“English: A Global Language?”By Jeff Leiper

Brittany Sherbert

Introduction

•Facts•Origins•Story•Use•Causes

Facts about English•English is present on every continent•It is used officially in over 60 countries•It is prominent in over 20 more countries•80% of electronically-stored information

is done so in English•Over 80 million study English at the

secondary level (not including China)•The first computers were American

David Crystal. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. 1987.

Origins of English

•English is derived from the language of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes

•English is an “increasingly classless” language

•It can no longer be thought of as a national language

Story in Real-Life

father - Was - your - angry?•This question was asked of three

students: Keiko (20; Japan), Dorothee (17; France), and Jung (23; Korea). They are studying English in a beginner-to-intermediate class at Living Languages Institute in Ottawa, Canada. Their reason for studying English—to get a job. However, it is not a necessity; studying English will help to further their endeavors.

English in Use

•Much of the internet is written in English•Third-party mediums between countries

are in English•Many top superstars, in entertainment or

sports, speak Enlgish (i.e. Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, Paul McCartney, Michael Jordan)

Causes—Globalization

“It is important that amid this understandable interest and enthusiasm we do not overlook the more undesirable consequences of the development of English as a world language. ... From a social and political point of view, the spread of English around the world was largely the result of exploitation and colonisation, and in many multilingual countries English is still the language of an exclusive elite.”

Jenny Cheshire. English Around the World: Sociolinguistic Perspectives.

1991.

Questions?