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English as a global language – Crystal
Chapter 1: Why a global language? English is a global language. We have seen and we can see it everyday as newsapers, magazines, TV programmes have adressed the issue. Politicians all over the world can speak english, in hotels and restaurants they understand you if you speak english and so on. The first consenquence of being a global language is that nobody owns it anymore. In fact, anyone use it the way they want. “Look at what Americans have done to English” is an example. If you’re not english you may be motivated to learn the language, because it will put you in touch with more people than any other language. If you live in a country where the survival of your language is threatened by the success of English you may feel resentful. This can lead to fear and conflict. What is a global language? A language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is recognized in every country. Such a role is more evident in countries where English is the mother tongue like USA, Canada, Britain, Ireland and Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and several Caribbeans countries. But mother tongue use by itself cannot give a language a global status. To achieve such a status, a language has to be taken up by other countries around the world. They must decide to give it a special place within their communities, even though they may have few (or no) mother-tongue speakers. This can be done in 2 ways:
- A language can be made official by being used as a medium of communication in the domain of governament, laws, media and the educational system. It is described as the second language. English has some kind of special status in over than seventy countries.
- A language can be made a priority in a country’s foreign-language teaching, even though this language has no official status. Children are taught this language at school. English is now the language most widely taught as a foreign language in over 100 countries. There can be more official languages in a country and a language can have a semi-official status being used only in certain domains or taking second place to other languages while still performing certain official roles. There is a great variation in the reasons for choosing a particular language such as historical tradition, political expediency, and the desire for commercial, cultural or technological contact. In a well-supported environment, resources will be devoted to helping people have access to the language and learn it, through the media, libraries, schools, and institutes of higher education. The difference between “second” and “foreign” language do not concern fluency or ability. English is the global language as ¼ of the population is fluent or competent in english, that means 1.5 billion people. What makes a global language? Why a language becomes a global language has little to do with the number of people who speak it. It is much more to do with who those speakers are. Latin was an international language as Romans were powerful, not because they were more numerous. Without a strong power-base, of whatever kind, no language can make progress as an international medium of communication. It is often said that 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 say. ‘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’.
This is not a right explanation of the success of english, we can think about Latin, that was the opposite in term of easiness and understand that ease of learning has nothing to do with it. Moreover, english has a grammar. From a lexical point of view lexicon has been described as more famialiar by people because of the many borrowings from the other languages. This give english a cosmopolitan character which is an advantage for a global language. The language may appear democratic as there are no differences in terms of class differences. To conclude, a language has traditionally become an international language for one chief reason: the power of its people – especially their political and military power. Why did Latin become known throughout Europe? Ask the legions of the Roman Empire. The history of a global language can be traced through the successful expeditions of its soldier/sailor speakers. It then takes an economic power to mantain and expand the language. This has always been the case, but it became a particularly critical factor in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with economic developments beginning to operate on a global scale, supported by the new communication technologies. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Britain had become the world’s leading industrial and trading country. By the end of the century, the population of the USA (then approaching 100 million) was larger than that of any of the countries of western Europe, and its economy was the most productive and the fastest growing in the world. British political imperialism had sent English around the globe, during the nineteenth century. During the twentieth century, this world presence was maintained and promoted almost single-handedly through the economic supremacy of the new American superpower. Economics replaced politics as the chief driving force. And the language behind the US dollar was English. Why do we need a global language? Transaltion has played a central role in human interaction for thousands of years. But the more a community is linguistically mixed, the less it can rely on individuals to ensure communication between different groups. The problem has been solved by finding a lingua franca , or “common language”. Sometimes, when communities begin to trade with each other, they communicate by adopting a simplified language, known as a pidgin, which combines elements of their different languages. Most often, a language is accepted from outside the community, such as English or French, because of the political, economic, or religious influence of a foreign power. In modern times Swahili, Arabic, Spanish, French, English, Hindi, Portuguese and several other languages have developed a major international role as a lingua franca, in limited areas of the world. The prospect that a lingua franca might be needed for the whole world is something which has emerged strongly only in the twentieth century, and since the 1950s in particular. The need for a global language is particularly appreciated by the international academic and business communities. In 1945, the United Nations began life with 51 member states. By 1956 this had risen to 80 members. But the independence movements which began at that time led to a massive increase in the number of new nations during the next decade, and this process continued steadily into the 1990s, following the collapse of the USSR. There were 190 member states in
- There has never been a time when so many nations were needing to talk to each other so much. And never has there been a more urgent need for a global language. What are the dangers of a global language?
- Perhaps a global language will cultivate an elite monolingual linguistic class.
speaker is the global language, providing access to the world community, and the other is a well-resourced regional language, providing access to a local community. That is not to say that a global language does not influence the structure of other langauges. The relationship between the global spread of English and its impact on other languages attracted increasing debate during the 1990s. The fact that it is possible to show a correlation between the rate of English adoption and the demise of minority languages has led some observers to reassert the conclusion that there is a simple causal link between the two phenomena, ignoring the fact that there has been a similar loss of linguistic diversity in parts of the world where English has not had a history of significant presence, such as Latin America, Russia and China. A more deep-rooted process of globalization seems to be at work today, transcending individual language situations. Anachronistic views of linguistic imperialism are inadequate as ‘first world’ countries with strong languages seem to be under just as much pressure to adopt English, and many of them have no colonial legacy. When dominant languages feel they are being dominated, something much bigger than a simplistic conception of power relations must be involved. These other factors, which include the recognition of global interdependence, the desire to have a voice in world affairs, and the value of multilingualism in attracting trade markets, all support the adoption of a functionalist account of English, where the language is seen as a valuable instrument enabling people to achieve particular goals. English is seen a mean of achieving a global presence. It plays a central role in empowering the subjugated and marginalized. Those who argue for this position have been dismissed as displaying ‘naive liberal idealism. According to the book, the linguistic imperialism position which is naive. Could anything stop a global language? The short answer must be ‘yes’. If language dominance is a matter of political and especially economic influence, then a revolution in the balance of global power could have consequences for the choice of global language. A plausible scenario is that an alternative method of communication could emerge which would eliminate the need for a global language. The chief candidate here is automatic translation (‘machine translation’). The accuracy and speed of real-time automatic translation is undoubtedly going to improve dramatically in the next twentyfive to fifty years, and during this time frame, all the evidence suggests that the position of English as a global langauge is going to be stronger. A critical era: It is impossible to make confident predictions about the emergence of a global language. Languages of identity need to be maintained. Access to the emerging global language – widely perceived as a language of opportunity and empowerment – needs to be guaranteed. Both principles demand massive resources. The irony is that the issue is approaching a climax at a time when the world financial climate can least afford it. Governments who wish to play their part in influencing the world’s linguistic future should therefore ponder carefully, as they make political decisions and allocate resources for language planning. Now, more than at any time in linguistic history, they need to adopt long-term views, and to plan ahead – whether their interests are to promote English or to develop the use of other languages in their community (or, of course, both). If they miss this linguistic boat, there may be no other. Capitolo 2: Why English? The historical context. There are two answers to the question: one is geographical-historical; the other is socio- cultural. The historical account concerns the movement of English around the world beginning with the pioneering voyages to the America, Asia and the Antipodes. The expansion continued in the 19th century in Africa and South Pacific and was adopted as an official or semi-official language by independent states in the 20th century. It is represented in every continent and that’s why it’s a global language. The socio-cultural explanation concerns the way people depend on English for their economic and social well-being. The convenience of having a lingua
franca available to serve global human relations and needs has come to be appreciated by millions. Origins: as soon as English arrived in England from Northen Europe, in the 5th century, in spread around the British Isles and enteered part of Wales, Corwall, Cumbria and South Scotland. Afetr the Normans’ invasion of 1066, many nobles fled to Scotland and from the 12th century Anglo-Normans knights were sent across the Irish Sea and Ireland fell under English rule. The first significant step in the progress of English towards its status as a global language took place in the 17th century, in fact from the end of the reign of Elizabeth I (1603) to the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth II (1952) the number of mother-tongue english speakers arrived to 250 million. Most oh them were Americans. America:
- The first expedition from England to the New World was commissioned by Walter Raleigh in 1584 , and proved to be a failure. A group of explorers landed near Roanoke Island, in what is now North Carolina, and established a small settlement. Conflict with the native people followed, and it proved necessary for a ship to return to England for help and supplies. By the time these arrived, in 1590, none of the original group of settlers could be found. The mystery of their disappearance has never been solved.
- The first permanent English settlement dates from 1607 , when an expedition arrived in Chesapeake Bay. This settlement was called Jameston and the area Virginia.
- November 1620 : the first group of Puritans arrived on the Mayflower and they landed at Cope Bay and established a settlement at what is now Plymouth in Massachusetts. What the ‘ Pilgrim Fathers’ (as they were later called) had in common was their search for a land where they could found a new religious kingdom, free from persecution and ‘purified’ from the church practices they had experienced in England. It was a successful settlement, and by 1640 about 25,000 immigrants had come to the area. The two settlements had 2 different linguistic backgrounds: although the southern colony brought settlers from several parts of England, many of them came from England’s ‘West Country’ – such counties as Somerset and Gloucestershire. By contrast, many of the Plymouth colonists came from counties in the east of England, their accent is characterised by the fact that they do not pronounce the letter “r”. The later population movements across America (The New England people moved west into the region of the Great Lakes; the southerners moved along the Gulf Coast and into Texas; and the midlanders spread throughout the whole of the vast, mid-western area, across the Mississippi and ultimately into California) largely preserved the dialect distinctions which arose out of these early patterns of settlement.
- 17th century: new shiploads of immigrants brought an increasing variety of linguistic backgrounds into the country. As a result, the sharp divisions between regional dialects gradually began to blur.
- 18th century: there was a vast wave of immigration from northern Ireland. Many stayed along the coast, especially in the area of Philadelphia, but most moved inland through the mountains in search of land. They were seen as frontier people, with an accent which at the time was described as ‘broad’.
- By the time of the first census, in 1790, the population of the country was around 4 million, most of whom lived along the Atlantic coast. A century later, after the opening up of the west, the population numbered over 50 million, spread throughout the continent. The accent which emerged can now be heard all over the so-called Sunbelt (from Virginia to southern California), and is the accent most commonly associated with present-day American speech.
- 19th century: a massive increase in American immigration. Large numbers of Irish came following the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840s. Germans and Italians came, escaping the consequences of the failed 1848 revolutions. Also Jews arrived, escaping the pogroms.
- 20th century: In 1900, the population was just over 75million. This total had doubled by
- Most of these immigrants within one generation of arrival spoke English.
- 19th century: “Free” settlers began to enter the country. immigration increased.
- 2002: population of nine million The British Isles provided the main source of settlers, and thus the main influence on the language. The variety contains many expressions which have originated in Australia (including a number from Aboriginal languages), and in recent years the influence of American English and of a growing number of immigrant groups has been noticeable.
- 1769-1770: James Cook arrived in New Zealand and European whalers and traders began to settle there in the 1790s, expanding the developments already taking place in Australia.
- Christian missionary work began among the Maori from about 1814.
- 1840: the official colony was established , Treaty of Waitangi
- Rapid increase in immigration In New Zealand there has been a stronger sense of the historical relationship with Britain, and a greater sympathy for British values and institutions. Many people speak with an accent which displays clear British influence. There has been a growing sense of national identity, and in particular an emphasis on the differences between New Zealand and Australia. This has drawn attention to differences in the accents of the two countries, and motivated the use of distinctive New Zealand vocabulary. There has been a fresh concern to take account of the rights and needs of the Maori people, who now form over 10 per cent of the population. **South Africa:
- 1795** : A british expeditionary force invaded. Before, the colonisers were the Dutch.
- 1806: British control was established.
- 1820: 5,000 British were given land in the eastern Cape.
- 1822: English was made the official language of the region in 1822.
- Further British settlements followed in the 1840s and 1850s, especially in Natal, and there was a massive influx of Europeans following the development of the gold and diamond areas in the Witwatersrand in the 1870s. There was initially a certain amount of regional dialect variation among the different groups of British settlers. After, a more homogeneous accent emerged – an accent that shares many similarities with the accents of Australia. At the same time, English was being used as a second language by the Afrikaans speakers, and many of the Dutch colonists took this variety with them on the Great Trek of 1836, as they moved north to escape British rule. An African variety of English also developed, spoken by the black population, who had learned the language mainly in mission schools, and which was influenced in different ways by the various language backgrounds of the speakers. In addition, English came to be used, along with Afrikaans and often other languages, by those with an ethnically mixed background (‘coloureds’); and it was also adopted by the many immigrants from India, who were brought to the country from around 1860. English has always been a minority language in South Africa, Afrikaans was the first language of the majority of whites, including most of those in power. It was also the first language of most of the coloured population. English was used by the remaining whites and by increasing numbers of the (70 per cent majority) black population. Afrikaans came to be perceived by the black majority as the language of authority and repression; English was perceived by the Afrikaner government as the language of protest and self-determination. Many blacks saw English as a means of achieving an international voice, and uniting themselves with other black communities.
the contemporary situation regarding the use of English is more complex. For the white authorities, too, English is important as a means of international communication, Afrikaners have become increasingly bilingual. The 1993 Constitution names eleven languages as official, including English and Afrikaans, and it is likely that English will continue to be an important lingua franca. South Asia: In terms of numbers of English speakers, the Indian subcontinent has a very special position, probably outranking the combined totals of speakers in the USA and UK. And we must not forget that there are also considerable numbers of English speakers elsewhere in the region, which comprises five other countries (Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan). There are many varities and they are referred as “south Asian English”.
- 1600: British East India Company , a group of London merchants who were granted a trading monopoly in the area by Queen Elizabeth I.
- The Company established its first trading station at Surat in 1612.
- 18th century: the power of the Mughal emperors declined, the Company’s influence grew, and in 1765 it took over the revenue management of Bengal.
- 1858: after the Indian Mutiny, the Company was abolished and its powers handed over to the Crown
- British sovereignty (Raj): 1765-1947 English became the medium of administration and education
- 1835: Thomas Macaulay proposed the introduction of an English educational system in India. When the universities of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras were established in 1857, English became the primary medium of instruction.
- 1960: Three Language Formula il resulted from the conflict between English, Hindi and regional langugaes. English was introduced as the chief alternative to the local state language. It now has the status of an ‘associate’ official language, with Hindi the official language. It is also recognized as the official language of four states (Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura) and eight Union territories. English has continued to be used within the legal system, government administration, secondary and higher education, the armed forces, the media, business, and tourism. In the Dravidian-speaking areas of the south, it is widely preferred to Hindi as a lingua franca. In Pakistan, it is an associated official language. It has no official status in the other countries of South Asia, but throughout the region it is universally used as the medium of international communication. Increasingly it is being perceived by young South Asians as the language of cultural modernity. Former colonial Africa:
- The English began to visit West Africa from the end of the 15th century, and soon after we find sporadic references to the use of the language as a lingua franca in some coastal settlements.
- By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the increase in commerce and anti-slave- trade activities had brought English to the whole West African coast. With hundreds of local languages to contend with, a particular feature of the region was the rise of several English-based pidgins and creoles. British varieties developed especially in five countries, each of which now gives English official status. These countries are Sierra Leone, Ghana, Gambia, Nigeria. Cameroon, Liberia.
- Sierra Leone: 1780, philanthropists in Britain bought land to establish a settlement for freed slaves, the first groups arriving from England, Nova Scotia and Jamaica. In 1808 in became a Crown Colony. The chief form of communication was an English-based creole, Krio. The country was indipendent in 1961.
- Ghana: declared a Crown Colony in 1874. The modern state was created in 1957 by the union of this colony and the adjacent British Togoland trust territory.
- The London Missionary Society sent its workers to the islands of the South Pacific fifty years later.
- In South-east Asia, the development of a British colonial empire grew from the work of Stamford Raffles, an administrator in the British East India Company. Centres were established in several locations, notably Penang (1786), Singapore (1819) and Malacca (1824).
- 1867: the Federated Malay States were brought together as a Crown Colony. English had come to be established throughout the region as the medium of law and administration.
- Hong Kong island was ceded to Britain in 1842 by the Treaty of Nanking, at the end of the first Opium War, and Kowloon was added to it in 1860.
- End of the 19th century: several territories in the region became British protectorates. The introduction of a British educational system exposed learners to a standard British English model very early on. Englishmedium schools began in Penang in 1816. English rapidly became the language of professional advancement and the chief literary language. Despite the common colonial history of the region, a single variety of ‘South-east Asian English’ has not emerged.
- Singapore: In the 1950s a bilingual educational system was introduced in Singapore, with English used as a unifying medium. However, English remained the language of the government and the legal system, and retained its importance in education and the media. A new local variety, known as Singlish, has evolved. - Malaysia: in 1957 Bahasa Malaysia was adopted as the national language, and the role of English accordingly became more restricted (more a foreign language than a second language). - Hong Kong: English has always had a limited use in the territory, associated with government or military administration, law, business, and the media. Chinese is the mother tongue of the population. English and Chinese have joint official status. - Papua New Guinea: British sailors visited the territory as early in 1793, and the shared it with Germany. The two areas merged after World War 2, and became independent in 1975. About half the people speak Tok Pisin, an English-based pidgin, as a second language. A world view: The present-day world status of English is the result of the expansion of British colonial power and the emergence of the USA as the leading power of the 20th century. It is the latter factor which continues to explain the world position of the English language today. The US linguist Braj Kachru has suggested that we think of the spread of English around the world as three concentric circles:
- The inner circle: it includes the USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand where English is the primary language.
- The outer circle: it includes Singapore, India, Malawi and over fifty other territories where English is a second language and the settings are non-native.
- The expanding circle: those nations which recognize the importance of English as an international language. It includes China, Japan, Greece, Poland and (as the name of this circle suggests) a steadily increasing number of other states. Capitolo 3: Why English? The cultural foundation. “‘I have undertaken to write a grammar of English’, s ays John Wallis in the preface to his Grammar of the English language , ‘because there is clearly a great demand for it from foreigners, who want to be able to understand the various important works which are written in our tongue.’ And he goes on : ‘all kinds of literature are widely available in English editions, and, without boasting, it can be said that there is scarcely any worthwhile body of knowledge which has not been recorded today, adequately at least, in the English language” – 1765
A few generation earlier, Richard Mulcaster, the headmaster of Merchant Taylors’ School, wrote in 1582: “I love Rome, but London better. I favour Italy, but England more. I honour the Latin, but I worship the English.” He wanted to to defend the language against those who believed that English should not usurp the long-established place of Latin. In 1599 Samuel Daniel wrote: “And who in time knows whither we may vent The treasure of our tongue, to what strange shores This gain of our best glory shall be sent, To enrich unknowing nations without stores? Which worlds in the yet unformed Occident May come refined with the accents that are ours” – Musopholis In 1767, David Hume wrote: “Let the French, therefore, triumph in the present diffusion of their tongue. Our solid and increasing establishments in America […] promise a superior stability and duration to the English language”. In 1780 John Adams said: “English is destined to be in the next and succeeding centuries more generally the language of the world than Latin was in the last or French is in the present age. The reason of this is obvious, because the increasing population in America, and their universal connection and correspondence with all nations will, aided by the influence of England in the world, whether great or small, force their language into general use, in spite of all the obstacles that may be thrown in their way, if any such there should be”. In 1851 , Jakob Grimm commented that “of all modern languages, not one has acquired such great strength and vigour as the English”. About 60 million people were speaking English around the world as a mother tongue by the 1850s. some prophetised about the number increasing in the next years. When a language arrives in a new country, it does not necessarily come to be adopted. And there are famous occasions where the language of the newcomers does not end up replacing the language of the inhabitants – the most famous instance, in fact, relating to English itself, in
So what was the worth of the English language, as it grew in global stature during the nineteenth century? Political developments: Most of the pre-twentieth-century commentators would have had no difficulty giving a single, political answer to the question. They would simply have pointed to the growth of the British Empire. The langauge represented a guarantor, as well as a symbol, of political unity. Access to knowledge: by the beginning of the 19th century, Britain had become the world’s leading industrial and trading nation. Its population of 5million in 1700 more than doubled by 1800, and during that century no country could equal its economic growth. Most of the innovations of the Industrial Revolution were of British origin: the harnessing of coal, water and steam to drive heavy machinery; the development of new materials, techniques and equipment in a wide range of manufacturing industries; and the emergence of new means of transportation. By 1800, the chief growth areas, in textiles and mining, were producing a range of manufactured goods for export which led to Britain being called the ‘workshop of the world. Linguistic consequences: The new terminology of technological and scientific advance had an immediate impact on the language, adding tens of thousands of words to the English lexicon. But, more important, the fact that these innovations were pouring out of an Englishspeaking country meant that those from abroad who wished to learn about them would need to learn English – and learn it well – if they wished to benefit. The magnet of opportunity in Britain attracted several inventors from the Continent.
In a country where 95per cent or so of the population speak English, as in Britain and the USA, it might be thought that a problem could not arise. But even small changes in the social balance of a population can have serious linguistic consequences. When large social changes take place, such as have happened through immigration during the past century, the potential effects on language policy and planning can be far-reaching. Chapter 4: Why English? The cultural legacy. The first steps in the political consolidation of English were taken during the decision-making which followed the First World War, in 1919. The colonies of the defeated were given to the winners and English language influence grew immensely in the areas which came to be mediated directly by Britain (such as in Palestine, Cameroon and Tanganyika) or by other English-speaking nations: examples include Australia (in Papua New Guinea), New Zealand (in Samoa) and South Africa (in South-West Africa – present-day Namibia). International relations: The League of Nations was the first of many modern international alliances to allocate a special place to English in its proceedings : English was one of the two official languages (the other was French), and all documents were printed in both. The League had 42 members and the importance of a lingua franca, with such an extended membership, was obvious. The League was replaced in 1945 by the United Nations, where the role of the lingua franca became even more critical. English is one of the official languages. The language plays an official or working role in the proceedings of most other major international political gatherings, in all parts of the world. The extent to which English is used in this way is often not appreciated. Many scientific organizations are also English-only. By contrast, only a small number of international bodies make no official use of English at all: most of these are French organizations. Several international sporting organizations work only in English. In Europe, too, organizations which work only in English are surprisingly common, especially in science. The overriding impression is that, wherever in the world an organization is based, English is the chief auxiliary language. A different kind of role for English is encountered at meetings where a large number of nations each has the right to participate using its own language. If there is no Finnish/Greek translator available, for instance, English might be used as an intermediary language – or “interlingua”. The media: These days, any consideration of politics leads inevitably to a consideration of the role of the media.
- The press : The English language has been an important medium of the press for nearly 400 years. The Weekley Newes began to appear (irregularly) from 1622; the London Gazette in 1666; and Lloyd’s News in 1696 and so on. The beginning of the 18th century in Britain saw the rise and fall of The Tatler (1709) and The Spectator (1711), while the end brought the arrival of The Times (1788) and The Observer (1791). The nineteenth century was the period of greatest progress, thanks to the introduction of new printing technology. Censorship and other restrictions continued in Continental Europe during the early decades, however, which meant that the provision of popular news in languages other than English developed much more slowly. The high profile given to English in the popular press was reinforced w the growth of the major news agencies, especially following the invention of the telegraph. Newspapers also play an important role in the identity of a local community. About a quarter of the world’s periodicals are published in English-status countries.
- Advertising : English in advertising began very early on, when the weekly newspapers began to carry items about books, medicines, tea, and other domestic products. As international markets grew, the ‘outdoor media’ began to travel the world, and their prominence in virtually every town and city is now one of the most noticeable global
manifestations of English language use. The English advertisements are not always more numerous, in countries where English has no special status, but they are usually the most noticeable. In all of this, it is the English of American products which rules.
- Broadcasting : It took many decades of experimental research in physics, chiefly in Britain and America, before it was possible to send the first radio telecommunication signals through the air, without wires in 1895. English was the first language to be transmitted by radio. Within twenty-five years of Marconi’s first transmission, public broadcasting became a reality. The first commercial radio station was KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1920. In Britain, experimental broadcasts were being made as early as 1919, and the British Broadcasting Company was established in 1922. The first director-general of the BBC, John Reith, developed a concept of public-service broadcasting – to inform, educate, and entertain. During the early 1920s, English- language broadcasting began in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. We find a growing reliance on English as a lingua franca in the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union for example. A similar dramatic expansion later affected public television. The world’s first high- definition service, provided by the BBC, began in London in 1936. In the USA, the National Broadcasting Company was able to provide a regular service in 1939. Several countries have English language radio programmes, such as the Soviet Union, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.
- Cinema : Britain and France provided an impetus to the development of the cinema from 1895. When sound was added to the technology in the late 1920s, it was the English language which suddenly came to dominate the movie world. English-language movies still dominate the medium. The Oscar system has always been English language oriented.
- Popular music: in the recording industry English was in evidence from the first time. In 1877 Edicon ivented the phonograph, the first machine that could both record and reproduce sound and the first words were in English. Most of the subsequent technical developments took place in the USA, like the gramophone and the LP disk. All the major recording companies in popular music had Englishlanguage origins. Many people made their first contact with English thanks to the radio. During the nineteenth century, popular music was embedded within the dance halls, and British music hall was a major influence on popular trends. During the early twentieth century, European light opera (typified by Strauss and Offenbach) developed an English-language dimension. Musical is a distinctive US product. Jazz, too, influenced so much by the folk blues of black plantation workers, had its linguistic dimension. Jazz, too, influenced so much by the folk blues of black plantation workers, had its linguistic dimension, Elvis Presley, Beatles, Rolling Stones. No other single source has spread the English language around the youth of the world so rapidly and so pervasively.
- International travel: Each journey has immediate linguistic consequences – a language has to be interpreted, learned, imposed. English is always present, but Move away from the regular tourist routes, however, and English soon becomes conspicuous by its absence. Anyway, English is useful for people who travel for business meetings, academic conferences, international conventions, community rallies, sporting occasions, military occupations and other ‘official’ gatherings, asthe domains of transportation and accommodation are mediated through the use of English.
- International safety: A special aspect of safety is the way that the language has come to be used as a means of controlling international transport operations, especially on water and in the air. The use of a lingua franca has proved of great worth. English has long been recognized as the international language of the sea, there is the so called “Seaspeak”, with procedures for initiating, maintaining, and terminating conversations, as well as a recommended grammar, vocabulary and structure for messages. Progress has also been made in recent years in devising systems of unambiguous communication between organizations which are involved in handling emergencies on the ground. Another important lamguage is the one of traffic control. The official use of English as the language of international aircraft control did not emerge until after the Second World War. It was decidend that English should be the international language of aviation
over functions currently assumed by English. Pressures arising out of the need to express community identity might disrupt the ability of English to function as a global language. The rejection of English: the first situation is the one in which people of a country reject the option to give English a privileged status, either as an official language or as a foreign language. The reason for that could be a strong reaction against continuing to use the language of the former colonial power and in favour of promoting the indigenous languages. The arguments have to do with identity, people have a natural wish to use their own mother- tongue, to see it survive and grow English has an unhappy colonial resonance in the minds of many. There’s also ambivalence: if they write in English, their work will have the chance of reaching a worldwide audience; but to write in English may mean sacrificing their cultural identity. Examples of rejection came from Tanzania, Malaysia ecc, but some other countries which were not part of the colonial empire like Algeria, decided that opted to make English its chief foreign language at school. There are also economic arguments which might persuade a country to reduce its investment in the English language. A country might see its economic future as operating more on a regional than a global level. The need for intelligibility and the need for identity often pull people – and countries – in opposing directions. The former motivates the learning of an international language, with English the first choice in most cases; the latter motivates the promotion of ethnic language and culture. Conflict is the common consequence when either position is promoted insensitively. The solution is bilinguism, that is exepensive. The rejections of English have not been a lot so far. Contrasting attitudes: the US situation: the USA is the dominant language elem. nt in many domains, and the future of English is determined by it to some extent. it exercises a greater influence on the way English is developing worldwide than does any other regional variety – often, of course, to the discomfiture of people in the UK taht are worried about “americanisms”. If anything were to disestablish the military or economic power of the USA, there would be inevitable consequences for the global status of the language. From 1990s there are internal forces threatening the country’s future unity: what has emerged is a conflict between the demands of intelligibility and identity. Movements can be seen in Ireland, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Quebec. In this cases, English-users insist on guaranteeing the status of English. But in a country where the language is already so dominant, and its position for so long taken for granted, why should the question of its official status arise at all? There are many arguments that ca be used to contrast English as an official language, here are some examples: political argument: English bill is an unwarranted federal intrusion into self-expression, violating cultural pluralism, it is perceived as a policy intended to limit and control minorities, the use of a common language does not guarantee ethnic harmony. Some definitions for official English are ‘elitist’, ‘racist’, ‘anti-immigrant’ and ‘anti-Hispanic’. socio-economic argument: The ‘all-or-nothing’ view of language support is contested, there may indeed be no principled way of drawing a line between one group of languages and another, but it does not follow from this that nothing should be done to help those who speak the more widely used languages, where relatively large numbers of people would benefit from receiving a modicum of support in their mother tongue. The fields of health and safety are the ones in which instructions should be written in as many language as possible. Educational issues: the pro-official position is concerned that many students in bilingual education programmes are being taught by teachers whose own level of English is of a low quality and claim that bilingual programmes are not as efficient as English-immersion
programmes. Anti-official supporters stress the value of bilingualism as part of a child’s learning experience. Many anti-official supporters find that there is no alternative but to conclude that the ‘official English’ position is one of elitism or discrimination. Minority languages are not being protected, in their view, but restricted. English Plus Resolution (1995 – Serrano) began by recognizing English as ‘the primary language of the United States’ alongside the importance of other languages spoken by US residents, and asserted that ‘these linguistic resources should be conserved and developed’. The Serrano bill made no further progress in 1996, with political attention eventually focusing exclusively on the Emerson proposal. To conclude, the argument has continued unabated into the new millennium. New Englishes: no one can now claim sole ownership of English. It is impossible not to remark the emergence of new varieties of English in the different territories where the language has taken root. These are called “new Englishes”. The different dialects of British and American English provide the most familiar example. In the USA, a concern to develop a distinctive ‘American standard’ was prominent in Webster’s thinking. He presented the case strongly in his Dissertations on the English language. The forces which shaped the development of American English are many and various. Cassidy: “[…] The attempt to found an academy for such a purpose, which had several times failed in Britain, was made once again under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson. But other forces were at work – popular forces. […] The surge of population westward, the phenomenon of the expanding frontier […] was reflected in the language. […] the ‘conquerors of the West’ became freely innovative in their language, ebullient with descriptive and metaphorical inventions. […]. Some of the interesting neologisms were the direct offspring of ignorance pretending to be learned. A whole school of humor portrayed its characters as unschooled but practically wise”. There are Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, Caribbean English, and, within Britain, Irish, Scots, and Welsh English. There is one group in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, often collectively called South Asian English. There is another group in the former British colonies in West Africa, and a further group in the former British colonies in East Africa. Other emerging varieties have been noted in the Caribbean and in parts of south-east Asia, such as Singapore. International varieties thus express national identities, and are a way of reducing the conflict between intelligibility and identity. Because a speaker from country A is using English, there is an intelligibility bond with an English speaker of country B – and this is reinforced by the existence of a common written language. On the other hand, because speaker A is not using exactly the same way of speaking as speaker B, both parties retain their identities. When a country becomes independent, there is a natural reaction to leave behind the linguistic character imposed by its colonial past, and to look for indigenous languages to provide a symbol of new nationhood. But in most cases this process proved unworkable. In such situations, the only solution was to keep using the former colonial language and adapt it. Most adaptation in a New English relates to vocabulary. The linguistic character of New Englishes:
- Grammar: talking about the distinction between British and American English, grammatical differences are few. Grammars have traditionally focused on standard English. Non-standard varieties are mentioned only in passing. New varieties are chiefly associated with speech, rather than writing, that’s why they have also attracted less attention. Grammars totally devoted to speech are rare. But as English becomes
How fast this trend develops depends on economic and social factors more than on anything else. If the people who use mixed varieties as markers of their identity become more influential, attitudes will change, and usages will become more acceptable. An English family of languages? The future of world English is likely to be one of increasing multidialectism; but could this become multilingualism? Is English going to fragment into mutually unintelligible varieties, just as Vulgar Latin did and creating a “family of languages?”. The history of language suggests that such a course of events has been a frequent phenomenon (as in the well-known case of Latin) but the pull imposed by the need for identity, which has been making New Englishes increasingly dissimilar from British English, could be balanced by a pull imposed by the need for intelligibility, on a world scale, which will make them increasingly similar, through the continued use of Standard English. There are very few examples of English generating varieties which are given totally different names, and even fewer where these names are rated as ‘languages’ (as opposed to ‘dialects’). There are some cases among the English-derived pidgins and creoles around the world (e.g. Tok Pisin, Gullah), but any proposal for language status is invariably surrounded with controversy. There are many world English locations which have generated their regional humour book, in which the local accent or dialect is illustrated by comic ‘translations’ into Standard English. Exchanges of this kind, however, are part of the genre of language play, and recognized as such by author and reader. They are not serious attempts to upgrade the status of the dialect into a separate language. There is one clear case where a specific regional variety of English has acquired a new name as part of its claim to be recognized as a standard in its locality: Scots. The situation is complex, because the Scots community does not have a single mind about the matter, nor has it had enough political–economic power to make any decision be respected by outsiders. what kind of common English emerges, when Germans, French, Greeks and others come into contact, each using English with its own pattern of interference from the mother tongue? There will be the usual sociolinguistic accommodation,67 and the result will be a novel variety, of ‘Euro-English’ – a term which has been used for over a decade with reference to the distinctive vocabulary of the Union but which must now be extended to include the various hybrid accents, grammatical constructions and discourse patterns. Many of the new varieties have grown extremely rapidly, so that it is difficult to establish their role in their society, or how people are reacting to them. In several cases, it is known that the rise of a local English generates controversy within the community. To conclude, d ‘quarter of ’ in US and UK time-telling.71 If Englishes did become increasingly different, as years went by, the consequences for world English would not necessarily be fatal. A likely scenario is that our current ability to use more than one dialect would simply extend to meet the fresh demands of the international situation. A new form of English – let us think of it as ‘World Standard Spoken English’ (WSSE) – would almost certainly arise. In a future where there were many national Englishes, little would change. People would still have their dialects for use within their own country, but when the need came to communicate with people from other countries they would slip into WSSE. US English does seem likely to be the most influential in the development of WSSE. On the other hand, the situation will be complicated by the emergence on the world scene of new linguistic features derived from the L2 varieties. No feature of L2 English has yet become a part of standard US or UK English; but, as the balance of speakers changes, there is no reason for L features not to become part of WSSE. There is nothing unusual, in linguistic terms, about a community using more than one variety (or language) as alternative standards for different purposes. The situation is the familiar one of diglossia.
A unique event? There has never been a language so widely spread or spoken by so many people as English. Because there are no precedents for languages achieving this level of use we do not know what happens to them in such circumstances. It may well be the case, that the English language has already grown to be independent of any form of social control. If there were to be a major social change in Britain which affected the use of English there, would this have any real effect on the world trend? It is unlikely. It may be that English, in some shape or form, will find itself in the service of the world community for ever.
