global

The future of
global English


• Under each heading, the narrative identifies a major
domain of modern society, puts it in a historical
perspective, then discusses the extent to which it
now uses or depends upon English.
• In speculating about the future of English as a
world language, we need to pay careful attention to
indications which seem to go against the general
trend. And we need to ask, in broad terms: What
kinds of development could impede the future
growth of English?


• A significant change in the balance of power –
whether political, economic, technological or
cultural- could affect the standing of other
languages so that they become increasingly
attractive, and begin to take 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.


Content
The rejection of English
Contrasting attitudes
New English

The rejection of English
• People of a country feel so antagonistic or
ambivalent about English.
• In a post-colonial era, there should be a strong
reaction against continuing to use the language of
the former colonial power, and infavor of
promoting the indigenous languages.


The rejection of English
• English became the language of my formal
education.
• There are also economic arguments which
might persuade a country to reduce its
investment in the English language.
• Any decision to reject English has important
consequences for the identity of a nation.


CONTRASTING
ATTITUDES: THE US
SITUATION


So much of the power which has fuelled the growth of
the English language during the twentieth century has
stemmed from America
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,
Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa,
who regularly express worries in their national presses
about the onslaught of '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.The millions of people learning English in
order to have access to this power would begin to look
elsewhere, and they would quickly acquire new
language loyalties.


Why, in a country where over 95 per cent
of the population speak English,
should there be
a movementto make English official?

They feel they need to
The circumstances in which they need to
are usually very clear


A wide range of argument is used by
each side in support of its case
 The political argument: for
Pro-official supporters see in the emergence of major

immigrant groups, and the support for immigrant language
programmes, the seeds of separatism, and the eventual
dissolution of the unity which is reflected in the very name
of the United States and its motto.
English is viewed, as a social adhesive-as a linguistic glue
which guarantees political unity


The political argument: against
Anti-official supporters maintain that an
official English bill is unnecessary. They
argue that most immigrants are
assimilating nicely and that the natural
course of events will eventually produce a
new social balance, without any need for
legislation


 The socio-economic argument: for
 Pro-official supporters maintain that, at a time when there
is considerable competition for limited funds, an
expensive multilingual support policy is undesirable.
 The problem of selection is thought to be particularly
serious. Pro-official supporters draw attention to the
difficulty of saying that a language can receive official
recognition only after it reaches a certain point of growth.
 Official status, its is asserted, would help to safeguard
English as the language of opportunity.

New English
 Salman Rushdie comments: ‘the English language ceased to be the
sole possession of the English some time ago’.
 The loss of ownership is of course uncomfortable to those, especially
in Britain, who feel that the language is theirs by historical right; but
they have no alternative.
 An inevitable consequence of these developments is that the language
will become open to the winds of linguistic change in totally
unpredictable ways
 In the USA, a concern to develop a distinctive ‘American standard’
was prominent in Webster’s thinking.


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
Most adaptation in a New English relates to vocabulary, in the form
of new words (borrowings – from several hundred language sources,
in such areas as Nigeria), word-formations, word meanings,
collocations and idiomatic phrases
When a community adopts a new language, and starts to use it in
relation to all areas of life, there is inevitably going to be a great deal
of lexical creation.