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English as a Global LanguageEnglish is a massively established and integrated part of our new global society, with some hugely beneficial advantages and some terrible disadvantages. Here are some statistics on the English language and how broadly spoken around the world it is: ?English is the most widespread language in the world and is more widely spoken and written than any other language. Over 700 million people, speak English, as a foreign language. More than half of the world's technical and scientific periodicals are in English. English is the medium for 80% of the information stored in the world's computers. Five of the largest broadcasting companies in the world transmit in English?? As you can see the language and its influence on global affairs and pop culture is quite impressive. English is a language of convenience ? the grammar is rather simple. The "I, you, we, them" verb forms share the same version of a verb and the "he/she" form is typically only slightly different. There are however many exceptions and irregular verbs and nouns in English, which is quite the disadvantage; some would argue that British is a badly structured language because of this. But there are other conveniences; English is a linear, left to right language which is important to the internet (i.e. URLs) in terms of space and legibility. And as we all know the internet is a force to be reckoned with, as it is now incorporated into all aspects of life. Asian languages by comparison have a structure of 'blocks' of syllables. English incorporates many, many words from other languages such as French and Spanish and so it is a rather flexible, integrating language, although it may not be considered to be the most ?original? language because of this. But how did English spread the way it has and have so much influence in the formative years of globalization? The following quote from author David Crystal might enlighten us in this regard: ?A language has traditionally become an international language for one chief reason: the power of its people ? especially their political and military power.? He also said that ?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 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.? Concluding this, he said: ?During the twentieth century, this world presence was maintained and promoted almost single-handedly through the economic supremacy of the new American superpower?. the language behind the U.S dollar was English.? According to Jacques Mélitz of *CRESP and **CEPR, the global dominance of the English language is bad news for world literature. He says that if English dominates world publishing, very few translations except those from English to other languages will be commercially viable. As a result, virtually only those writing in English will have a chance of reaching a world audience and achieving ?classic status?. Mélitz argues the outcome is clear - just as with sciences, those who want to reach a world audience will write in English. Mélitz warns that ?World literature will be an English literature and will be the poorer for it ? as if all music were written only for the cello?. A global language could lead to discrimination of other languages. Losing a language means losing a cultural identity and according to Peter Trudgill, languages are more than a tool for communication. There is an intimate relationship between a language and its culture and a large homogenisation of culture might lead to native people changing to another language, allowing the old language to die out. A ?killer language? is a dominant language learned subtractively at the cost of a mother tongue.. ?Language murder? is when a ?killer? language (i.e. English) actively discourages the use of another language. Minority languages can be removed from media and education systems in such an environment. Controversially, having English as a global language seems likely, whether people like this or not. While it brings big advantages in terms of convenience, communication and global integration, there are also unfortunate side-effects affecting many. Bibliography: - Crystal, D. (2003). English as a Global Language. Publisher. - Mélitz, J. (1999) English-Language Dominance, Literature and Welfare. (Discussion Paper No. 2055) CEPR. - Statistics. [online]. Publisher. Available: http://www.englishlanguageguide.com/english/facts/stats/ [Accessed 3 December 2011] - Trudgill, P. (2000). Sociolinguistics, an introduction to language and society 4th edition. Suffolk: Penguin books. *Centre de Recherche en Economie et Statistique, Paris **CEPR?
