Kachru, Braj B. (1932–2016)

This entry highlights the life and work of Professor Braj B. Kachru, who, together with Professor Yamuna Kachru and Larry E. Smith, was largely responsible for the creation and development of the world Englishes subdiscipline in contemporary linguistics. Kachru's intellectual interests included both English studies and South Asian linguistics, and encompassed such diverse topics as bilingualism and multilingualism, code‐mixing and code‐switching, cultural debates, language contact, literary studies, postcolonial theory, second language acquisition, and sociolinguistics. Together with Professor Larry E. Smith, of the East‐West Center in Hawai'i, Kachru co‐founded the World Englishes journal and the International Association for World Englishes (IAWE).