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Every country that adopted the English language immediately started to make it its own, to shape it and put it in a direction it never was in before.
The adaptation can be seen in vocabulary. An example: there are more than 10,000 south African English terms that are used only in South Africa (robot traffic light).
This happened also when English arrived in America and the result, of course, is American English.
It only took weeks for a new variety of English to start to grow also because English people got in contact with Indians, they saw new food and plants so new words learned.
Nowadays English is spoken in every country: as first or second language, privileged foreign language.
In every country there is a new variety of English that always keeps growing which is culturally influenced.
- The effect of new technologies on English
Technology has always influenced language by introducing new terms and varieties.
Technologies influence language in quite specific ways: style, instant messaging, tweeting (140 characters), blogging style.
Twitter formula: what are you doing? what’s happening?
Every internet domain that we’re dealing with influences the way in which we use language sometimes in quite specific ways.
By the way internet is too recent to know exactly how much influence it is going to have on English and other languages and English language is exactly the same of the English spoken 20 years ago. Never forget that now English is multilingual.
- Will English always be the global language?
English future can’t be told. Short-term future, no change. Long-term future, no idea.
This language is global because of the power of people who speak it. Power always drives language.
English became global for a variety of reasons: power of British Empire, power of American Imperialism, power of Industrial Revolution (science and technology became English), power of money, power of culture.
Two powerful countries, Britain and American, speak English so the language of the international banking so English, once again, is the main language.
English will be a global language as long these countries will take the power.
At the moment there’s no sign of a diminution in the prestige of English. There’s a scenario where American English will dominate all the English varieties. And this is happening in small ways such us spelling and pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. American influencing British and vice versa.
There’s another different scenario as well: American English is put at first place because the Americans wanted to identify themselves as Americans and not as British when America became independent from Britain.
Following this concept now English is reflecting each country’s identity: Indian English, American English, Australian English etc…
The English of the future could be an amalgam of English from around the World ENGLISH AS LINGUA FRANCA.
- Should English be taught as a global language?
