1)‘English is the global language’- we have examined why.

If English is your mother tongue, you may have mixed feelings- pride, and concern that it is changing.

If it is not your mother tongue, your mixed feelings may be because you might begrudge the effort required to
learn it- and annoyance that mother-tongue speakers have an advantage. And what about if the future of your
language was threatened by English.

What is a global language?

One that has a special role that is recognised in every country- especially where it is the mother tongue. But that
doesn’t mean global status- other countries must give it a special status within their communities.

How?

1. It becomes the official language of a country- English has this status in over 70 countries
2. It is given priority in a country’s foreign language teaching. English is the most widely taught as a foreign
language- in over 100 countries.

Because of the three-pronged development- of first language, second language and foreign-language speakers, it
is inevitable that a global language will come to be used by more people than any other language.

What makes a global language?

In short, power- economic, technological, and cultural.

Some have said that English is a global language because it is ‘easier to learn’ than other languages- (The British
Periodical the Athenaeum, 1848). Crystal refutes this- he says it is wholly due to power- especially political and
military. (Think colonialism). However, economic power must also come with political power. This has always
bene true, but especially so in 19th and 20th centuries, because:

 Global economic development supported by tech such a tv and radio

 Created massive multinational organisations
 Power of the press peaked, to be surpassed by broadcasting
 Mass entertainment
 Science and Technology

So English was in the right place at the right time! By the beginning of the 19 th century, Britain was the world’s
leading industrial and trading country, and the growth of USA spread English still further. Economics replaced
politics as the chief driving force, and the language behind the dollar was English.

Why do we need a global language?

To act as a lingua franca. This has led to pidgins, which combine elements of different languages- e.g., West Africa.
But most often, a language is accepted from outside the community because of the political, economic, or
religious influence of a foreign power.

The prospect that a lingua franca might he needed for the whole world emerged in the 1950s. The UN dates from
1945, and since then, many other institutions have emerged- the World Bank, UNESCO, and UNICEF etc.
Therefore around 190 countries are represented in single meeting places- as never before. In simple economic
terms, a lingua franca makes sense.

Therefore, the growth in international contacts has been largely the result of two separate developments: the
technology of modern communication, and the technology of air transportation. This has affected every nation in
the world. Interesting- the UN has gone from 51 member states in 1945 to 193 in 2022.

What are the dangers of a global language?

Possibly:

 The cultivation of an elite monolingual linguistic class

 Leads to inequality
 Laziness about learning other languages
 Danger that some people will celebrate one language’s success over others
  Linguistic death- the assimilation of one ethnic group by another can cause this ‘intellectual and social
tragedy.’

However, these are very speculative concerns. To address them:

 If proper attention is paid to language learning, issue of elitism and inequality disappears. Children are
born with an innate ability to be bilingual, and some two-thirds of the children of the world grow up in a
bilingual environment.
 There are clear signs of a growing awareness of the need to break away from the traditional monolingual
bias- demonstrated by the spread of activities around the European Year of Languages.
 Influential politicians such as the former secretary general of the commonwealth, Sir Sridrath Ramphal
have fostered fresh opinions about the importance of language learning.
 In the 1990s, a number of international organisations were formed to record endangered languages- e.g.,
The Foundation for Endangered Languages. However, the emergence of one language as global has only a
limited causal relationship to language death- e.g., the survival of Galician in Spain. And the emergence of
English as a truly global language has had the reverse effect- stimulating strong responses in support of a
local language- e.g., Welsh.
 Linguistic death occurs in areas where English has not had a history of significant presence- such as Latin
America, Russia, and China. It seems that a more deep-rooted process of globalisation is at work here.
Lysandrou and Lysandrou conclude:
If English can facilitate the process of universal dispossession and loss, so can it be turned around and
made to facilitate the contrary process of universal empowerment and gain.

Problems with linguistic elitism remain, however:

Some concerning statistics:

 A survey in 1996 reported that 90 per cent of businesses in Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and
Greece had an executive able to negotiate in another language, whereas only 38 per cent of British
companies had someone who could (Grant Thornton 2002).
 The UK-based Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research found that a third of British
exporters miss opportunities because of poor language skills.
 In response to the influence (or ‘injury’) of English, one of the healthiest languages, French, has tried to
protect itself by law: it is illegal in official contexts to use an English word where a French word already
exists- e.g., ordinateur for computer!

Could anything stop a global language?

If language dominance is a matter of political and especially economic dominance, then yes. But it’s unlikely-
there would have to be some cataclysmic event!

A more likely scenario is that an alternative method of communication could emerge which would eliminate the
need for a global language- e.g., an automatic translating machine- a distinct possibility, and already partially in
place, it will undoubtedly improve dramatically in the next 25-50 years. However, all the evidence suggests that
the position of English as a global language will become stronger. So- will the presence of a global language
eliminate the demand for translation services, or will the economics of automatic translation so undercut the cost
of global language learning that the latter will become redundant?

A Critical Era
It is impossible to make concrete predictions about the emergence of a global language- the growth has been
without precedent: it has happened within little more than a generation. Possibly, a global language will emerge
only once. However, while the signs points to English becoming the global lingua franca, it is not there yet- at
least 2/3 of the world do not use it, and in some parts of the world, e.g., the Soviet Union, it has a very limited
presence. Moreover, in some countries, increased resources are being devoted to maintaining the role of other
languages (such as the use of French in several countries in Africa).
2) Why English? The Historical Context
1- the geographical-historical answer: it started with the pioneering voyages to the Americas, Asia, and the
Antipodes, continuing with the 19th Century colonial developments in Africa and the South Pacific, and took a
significant further step when it was adopted in the mid-20th Century as an official or semi-official language in
many newly independent states.

2- the socio-cultural answer- people have come to depend on English for their economic and social wellbeing.

Origins
After it spread through England in the 5th Century, the first significant step in the progress of English as a global
language did not take place until the end of the 16th century. Between Queen Elizabeth 1st and 2nd , the numbers
of people speaking English increased from 5-7 million to some 250 million. Why?

America!
The first permanent settlement was in 1607, followed in 1620 by the first group of Puritans. By 1640, about
25,000 immigrants had come to the area. New shiploads of immigrants followed, and in the 1720s, 50,000 Irish
and Scots arrived. By the time independence was declared in 1776, around 1 in 7 was Scots/Irish. By the time of
the first census, in 1790, the population was around 4 million. A century later, after the opening up of the west,
the population numbered over 50 million.

The 19th Century saw a massive increase in immigration as people fled poverty, revolution, and famine in Europe-
by 1900, the population was just over 75 million. This had doubled by 1950. By the 2000 census, 215 million spoke
English as their mother tongue- almost 4 times as any other nation. Crystal suggests that English maintained
American unity at a time of remarkable cultural diversification.

Canada
The first context with English was as early as 1497, when John Cabot is thought to have reached Newfoundland. In
1776, after American independence, loyalist supporters of Britain left for Canada.

The Caribbean
Slavery to support the sugar plantations was started by the Spanish as early as 1517. The slave triangle- from
Europe to West Africa to the Caribbean meant that by slavery was abolished in 1865, there were over 4 million
former slaves in the country.

Australia and New Zealand

Captain Cook visited Australia in 1770, and within 20 years Britain had established its first penal colony in Sydney.
The population expanded rapidly through immigration. In New Zealand, the official colony was not established
until 1840, and again, the population expanded rapidly. Interestingly, there has been a stronger sense than the
USA of the historical relationship with Britain, and a greater sympathy for British values and institutions. But
Māori people form 10% of the population, and this has resulted in an increased use of Māori words in New
Zealand English.

South Africa
British involvement dates from 1795, during the Napoleonic wars. A policy of settlement was established in 1820.
Many Europeans came in search of diamonds, English was being used as a second language by speakers of
Afrikaans. It remains a minority language. However, after Apartheid, English began to be seen as the language of
protest and self-determination. It is likely to remain a lingua franca.

South Asia
In India, the numbers probably outrank the combined totals of speakers in the US and UK! Crystal suggests that
1/3 of the population is capable of holding a conversation in English.

Former Colonial Africa

South-east Asia and the South Pacific
A world view
3) Why English? The cultural foundation
Political developments
Access to Knowledge
Taken for granted

4) Why English? The cultural legacy

International relations
The Media
The press
Advertising
Broadcasting
Cinema
Popular music
International travel
International safety
Education
Communications
The right place at the right time

The future of global English

The rejection of English
Contrasting attitudes: the US situation
New Englishes
The linguistic character of new Englishes
Grammar
Vocabulary
Code-switching
Other domains
The future of English as a world language
An English family of languages?
A unique event?