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Chapter 4: A Global Language

English Now
 400-500 m. people = L1
 150-100m= L2 (70 countries)
 500-1000 m. = EFL (100 countries)
 It is the official language in 70 countries
 1 billion learners of English including
beginners
 1500-2000m. Speakers could communicate in
English
 One third of the world’s population can
communicate in English
English Now
 English is the Working Language in the UN
(192 members) instead of translation
 Number of L1 speakers is decreasing and L2
speakers is increasing.
 The ratio of native to non-native speakers of
English is 1 : 4
The ratio of native to non-native
speakers of English is 1 : 4
 Learning points for this unit

 The main learning points include:

 The political, technological, economic and
cultural factors that are responsible for
English becoming a global language.
 The interconnectedness of processes of
globalization and the spread of English.
 Arguments about the future of the
language, both in terms of its global status
and the forms it is likely to take.
The Recency of World English

 A language becomes a global language

when it develops a 'special role' that is
recognized in every country. This special
role is present with English because of the
following:
The Recency of World English
1. It's the first language of USA, Canada, Britain,
Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South
Africa (400-500 million people). If pidgin and
Creole are considered varieties of English
then their speakers would be included in this
category but if they are considered separate
languages, on grounds of mutual
unintelligibility or sociopolitical identity or
both, then this number will be excluded and
the lower total would be acceptable.
The Recency of World English
2. It is the official language and medium of
communication, i.e. government, laws,
broadcasting, the press and the
educational system in about 70 countries,
such as Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, India,
Singapore and Vanuatu
The Recency of World English
3. English is the foreign language, no official status,
which the children meet in school and adult
education in over 100 countries in Europe, Asia,
North Africa and Latin America. In this category
fluency is an important criterion.Those who
speak English as native speakers would produce a
small figure, whereas including every beginner
would produce a relatively large one. It was
reported by the British Council (1997) that a
billion (one thousand million) people learn English
as a foreign language; including all learners from
beginners to advanced.
 Global English
 The total number of those who could
communicate in English range between is 1500
and 2000 million speakers from all sources
(Braddol, 2006).That is to say that approximately
one in three of the world's population can
communicate to a useful level in English.
 This has acquired English its global status at the
twenty-first century. English was also used as a
lingua franca since the 1950s. In the United
Nations it had only 51 member states when it
began in 1952, but now it has 192 members. This
required a 'working language' for communication
as an alternative to translation. English occupied
this role.
 Global English
 There are, however, issues that should be kept
into consideration concerning the above facts of
the global status of English. First, although a third
of the world population is capable of using English
for communication, still there are two third who
could not. The situation now is that the
population growth in areas where English is a
second language is about twice than in areas
where it is a first language and is increasing.
Graddol (1999) suggests that the proportion of
the world's population who have English as a first
language will decline from over 8% in 1950 to less
than 5% in 2050.The situation is unprecedented
for a world language.
Explanation for the emergence
of world English:
 What are the reasons that lead to the emergence of
English as the leading global language in today's world?
 A weak argument says that English acquired an
international status because of the simplicity of the
language, lack of inflectional endings, absence of
grammatical gender, etc. This argument ignores other
complex areas, e.g. syntactic, lexical and stylistic
complexity and irregular spelling. Yet a language
becomes a world language for extrinsic reasons only,
not intrinsic reasons that are relevant to the language
itself. English has acquired this status due to the
POWER of the people who speak it; political
(military), technological, economic and cultural power.
Explanation for the emergence
of world English
 Political power is seen in the form of colonialism that spread
English around the world since the 16th c. so that by the 19th
c. it has become the language on which the sun does not set
(Quirk, 1985).
 Technological power in the Industrial Revolution of the 17th
and 18th c.
 Economic power in the 19th c. of the United States which
even exceeded Britain's as the population grew.
 Cultural power in the 20th c. manifested in many aspects in
life especially of American influence.
Several domains can be identified within which English has
become pre-eminent in this way which induced people to
adopt English as a medium of communication, either for
internal or external purposes:
 Domains where English is the
medium of Communication
1. Politics

 English became a world language because

of the growth of the British Empire, which
continued till the 20th c. The League of
Nations and ASEAN (Association of
South East Asian nations) helped in
proclaiming English as their language of
communication and publications.
 Domains where English is the
medium of Communication
2. Economics
19th c. witnessed the rise of Britain as a leading industrial and
trading nation. The population growth, 5 m. in 1700 doubled
by 1800, also helped in the spread of English. No country
could equal the economic growth of Britain in the 19th c.
with gross national product rising at 2% per year.
 Britain was the workshop of the world in the production of
textiles and in mining.
 Leading scientists and technologists during the Industrial
Revolution worked in English.
 English became a medium of learning, international banking
resulting in London and New York becoming investment
capitals of the world.
The resulting 'economic imperialism' brought a fresh
dimension to the balance of linguistic power.
 Domains where English is the
medium of Communication
3. The Press
 English became an important medium of the press for
nearly 400 years. New printing technology, mass
production and transportation gave another boast to
the English medium.
 Today about third of the world's newspapers are
published in English.
 By 1870, Reuters, news agency based in London,
acquired news monopolies than any of its continental
competitors.
 In 1856, the launching of New York associated
press resulted in the majority of the information
transmitted via telegraph wires was in English.
 Domains where English is the
medium of Communication
4. Advertising

 By the end of 19th c. advertisements in publication

dramatically increased especially in more industrialized
countries. Mass production and flow of goods fostered
competition, consumer purchasing power was growing
and new printing techniques provided fresh display
possibilities.
 2/3 of newspaper especially in USA was devoted to
advertising. An international market grew; the 'outdoor
media' began to travel to the world with English as the
language of advertisement.
 America owned 27 of the 30 world's top advertising
agencies.
 Domains where English is the
medium of Communication
5. Broadcasting
 Radio telecommunication started by the invention of wireless
telegraph by Marconi in 1895. By 1918, wireless signals of telegraph
code signals crossed the Atlantic Ocean reaching Australia.
 English was the first language to be transmitted by radio. The first
commercial radio station in Pennsylvania, USA, broadcasted its first
programme in 1920 and there were over 500 broadcasting stations
licensed in the USA. Public TV developed twenty years later.
 These media means influenced the growth of world
English. BBC World Service and Voice of America were worldwide
broadcasted. After the Second World War several countries; Soviet
Union, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and
Germany, launched English-language radio programmes.
 Domains where English is the
medium of Communication
6. Motion Pictures

 The new technologies following the discovery of

electrical power altered the nature of home and public
entertainment. The technology of this industry was
carried out in Europe and America during the 19th c. After
First World War the dominance shifted from England and
France to America.
 From 1915 the emergence of the feature film, the star
system, the movie industrialist and the grand studio, all
based in Hollywood, California. As a result, when sound
was added to the technology in the late 1920s it was
spoken in English which then dominated the movie world.
 About 80% of all feature films are in English.
 Domains where English is the
medium of Communication
7. Popular Music
 The recording industry was the second entertainment technology
after the cinema, emerging in the 19th c. Here again English was the
dominant language. In 1877, Edison devised the phonograph, the
first machine that could record and reproduce sound and quotes in
English were the first to be recorded.
 All the major recording companies in popular music had English-
language origins.
 Jazz, with the development of the blues and many other genres
were almost entirely in English.
 Pop groups, Elvis Presley and the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, so
famous worldwide, mainly sang in English.
 Pop music was the incompatible source of spreading English
language around the youth of the world so rapidly and immensely.
 Domains where English is the
medium of Communication
8. International travel and safety
 English language is the main mediating language in
international travel; package holidays, business
meetings, academic conferences, international
conventions, community rallies, sporting occasions,
military occupations and other 'official' gatherings in
the domains of transportation and accommodation.
 Safety instructions on international flights and sailings,
information about emergency procedures in hotels,
and directions to major locations are now
increasingly in English alongside local languages.
 English has become the international language of the
sea and air (Seaspeak and Airspeak).
 Domains where English is the
medium of Communication
9. Education

 English is the medium of great deal of the world's

knowledge, e.g. science, technology and business
education.
 English has become the official language or chief foreign
language in schools for many countries since 1960s.
 Advanced courses in The Netherlands, for example, are
widely taught in English.
 The English language teaching (ELT) business has
become one of the major growth industries around the
world in the past half century.
 Several examples of English grammars, e.g. Lindley
Murray, are translated into other languages.
 Domains where English is the
medium of Communication
10. Communications

 The postal and telephone systems and the electronic networks

deal directly with English which acquired the status of an
international language.
 3/4 of the world's mail is in English.
 The Internet's language is English; when people in other countries
began to form links with this network, it was essential for them to
use English. At the turn of the century, 70% of usage at least of the
World Wide Web was in English. By 2003, less than half the host
servers in the world were in English-speaking countries.
 A similar predominance for English has also been observed in social
networking forums and microblogging sites like Twitter.
 There is more high-quality content on the internet in English than
in other languages with higher number of hits than on other non-
English sites.
 Domains where English is the
medium of Communication
10. Communications pp. 163-164
 English and Globalization

 All the above factors have contributed to

the emergence of English as a world
language. These are examples of social
processes which can be grouped together
under the term globalization.
 Reading A: English & Linguistic
Globalization

 Globalization is defined as 'the process by

which businesses or other organizations
develop international influence or start
operation on an international scale, widely
considered to be at the expense of
national identity'
(The Oxford English Dictionary)
 Reading A: English & Linguistic
Globalization

 The positive viewers look at globalization

from a neoliberal perspective as a natural
stage in the history of capitalism and thus a
positive development in the social
organization of the world. The ability to
trade freely across the world, taps new
markets, takes advantage of cheap foreign
labor and enhances money-making capacities
of companies.
 Reading A: English & Linguistic
Globalization
 The negative viewers, anti-globalization advocates, see globalization
as having destructive effects on societies and it leads to
CULTURAL HOMOGENEITY: that the cultural choices of the
dominant countries (especially USA) are spreading at the expense of
local or indigenous cultural identities, and that there is a 'flattening
out' of the rich diversity of human cultures.

 Globalization in this sense is similar to powerful corporations and

countries exploiting resources and workforces across the globe,
while simultaneously imposing a bland and standardized cultural
form on different local traditions. McDonald's outlets and Coca-
Cola advertisements are seen as emblems of this cultural
imposition.
 In terms of language-related issues, globalization highlights the way
large and powerful languages (e.g. English) is spreading across the
globe at the expense of other smaller languages.
 Reading A: English & Linguistic
Globalization

 Interpretations of the globalization: The

effects of globalization are interpreted from
different perspectives. Some look at
globalization as commercial opportunities
with positive effects, while others look at the
damaging effects on 'traditional' cultures and
the increase of inequality around the world.
 Another interpretation looks at it as leading
to 'hybrid' cultures; where a mix of the
modern and the traditional, the local and the
imported which creates new cultural and
social practices.
 Reading A: English & Linguistic
Globalization

 'Glocalization' is a term introduced by

Robertson (1995). It is a blend of
globalization and localization- to describe
the way in which practices that spread
across the globe will be 'nativised' by local
cultures. There is mutual influence between
the inner circle language and culture, and
that of the outer circle and expanding circle
language practices who immigrate to English
speaking nations.
 Reading A: English & Linguistic
Globalization

 This increasing 'interconnectivity' is affecting the

way things operate in the world. An important
process of globalization is the way the new
technologies, especially communication and
transport, offer different ways of relating with
people across the world. It is now easier to
interact with someone on the opposite side of
the world, send information, money and goods
long distances in a short space of time.
 The world is, thus, 'shrinking' and becoming more
interconnected.These result in changes in social
organization. Society is no longer so 'local', but
instead people connect with different cultures
and communities on regular basis.
 Reading A: English & Linguistic
Globalization

 The second part of the article deals with the

role of the English language in this age of
globalization. The relation between language
and globalization is a two-way street.
 On the one hand, there is a need for a one
means of communication that transcends
national boundaries. It is important for
international business communication to
have a common working language.And
English has emerged as the language which
most readily fulfils this role.
 Reading A: English & Linguistic
Globalization

 On the other hand, the English language

itself is changing to adapt to the
circumstances in which it is used and the
different contexts it operates in. Language
contact results in new varieties of English
developing, which are influenced by the
linguistic and communicative practices of
the communities which use the language.
 Reading A: English & Linguistic
Globalization

 So there are two different forces at work

here- one which creates the need for a
common language which can be used
across national and cultural boundaries,
and another which results in continued
and greater diversity in the language.
The future of English as a world
language

 Will English continue to gain prominence

as a global language? Will the above
factors remain to privilege English or are
other languages likely to emerge as rival
forces on the global linguistic stage? And if
English does continue to spread, what will
the consequences be for its form and
shape?
The future of English as a world
language
 'To have learnt a language is immediately to have rights in it.
You may add to it, modify it, play with it, create in it, ignore
bits of it, as you will' (Crystal, 2012, p. 167). It is possible for a
linguistic fashion to start by a group of non-native learners,
or by those who speak a Creole or pidgin variety, which then
catches on among other speakers, for example, the
phenomenal spread of rapping and hip hop.
 As numbers grow and non-native speakers gain in national
and international prestige, usages which were previously
criticized as 'foreign' can be part of the standard educated
speech and may eventually appear in writing.
 For example, a new concord rule ('three person' rather than
'three people'), 'furnitures', 'he be running', can be correct
usages one day.
The future of English as a world
language
 This diversity in the language reveals political, social and
sociolinguistic issues.
 These new varieties of English start to acquire power and
prestige in their respective countries. Words become to be
used in the national press. They are adopted by first-language
speakers of English in the locality. For example, it has become
popular in New Zealand English to use Maori /ˈmaʊ.ri/
words (natives of New Zealand), especially the grammatical
feature of dropping the definite articles 'the' before the
people name 'Maori' itself.
 These local words begin to be used at the prestigious levels
of society: by politicians, religious leaders, socialites, pop
musicians and others. Using local words is not seen as
ignorant but may be even 'cool'.
The future of English as a world
language

 The next step is the move from national

to international levels. These important
users travel abroad and start using these
words in international gatherings which in
turn are used and accepted internationally
in an attempt to accepting features of
increasing diversity in English.
The future of English as a world
language
 Nowadays, New Englishes are becoming standardized, as
markers of educated regional identity.
 In multilingual settings as Malaysia and Singapore we
encounter varieties which bring elements of different
languages together (code-mixing) and make use of informal
features that would not be used in Standard British or
American English.
 However, many still view these usages negatively, e.g. Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong of Singapore said in his speech that
Singlish (a hybrid of English, Chinese and Malay) is a plea for
Singaporeans and they need to cut down on its usage and
maintain the use of Standard English if the country aims at
acquiring an international role. He said that the media and
popular television sitcoms help in spreading this new variety.
The future of English as a world
language
 The contemporary view, as presented in the National
Curriculum for England, is to maintain the importance of
Standard English while at the same time maintaining the value
of local accents and dialects. The intellectual basis for this
policy is the recognition of the fact that language has many
functions, and that the reason for the existence of Standard
English (to promote mutual intelligibility) is different from the
reason for the existence of local dialects (to promote local
identity). This also applies to Singlish since there is no conflict
between a standard variety of English and Singlish in
Singapore, as reasons for the existence of the former, to
permit Singaporeans of different linguistic backgrounds to
communicate with each other and with people abroad, are
different from the reasons for the emergence of the latter, to
provide a sense of local identity.
The future of English as a world
language

 If the people who use mixed varieties as

markers of their identity become more
influential, attitudes will change, and
usages will become more acceptable.
There are already over 350 living
languages that influenced the English
vocabulary. In the Oxford English
Dictionary there are over 250 words
from Malay.
An English family of languages?

 The future of world English is likely to be

one of increasing multi-dialectism, but
could this become multi-lingualism?
 Is English going to fragment into mutually
unintelligible varieties; into families of
discrete and mutually unintelligible
languages?
An English family of languages?

 Today we live in the proverbial global

village, where we have immediate access
to other languages and varieties of English
which has a strong centripetal and
standardizing effect. The pull imposed
for the need of identity could be
balanced by a pull imposed by the
need for intelligibility.
An English family of languages?

 There has been mutual unintelligibility also with intra-national

accents and dialects; e.g. Cockney (London), Geordie (Newcastle),
Scouse (Liverpool) and Glaswegian (Glasgow). The problem is
largely resolved if the speakers slow down.
 Also occupational varieties such as legal or scientific can cause
difficulty for understanding.
 The intelligibility criterion provided little support for an English
'language family'. It is an inadequate explanation, for example,
people from Norway, Sweden and Denmark speak different
languages but they mutually understand each other.
 To promote an autonomous language policy, two criteria need to
be satisfied: firstly, to have a community with a single mind about
the matter. Secondly, to have a community which has enough
political-economic power to make its decision and then it is
respected by outsiders with whom it is in regular contact.
An English family of languages?

 There are very few examples of English

generating varieties which are given totally
different names as a language (not a dialect). For
example, Tok Pisin is an English – derived pidgin.
Ebonics is a blend of Ebony and phonics in the
mid 1990s a name proposed for the variety of
English spoken by African-Americans – previously
called 'Black Vernacular English' or African-
American Vernacular English.Yet giving a distinct
name, Ebonics to a variety, was rejected by the US
black community and by those in power.
An English family of languages?

 Another example of a variety emerge to acquire

linguistic status is recognized in the European Union
where several languages are co-official but for
pragmatic linguistic realities English is the most widely
used language. Yet the Germans, French, Greek and
others use English with their own pattern of influence
or 'interference' from their mother tongue. There will
be the usual sociolinguistic accommodation (Giles
and Smith, 1979) and the result is a novel variety of
Euro-English, a term used to describe the distinctive
vocabulary of the Union (Eurofighters, Eurodollars,
Eurosceptics, etc.).
An English family of languages?

 This language variety also includes hybrid accents,

grammatical constructions and discourse patterns. A
common feature is to accommodate to an
increasingly syllable-timed rhythm (like French),
simplified sentence constructions, avoidance of idioms
and colloquial vocabulary, slower rate of speech, and
the use of clearer patterns of articulation. This is a
natural process of accommodation, which in due
course could lead to new standardized forms in
Europe. Jenkins (2007) argues that common patterns
of non-native usage will emerge around the English-
speaking world, resulting in a new version of English
as a Lingua Franca (ELF).
 Conclusion
 Global English is a functional reality but its linguistic
character is difficult to define. The emergence of hybrid
varieties raises debates about their form and status.
Several processes are recognized and discussed, e.g. native,
non-native, first, second and foreign language.This
make us reconsider the notion of 'standard', especially
when we find such hybrids being used extensively and
fluently by groups of people who have education and
influence in their regional setting. The notion of mutual
intelligibility is raised when people use these hybrid
forms. In addition, a new sociolinguistic dimension comes up
with new challenges in relation to language attitudes towards
these English speakers who are unintelligible to the Standard
English users.
 Watch the following videos:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5
Kvs8SxN8mc
(David Crystal - Will English Always Be the
Global Language?)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_q9b9Y
qGRY
(David Crystal – The Future of Englishes)