — that others cause us to construct our racial identity — but, also that we enrace others — that our actions, behaviors, and/or discourses lead to a (re)negotiation of other people’s racial awareness. This process of enracement is a result of our negotiations and interactions with people (both of our own race and other races) and is partly grounded in how other people view, experience, and/or stereotype our race and how we view, experience, and/or stereotype them."
Ahmar's recent research has focused on issues of appliability of linguistics. In his co-edited volume, Appliable Linguistics: Texts, contexts, and meanings, he introduces Appliable Linguistics as an approach to language that takes everyday real-life language related problems – both theoretical and practical – in diverse social, professional and academic contexts as a starting point and then develops and contributes to a theoretical model of language that can respond to and is appliable in the context. This approach focuses on the importance of theory and practice being interrelated in linguistics. He draws on work by M. A. K. Halliday
Michael Halliday
Michael Alexander Kirkwood Halliday is a British linguist who developed an internationally influential model of language, the systemic functional linguistic model. His grammatical descriptions go by the name of systemic functional grammar .-Biography:Halliday was born and raised in England...
as well as J R Martin in developing this framework.
Ahmar has also made considerable contributions to the study of World Englishes, and in particular Pakistani English
Pakistani English
Pakistani English is the term used to describe the English language as spoken in Pakistan. Pakistani English is slightly different in respect to accent and spellings of some words.-History:...
. His work on Pakistani English includes studies of the phonetics, phonology, lexis, morpholology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and discourse structure of Pakistani English. His more recent work on World Englishes focuses on World Englishes and identity, for example, see English as an Islamic Language.
More recently, Ahmar has been focusing on the relationship between World Englishes and Higher Education. He is specifically interested in understanding 'use' based variations in World Englishes (see for example: World Englishes and Higher Education).
Ahmar currently coordinates the MA program in Applied Linguistics at the University of Sydney.
In addition to academic work, Ahmar also writes poems and fiction. A sampling of his poetry can be found at: http://www.jpcs.in/admin/upload/484383035Three%20Poems.pdf and http://www.jpcs.in/admin/upload/1281263080Poems.pdf
A longer auto-biographical note about Ahmar is available at:
NNEST - Ahmar's interview
Language policy in Pakistan - Ahmar's interview
Publications
Some of Ahmar's edited volumes include:- Mahboob, A. & Knight, N. (2010) Appliable Linguistics: Texts, contexts, and meanings http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=157221&SubjectId=989&Subject2Id=872. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press. ISBN 978-1-4411-6415-5.
- Mahboob, A. (2010) The NNEST Lens: Nonnative English Speakers in TESOL. http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/The-NNEST-Lens--Non-Native-English-Speakers-in-TESOL1-4438-1910-7.htm Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press. ISBN 978-1-4438-1910-7.
- Mahboob, A. & Lipovsky, C. (2009) Studies in Applied Linguistics and Language Learning http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/Studies-in-Applied-Linguistics-and-Language-Learning1-4438-1239-0.htm. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press. ISBN 1-4438-1239-0.
- Mahboob, A. & Knight, N. (2008) Questioning Linguistics. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press. ISBN 978-1-84718-667-6.