English is the global language | Slide di Lingua Inglese

‘ENGLISH IS THE GLOBAL LANGUAGE’

A language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is

recognized in every country.

Of all modern languages, not one has acquired such great strength and vigor as the

English… it may be called justly a LANGUAGE OF THE WORLD and seems, like the

English nation, to be destined to reign in future with still more extensive sway over all

part of the globe. (Jacob Grimm, 1852)

How many people in the world today speak English?

First-language speakers: 375 million

Second-language speakers: 375 million

Foreign-language speakers: 750 million

(David Graddol, The Future of English? A Guide to Forecasting the Popularity of the

English Language in the 21st Century. British Council, 1997).

“English has borrowed words from over 350 other languages, and over three-quarters

of the English lexicon is actually Classical or Romance in origin. Plainly, the view that

to borrow words leads to a language’s decline is absurd, given that English has

borrowed more words than most”.

(David Crystal, English as a Global Language. Cambridge University Press, 2003).

In how many countries is English taught as a FOREIGN LANGUAGE ?

“English is now the language most widely taught as a foreign language in over 100

countries, such as China, Russia, Germany, Spain, Egypt, and Brazil – and in most of

these countries it is emerging as the chief foreign language to be encountered in

schools, often displacing another language in the process”.

How many countries in the world have English as their first language?

“This is a complicated question, as the definition of ‘first language’ differs from place

to place, according to each country’s history and local circumstances. The following

facts illustrate the complexities:

Australia, Botswana, the Commonwealth Caribbean nations, Gambia,

Ghana, Guyana, Ireland, Namibia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, New

Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States have English as either

a de facto or statutory OFFICIAL LANGUAGE.

In Cameroon and Canada, English shares this status with French: and in the Nigerian

states, English and the main local language are official.

In Fiji, English is the OFFICIAL LANGUAGE with Fijian; in Lesotho with Sesotho; in

Pakistan with Urdu; in the Philippines with Filipino; and in Swaziland with Siswati.

In India, English is an associate official language (after Hindi), and in Singapore

English is one of four statutory official languages. In South Africa, English is the main

national language – but just one of eleven official languages.

“In all, English has official or special status in at least 75 countries (with a combined

population of two billion people). It is estimated that one out of four people worldwide

speak English with some degree of competence”.

(Penny Silva, “Global English”)

English as a global language

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‘ENGLISH IS THE GLOBAL LANGUAGE’

A language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is recognized in every country. Of all modern languages, not one has acquired such great strength and vigor as the English… it may be called justly a LANGUAGE OF THE WORLD and seems, like the English nation, to be destined to reign in future with still more extensive sway over all part of the globe. (Jacob Grimm, 1852) How many people in the world today speak English? First-language speakers: 375 million Second-language speakers: 375 million Foreign-language speakers: 750 million (David Graddol, The Future of English? A Guide to Forecasting the Popularity of the English Language in the 21st^ Century. British Council, 1997). “English has borrowed words from over 350 other languages, and over three-quarters of the English lexicon is actually Classical or Romance in origin. Plainly, the view that to borrow words leads to a language’s decline is absurd, given that English has borrowed more words than most”. (David Crystal, English as a Global Language. Cambridge University Press, 2003). In how many countries is English taught as a FOREIGN LANGUAGE? “English is now the language most widely taught as a foreign language in over 100 countries, such as China, Russia, Germany, Spain, Egypt, and Brazil – and in most of these countries it is emerging as the chief foreign language to be encountered in schools, often displacing another language in the process”. How many countries in the world have English as their first language? “This is a complicated question, as the definition of ‘first language’ differs from place to place, according to each country’s history and local circumstances. The following facts illustrate the complexities: Australia, Botswana, the Commonwealth Caribbean nations, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Ireland, Namibia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States have English as either a de facto or statutory OFFICIAL LANGUAGE. In Cameroon and Canada, English shares this status with French: and in the Nigerian states, English and the main local language are official. In Fiji, English is the OFFICIAL LANGUAGE with Fijian; in Lesotho with Sesotho; in Pakistan with Urdu; in the Philippines with Filipino; and in Swaziland with Siswati. In India, English is an associate official language (after Hindi), and in Singapore English is one of four statutory official languages. In South Africa, English is the main national language – but just one of eleven official languages. “In all, English has official or special status in at least 75 countries (with a combined population of two billion people). It is estimated that one out of four people worldwide speak English with some degree of competence”. (Penny Silva, “Global English”) English as a global language

You hear English on television spoken by politicians form all over the world. Wherever you travel, you see English signs and advertisements. Whenever you enter a hotel or restaurant in a foreign city, they will understand English, and there will be an English menu. Latin became an international language throughout the Roman Empire, but this was not because the Romans were more numerous than the peoples they subjugated. They were simply more powerful. And later, when Roman military power declined, Latin remained for a millennium as the international language of education, thanks to a different sort of power – the ecclesiastical power of Roman Catholicism. THE LANGUAGE OF THE WORLD There must be something inherently beautiful or logical about the structure of English, in order to explain why it is now so widely used. ‘It has less grammar than other languages’, some have suggested. ‘English doesn’t have a lot of endings on its words , nor do we have to remember the difference between masculine , feminine , and neuter gender, so it must be easier to learn’. In 1848, a reviewer in the British periodical The Athenaeum wrote: In its easiness of grammatical construction, in its paucity of inflection , in its almost total disregard of the distinctions of gender excepting those of nature, in the simplicity and precision of its terminations and auxiliary verbs, not less than in the majesty, vigor and copiousness of its expression, our mother-tongue seems well adapted by organization to become the language of the world. A language does not become a global language because of its intrinsic structural properties , or because of the size of its vocabulary, or because it has been a vehicle of a great literature in the past, or because it was once associated with a great culture or religion. These are all factors which can motivate someone to learn a language. A language has traditionally become an international language for one chief reason: the power of its people – especially their political and military power. The explanation is the same throughout history. Why did Greek become a language of international communication in the Middle East over 2.000 years ago? Not because of the intellects of Plato and Aristotle: the answer lies in the swords and spears wielded by the armies of Alexander the Great. Why did Latin become known throughout Europe? Ask the legions of the Roman Empire. Why did Arabic come to be spoken so widely across northern Africa and the Middle East? Follow the spread of Islam, carried along by the force of the Moorish armies from the eighth century. Why did Spanish, Portuguese, and French find their way into the Americas, Africa and the Far East? GLOBAL STATUS OF A LANGUAGE A language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is recognized in every country. This might seem like stating the obvious, but it is not, for the notion of ‘special role’ has many facets.

English is the global language, Slide di Lingua Inglese

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‘ENGLISH IS THE GLOBAL LANGUAGE’