The History of English - English as a Global Language (original) (raw)
English Global Language English as a Global Language; An Overview
Today, English has truly become a global language. English is used in international travel, trade, science, medicine and on the Internet. The accent and the structural features of English have substantially changed in the past 1,500 years. Speakers of English as a foreign language continue to exert pressure on it to conform and therefore, English as a means of international communication has become and will be easier for speakers of other languages to learn and to use. Without a serious linguistic competitor, English will continue to be a means of world communication, due to its' adaptability, minimal inflectional morphology, non-tonal phonology, non-logographic script and a complex interplay of social, economic, technological and historical factors.
Chapter 1: The spread of english in the world 1 English as a global language
In the year of 2013 English Language Day celebrates 'English the Global Language'. A language that was the tongue of three tribes 1,500 years ago is today the language of nearly two billion people. It has three-times more non-native speakers than native speakers. No other language comes close to matching that, and it is that that makes English global. It is the modern lingua franca, the language used by the Russians to talk to the Nigerians, the Germans to talk to the Spanish, the Chinese to talk to the Brazilians.
How Does a Language Become Global?
Exploring Language in Global Contexts, 2022
In this chapter we will look at how a language becomes a global language with a specific focus on English. We will define the characteristics of a global language and trace the historical, political, economic and cultural developments which led English to become a global language. We will then see a framework we can use for describing the use and status of English in the world today. The effects of English as a global language on people, languages and cultures are complex and multifaceted, but undoubtedly include a range of risks or dangers. We will outline the most prominent of these in this chapter. Finally, we will discuss the factors which may stop English being a global language and some possible future scenarios for language use globally. Guiding Questions What is a global language? How did English become a global language? How can we describe the use and status of English in the world today? What are the risks posed by a global language? What could stop English being a global language? What are some future scenarios for language use globally? What is a global language? Crystal (2003) says that a global language is a language which has "a special role that is recognized in every country" (p. 3). This special role consists of three components: native language, official language, and foreign language. The first component means that the language must be the first language of the majority of people in some countries. The second means that the language must have legal status as the only or one of the official languages of various countries. Such a language is the main one used in government, broadcasting, the media and the education system. The third means that the language is prioritised in language education in various countries. That is, it is the language which students will most likely be required to study in school and further education (Crystal, 2003, 2006). Several languages could be considered candidates for the title of global language. For example, at the time of writing, Spanish is the native language of 489 million people, the official language of 21 countries and is studied as a second or foreign language by more than 22 million people across 110 countries (Cervantes Institute, 2020). Mandarin Chinese is the native language of more than 920 million people, has official status in the People's Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), Taiwan and Singapore, and is studied by around 100 million people as a second or foreign language (Gil, 2021; Zhou, 2020). However, it is English, more than any other language, which best fulfills this definition. It is the This is the pre-published version. The published version appears in J. Gil & S. Marsen (Eds.), Exploring Language in Global Contexts (pp. 95-111). Routledge. This is the pre-published version. The published version appears in J. Gil & S. Marsen (Eds.), Exploring Language in Global Contexts (pp. 95-111). Routledge.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA
Over the past few decades, English has accomplished to become a world language, used by one billion people as a native, second or foreign language. Seventy countries recognise it as their official or semi-official language, whilst it plays a significant role in 20 others. It is one of the official languages of 85% of all international organizations, e.g.
The Phenomenon of Linguistic Globalization: English as the Global Lingua Franca (EGLF
The conference paper considers changes taking place in the world system of languages as a result of the English language transformation into the Global Language. The most important feature of ELF is emphasis on its function, i.e. its use as a means of intercultural communication, and not on its form, which is subject to the influence of the speaker's first language. Therefore, foreign language education should be reorganized with a view of transition to multilingual teaching in which English is regarded as the language of worldwide communication that does not require acquisition of any system of national values and does not impose any economic political or cultural views.
MIANU – SCIENCE AND PRACTICE (SAP), Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, No. 1, Volumen I, IX - 2021., ISSN 2787-8228 (Print), ISSN 2787-8236 (CD-ROM), 2021
The English hegemony of the world in terms of language has become the sine qua non of the modern way of life. International communication depends on knowledge of the English language, and digital evolution has contributed to that to the greatest extent. Today, we can say that the whole world is digitally connected into one networked system of interplanetary communications. English has thus become the world's lingua franca language in the business world on a global scale. The question is whether we can predict the further spread of this language or its stagnation, perhaps even its replacement with some other world language? In this article we want to point out as well as give a basic theoretical overview of the phenomenon of the English language. In the discussion, we rely on the opinions of English linguists to support our idea about the strength of the English people to expand, partially impose, their achievements of civilization by spreading the language worldwide. The world citizens have found the knowledge of English an essentially important element of life. English, therefore, has become a part of everyday life.
English as an international language: An overview
As indicated in the title, this paper provides a brief overview of English as an International Language (EIL) by elaborating it as a paradigm and discussing concepts that are closely related to it. In doing so, the paper covers sections of English in relation to globalisation, linguistic imperialism, other languages, identity, its varieties, language ecology, and its impacts. Prominent theories and previous research results are presented throughout the paper. In general, EIL as a paradigm suggests that the spread of English is no longer a simple result of migration or colonisation rather it involves multiple reasons, backgrounds, and issues. In the context of communication, EIL requires appropriateness and negotiation in the use and function of English among other languages, which would ideally lead to a "contemporary global linguistic ecology" (Phillipson and Skutnabb-Kangas, p. 20).
Languages in a Globalizing World
The present paper analyses the influence of globalization on the languages. The author considers language transformations to be the most important cultural processes because languages are the first to reflect all social, political, economical, cultural changes occurring in our society. The author analyzes the following processes which tend to happen in languages: language integration, language regionalization, language differentiation, language compression. The author concludes that these processes reflect globalization processes happening in modern society; language integration reflects homogenization; language differentiation displays the conflict between global and local phenomena; and spatial-temporal compression as a typical feature of globalization is revealed in language compression.