English as a global

language for
business
Joshua Parker
8th November 2012
WHY LEARNING A GLOBAL LANGUAGE
IS IMPORTANT FOR BUSINESS…
 The quest for a global language
• Ludwig Lazaras Zamenhof
(right)
• Invented Esperanto in late
1870s/1880s
• Most successful constructed
language to date, but few
speakers (100,000 able to use
it)
• Other attempts have included
Ido and Interlingua. All have
failed to achieve their aim of
becoming a global, second
languge.
 The spread of English:
British and American varieties
 English in the world
• Native speakers: ≈ 375 million
• Foreign language speakers: up to 1 billion
• Total number of speakers almost 1.5 billion (≈
22% world population)
• Leading international language in maritime,
policing and emergency services, business and
academic conferences and tourism
 World Englishes
• English varies greatly across the world, and in many
cases has mixed with local languages
• This has produced strange dialects and expressions
native speakers would not understand, and many
mistranslations

• Chinglish (Chinese + English)

• Japlish (Japanese English). English used for
decorative or design purposes.
• Indian English: uses many old British terms
• Examples:
She is carrying. (She is pregnant)
Loose motion. (Diarrhoea)
to go marketing… (to go shopping…)
to prepone (Bring forward in time, ≠ postpone)
 Various mistranslations
At a Budapest zoo:
Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.

In an Acapulco hotel:
The manager has personally passed all the water served here.

In a doctor’s office in Rome:

Specialist in women and other diseases.

In a Rome laundry:
Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time.
 Online Language Population
• English: 26.8%
(2012)
565 million
users

• Chinese 24.2%

• Spanish 7.8%
Reasons English has become global
• Historical reasons (British
and American
imperialism)
• Internal political reasons
(e.g. South Sudan)
• External economic
reasons (USA…)
Reasons English has become global
• Intellectual reasons (over 80%
information stored in electronic retrieval
systems is in English)

• Entertainment reasons (music, culture,

advertising, broadcasting…)
 Linguistic features of English: Conversion

• Gives the language flexibility

Nouns  Verbs to bottle, to oil, to e-mail

Adjective  Verb to dirty, to empty
Adjective  Noun a natural, a final, a regular
Verb  Noun a cheat, a bore, a show-off
 Linguistic features of English:
nouns qualifying nouns

house fire alarm instruction manual software organization

 Lack of regulating body
• English also lacks a regulating body, unlike
many other world languages:
Spanish: Real Academia Española
French: L’Académie française
German: Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung
(Council for German Orthography), etc
• Language use is less prescriptive and therefore
it is easier for changes to become accepted by
speakers
 Globish, Simple English, etc
• Widespread use of English in international
meetings between non-natives
 New, simpler forms of English have emerged
for communication between non-natives
• No idioms
• No jargon
• Simpler sentences and grammatical structures
 Comparison
Standard English/Simple English
English
THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
(The Preamble)
We the People of the United States,
in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of Liberty
to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish
this Constitution
for the United States of America.
Simple English
The Introduction
We the people of the United States have made
this Constitution for many reasons:
We want to make our union of states
stronger and better.
We want to be sure there is justice for all
the people.
We want the people and the states to get
along peacefully.
We want to defend all of the states against
any enemies.
We want to make the U.S. a good place to
live.
We want to be sure that we (and the children
and grandchildren who come after) us will
always enjoy freedom.
That’s why we have agreed to this
Constitution for the United States of
America.
Language & Culture
Language is intimately
tied to culture and
context-bound thought
processes, and a person’s
native language may well
affect how he/she thinks (Boroditsky, 2001)

• Example:

English: I broke the vase.

Spanish: Se (me) rompió el florero.

• Language barrier + Culture barrier

 Cultural differences in business
• Way in which business is conducted
• Perception of time
Monochronic: USA, Canada, Northern Europe
Polychronic: Latin America, Asia
• Uncertainty avoidance and reluctance to
criticize
• Customs, beliefs and superstitions
Thank you for listening!

Joshua Parker