A Contemporary View of English as a Global Language

Globalisation March 2013 Alan Clark

Phoebe Farr Word Count: 2,700 110040046

A Contemporary View of English

By Phoebe Farr



Contents Contents ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

1. Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

2. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 4

3. How English became a Global language .................................................................................................................................................... 6

3.1 The Standardisation of English ................................................................................................................................................... 6

3.2 Did the British Empire create English imperialism? (1583-1949) ............................................................................................ 7

3.21 The First Empire (1583-1783) ............................................................................................................................................... 7

3.22 The Second Empire .............................................................................................................................................................. 8

4. Popular Culture .................................................................................................................................................................. 10

4.1 How has television and film affected the way we use English as a global language? ............................................................ 10

5. Why are we speaking English and not Chinese? ................................................................................................................................... 12

6. Are businesses helping to make English a global language? ............................................................................................................ 13

7. Is English causing languages to become extinct? ................................................................................................................................... 15

8. Conclusion - Looking to the future ............................................................................................................................................................ 17

9. Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18



‘Around one third of the world’s population have some

knowledge of English’

(Christopher, 2006, p. 27)



1. Abstract

Focusing on the development of English as a world language, as well as its current status, this case study explores how

the English language is currently being affected by globalisation. I shall try to determine how English became to be such a

predominant language around the globe and how this is currently facilitating change around the world.

2. Introduction

The question today is not what globalisation is but rather when it began. Many believe it to be a recent phenomenon,

however, look a little closer and you’ll soon discover it has had an impact on many things, for example language.

As we progress further into the twenty-first century it is clearly evident that more and more nations are opting for English

as their second language, plus there has been a substantial growth in number of individuals taking it upon themselves to

learn English. One has to ask, when did English become such a sort after language? Currently the most commonly

spoken language in the world is Chinese, with over one billion speakers, yet this is only as result of the population size

rather than by choice. English however, is the most widely spoken language and is quickly becoming the universal

language for business, technology, and medicine and is used in breaking down barriers between people and their cultures.

In this case study I hope to determine how English came to be such a prestigious language and investigate the major

factors in how the ‘hybrid, linguistical ‘stew’ ‘ (Christopher, 2006, p. 28) that is English has become known as a ‘universal

language’.

Do you speak

English?



‘Over the next three centuries English was exported to

the continents of North America, Africa, Asia and

Australasia, on voyages of trade discovery and imperial

expansion.’

(Christopher, 2006, p. 29)



3. How English became a Global language

3.1 The Standardisation of English

In the past, Latin held great authority across the Western world, ‘introduced almost 2,000 years ago by the Romans, for

several hundred years it was the official language of the Church, government, education and the law’ (Christopher, 2006,

p. 28). However, as a result of Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1440 the English language was more

accessible to the overall population and eventually took over as the leading language in Britain, causing a dramatic

decline in Latin (Wise Geek,, 2013). With the help of the printing press and Samuel Johnson’s dictionary in 1775 (The

British Library Board, , 2013) a form of standardised English was created across Britain. Yet, this new regulation was

limited to the British Isles and it was not until the development of the British colonies that the English language really

began to affect the rest of the world. As a result the printing press illustrates a form of internal globalisation or perhaps

localisation, as it was a consequence of Gutenberg’s invention that not only reinforced a unified form of English across

Britain but also allowed it to mass produced and supplied to the public, without this English would not have had the same

influence across the world.

Figure 1- The printing press allowed everyone to read English (Renaissance Connection, 2013)



3.2 Did the British Empire create English imperialism? (1583-1949)

Following the invention of the printing press and the development of standardisation, the growth of the British Empire had

one of the greatest influences on the globalisation of the English language. The British Empire formed colonies in North

America, the West Indies, India and Asia, this ultimately led to the British having a significant influence over the countries

they occupied. As a result of the power that the British held they were able dominate any communication with their English

language which meant that this language eventually became an important part of correspondence between businesses in

the British Empire and therefore illustrates that even during the beginning of the British Empire, English was becoming a

universal language for business.

3.21 The First Empire (1583-1783)

The first empire, not only played a significant role in terms

of determining the power of the British Empire but it also

illustrated the beginning of how English became a

language spoken across the world. For example, due to

the British Empire countries such as North America and

Australia spoke English as a first language (Shin &

Kominski, 2007) whereas the West Indies were influenced

by English and today are known to speak Patois and

Creoles (Mashall, 2013) . However, this development was

not without its difficulties as the British Empire only began

to take shape in the early seventeenth century with the

success of the Jamestown settlement in Virginia, America

(Marsh, 2006, p. 10). Yet as a result of this settlement and

the colonies which were to spread across America it is

evident that the globalisation of the English language

primarily revolved ‘around the settler colonies of the

Americas’ (Luscombe, 2013). Figure 2 – a depiction of an early settlement in America (NASA, 2007)



3.22 The Second Empire

The Second Empire allowed English to be spread more widely across the world. Britain’s main colonies during this period

were situated in India, where the East India Company and other trade were quickly established. This set roots for the

English language which can still be seen today. However, at the time to be able to converse in English illustrated the

middle class and the educated, therefore English was not accessible to everyone. As a result this meant that unlike North

America, English was becoming a second language in which people had to be schooled in order to learn. This

encouragement for business owners was beneficial at the time as the Empire were losing power over North America , and

after the War of Independence (1775-1783), Britain once again sort power elsewhere which as a result led them to the

east.

Figure 3: The British Empire – the red illustrates where Britain held power (The Victorian School, 2013)



‘Introducing ‘Lite’ - The new way to spell ‘Light’, but with twenty percent fewer letters.’

(Seinfeld, 2008)



4. Popular Culture

The British Empire illustrates the globalisation of English through the use of politics and power, however, as a result of the

invention of the radio and television a new influence was to evolve and take hold of those around the world and in doing

so reinforced the impact English was and still is having on the world. The Beatles, were one of the first bands to have

such an influence on fans around the world due to the accessibility of such media platforms. As a result they played a key

role in the development of English as a global language as their wide spread fame ultimately encouraged their fans across

the globe to sing in English which most likely would have led them to understanding a basic form of English and therefore

beginning the process of it becoming a global language through the use of media and popular culture.

4.1 How has television and film affected the way we use English as a global language?

Today media platforms such as television and film are becoming great commodities when regarding the increase in

English as a global language. For one, the movie and television central of the western world is Hollywood. Most, if not all,

films and television programmes that are made is this area of America are created in English. As a result this means that

when the television shows or movies are distributed to another part of the world they are done so with English being the

primary language. This then leads to studios in that particular country – if their first language is not English – to dub or

subtitle the productions which have come from Hollywood. This is reinforced by the fact that the world’s highest grossing

film of all time was Avatar (2009), an English speaking film, directed by

American James Cameron (Box Office Mojo, 2013).

However, one of the major factors when discussing Hollywood’s

influence over the globalisation of English is the increase in American

English spellings rather than British English. For example, promotional

movie campaigns are choosing to keep their American spellings even

when advertising their films in Britain, therefore instead of ‘The Time

Traveller’s Wife’ containing a double ‘l’, it contains the American single ‘l’

(Barton, 2009). Although this is only a minute problem in reality, it is quite

evident how much of an influence the media holds over the public and if

people in England or perhaps even Australia were to be continuously

presented with American English as opposed to British English or Australian English there could be a globalisation not

just of English but rather American English.

Figure 4: is American English really the future? (Barton, 2009)



‘A person in Holland would not need to learn Chinese in order to communicate with his friends in

China. Instead, he could use English as a neutral language.’

(Claerr, 2007)



5. Why are we speaking English and not Chinese?

Although it may have the greatest figure in terms of population and currently holds the highest amount of speakers of one

language (Ethnologue, 2013), there are many reasons as to why Chinese is not at present a global language. The

Chinese alphabet for one, which uses a character based alphabet rather than one which relies on phonetics, illustrates

that this script may be difficult to learn for those who are unfamiliar with it. This provides a key reason as to why the

language has faced difficulty in becoming a global language. In addition to this ‘the Roman alphabet is already the most

widely used alphabet in the world today, and is shared by many disparate and seemingly unrelated languages,’ (Claerr,

2007) this again reinforces the fact that a language such as English is easier to use as it shares similarities with other

languages. Furthermore, the fact that there is a lack of tonal range or clear intonation (Claerr, 2007) in the Chinese

language also makes the language very challenging and demanding

to learn for those who are unfamiliar with Chinese. As a result of

English being deemed a ‘neutral language’ it would be very

problematic for people, especially from the Western world or those

countries who speak English as a first language to learn and adapt to

this new language.

One might ask whether or not enough has been done in order to

encourage people to learn Chinese, after all English is available

across the globe whereas Chinese is rarely seen or heard on any

medium outside China. It is well know that China has not had the

same opportunities to create a global language, for one the British

Empire and the Commonwealth most definitely encouraged people to

learn and speak English. Perhaps if Chinese were to be taught in

schools (The Independent , 2013) and the same emphasis was to be

given to Chinese as it is given to languages such as English, French,

German and Spanish then Chinese could become a global language.

However, even with this assistance, it would most likely be very

difficult for Chinese to make the same impact on the world as English,

simply due to the fact that it not as accessible to the majority.

Figure 5: Chinese taking over English? Is it a possibility? (The Atlantean Conspiracy.com, 2011)



6. Are businesses helping to make English a global language?

With the growing number of businesses opting to ‘go global’, the role of English in business and the economy is

becoming more salient (Ordonez, 1999, 2003, p. 6). Due to the fact that English is becoming a universal language,

businesses are able to place their operations anywhere around the globe which therefore allows English as a global

language to develop further. Most companies opt for developing countries such as India or Pakistan to outsource their

work. In such countries they are able to decrease wages whilst increasing revenue. As a result this will lead to the

increase of the globalisation of English as people in such developing countries will learn English in order to secure

employment. This is reinforced by the fact that India currently has over 125 million speakers of English (Wikipedia, 2013)

and ‘in 2008 India claimed 65% of all offshored IT work and 43% of offshored business-process work’ (The Economist,

2013). In addition, English is currently “moving from “a marker of the elite”…to “a basic skill needed for the entire

workforce” (Clark, 2012), this again emphasises not only the globalisation of the English as a international language but

also how today or at least in the future to speak English will become a necessity rather than simply a skill. The following

table illustrates clearly how international business has increased, one of the main factors for this will not only be

advancements in technology -it is easier to travel to distant countries today than it was in the 1960’s - but the time scale

also indicates that English was becoming more global through the availability of television and films and other medias.

Summary indicators of accelerated globalisation in contemporary history

International Trade From $629 billion in 1960 to $7,100 billion in 2002

International Companies From 7,000 in the late 1960s to 65,000 in 2001

International CSOs From 1,117 in 1956 to over 20,000 in 2000

Figure 6: How globalisation has affected businesses, English as a global language may have helped this. (Scholte, 2005, p. 117)



‘Time changes all things; there is no reason why

language should escape this universal law’

(de Saussure, 2013)



7. Is English causing languages to become extinct?

Recently there was uproar when a teacher at a primary school in Middlesbrough created a list of specific dialect words

that students were banned from using in the classroom. Although the head teacher Carol Walker made a point of saying

that she did not ‘want the children to be disadvantaged. Using standard English in applications and job interviews is

important,’ (Furness, 2013)the question has to be asked, if we sanction particular words then who is to say that although

English may become more global it will eventually lack variation and therefore illustrates that by globalising English, the

very country in which it was founded may also change as a result. This is not to say that English has not changed and

adapted over the years, ‘until the mid-1970s mainly English and American English words were recorded, but today many

different forms are recognised, such as Australian, Indian, South Africa, and even internet English, and slang words’

(Christopher, 2006, p. 29) Furthermore, ‘2004 recorded a number of Hindi words

entering general use’ (Christopher, 2006, p. 29)

According to Ethnologue there are currently 906 languages around the world

which are at risk of becoming extinct (Ethnologue, 2013). However, not all these

lost languages are in far-away countries, some are much closer to home and

again depict a negative side to globalisation in which a standard form of English is

taking over from other British dialects. ‘The last speakers of Cornish as a living

language died in the early nineteenth century and the Manx language

disappeared in the late 1940s’ (Christopher, 2006, p. 34) These languages

ceased to exist before modern globalisation really began to take effect which

does not bode well for languages in the future. Although in some cases, the

government has tried to help languages to succeed. One of these particular

languages is Welsh. ‘For almost 1,000 years until the Act of Union with England

in 1536, Welsh was the only language spoken in Wales’ (Christopher, 2006, p. 35)

yet slowly it became marginalised as English became ‘the language of

government, education and trade.’ (Christopher, 2006, p. 35). Eventually in 1993

the government stepped in and passed the Welsh language Act ‘which stipulated

that Welsh and English should be considered as equal languages in public affairs

and the administration of justice’ (Christopher, 2006, p. 35). This illustrates not only how the globalisation of English is

detrimental to languages but it also indicates how the government and the public may have to change in order to cling

onto their native language.

Figure 7: Welsh Language Skills (Wikipedia, 2013)



‘Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English. It means they know another language.’

(Brown Jr, 2011)



8. Conclusion - Looking to the future

The future of any language is relatively unknown; yet, the difference between English and ‘any other language’ is the fact

that English has ‘gone global’ and therefore it will not be as easy to destroy, or at least hopefully that will be the case. The

main problems faced with English are firstly, how many other languages will be terminated as a result of English taking

over and secondly which form of English will dominate in the future? Will it be British English, American English or

perhaps even Australian English? Although, English becoming a globalised language will make communication between

countries and people easier than it was in the past, it may also encourage a loss of culture and for that reason alone I

personally believe that English being a global language is practical yet it may be at the detriment to other languages and

therefore should be closely monitored.

Figure 8 (Shawn, 2011)



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A Contemporary View of English as a Global Language

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