The Development of English as a Global Language - Essay Example

Introduction The emerging of English as a global language is one of the most remembered phenomena of the latest centuries. From the first time in the history of man society, one language has become so common that it can be used as a language for communication between speakers of different languages. There are many reasons as to why English has come to be the leading world common language used by everyone, for example the British colonisation, the slave trade, industrialisation, economic globalisation and the recent accelerating communication technology. English now days as dominated in international business, politics and culture more than any other common language. Some oversees the advantages in communication between people, while others are worried that Global English will over rule other languages. History English history has been divided into three main stages: Old English, Recent English and most Recent English. Global English, according to Graddol (2004a), is representing a fourth stage with its main use between non English speakers. This stage has just begun and both the status and the linguistic format of the language are rapidly changing. As early as the 12th century when the first English colonies in Ireland and Wales where the establishment of English language began to its expansion. Thereafter, English speaking people in North America and the slave trade from Africa aids in distribution of English. But the most spread of the English language came from the British colonial expansion in the late 19th century and many former colonies countries in Africa and Asia still have English as their second language. Pidgin, Asians and Creole English and other forms of new language also derive from the colonies (Graddol 2004b). Most companies that have expanded outside their national boundaries, with a need for communication within the company and their clients, have made English the official corporate language than any other language (Tagliabue 2002). Arguments in favour of Global English One of the main reasons as to why we use English as Global language is to make communication between people easier and understand others well, especially in business and politics. In very important political meetings which concern many countries in the whole world, for example the United Nations, it would be a great help if all members speak and understand English as common language. Now days the use of interpreters and other forms of tools for communication make the meetings protracted; the organisation heavily can misunderstandings what is going on (Crystal 2003a). Another reason for using English as a Global language is according to Crystal strictly economical. Multilingual or bilingual countries that have more than one general language must give information to their citizens in different languages at the same time. The costs for ready material, interpreters, commercials and multilingual staff can be more expensive. There would also be large amounts of capital to secure in the world politics and international business, if everyone can use common language (Crystal 2003b). The third reason for using Global English is, according to Crystal, the new most international world we live in. The frequent in travelling to other countries, both physically by sea and air, but mostly is via the Internet, has created a need for a general language that helps us to communicate and understand each other in life. In some areas of communication the importance thing of all is common language that has been known for long. For people who are working at sea and air it is crucial to understand each other´s messages, otherwise there will be the most misunderstandings, which can lead to accidents (Crystal. 2003c). Graddol means that in these specialised fields, it is very important to have a standard form of English that have a specialised terminology that is understood by everyone and language registers, necessary to create understanding among co-workers but not by outsiders (Graddol. 2004c). There is a growing tolerance among multiple standards of English by most citizens, Graddol has noticed. Users can happily carry over the linguistic features from their native language to avoid difficult expressions from Standard English. In the other hand Graddol says that people do not have to sound like a native speaker in order to be understood and speakers of Global English but can still keep their existing identities. Both the use of English and the other languages itself will continue to diverge among many ways. (Graddol.2004d). Goswami (2003a) believes that the common English language is going to be Global language while being maintaining by local roots among many people (Goswami. 2003b). The reasons as to why English should become the international language is many, and one of the facts is that English already is understood by many people around the world. Many countries believe in the importance of the linguistic development and have started ambitious educational reforms that enable whole generations to attend education in English. Today, around 5.8 billion of the total population in the world cannot speak English. This figure will decrease accordingly and Graddol believes that it is about a third of the total population in the world will be taught English within ten years (Graddol. 2004e). Arguments against Global English The main reason against the use of English as Global language comes about by Rohde (2003a), from multiculturalists who fear that the spread of Global English will be the end of many other languages. One language is not needed to bring unity among people. There are many examples of multilingual states, such as Switzerland, that exist and thrive as a set example of how to live in an allowing climate with different languages. If most of the countries can manage a multilingual society the world should be able to be organized in a multicultural form. Rohde believes that it was very important to preserve the notion of every person’s right to maintain its own culture and language. He also has realise a tendency that non-white native languages could be viewed as backward, primitive and traditional, more like dialects rather than any other languages. These languages will be in danger as Global English language will continue to spread more in the world. (Rohde. 2003b). English language is probably emerging faster than any other language in the whole world due to the fact that so many people use it and design it. For example for every native speaker there are three non-native speakers in the current world. This means that most of the countries, English is merging most with native languages to form hybrid vernaculars. English purists are worried that most of the Standard English will be degraded due to changing in English and they believe that a standard form of English is important to preserve as an important tool for communication, otherwise the intelligibility will be threatened the most (Rohde. 2003c). According to Crystal he warns that poor undeveloped countries in the third world will have those hard times to finance education in English for their own people. If the rest of the world would master Global English the ones that do not understand English will be far away and stay poor. Crystal had believed that the richer countries in the world have a big responsibility to help poor countries so that they would begin educational reforms which will be integrated by English into the curriculum (Crystal. 2003d). According to Crystal he meant that the native speaker of English will always be of more advantage than non-native speakers as they know everything about the cultural and societal registers (Crystal. 2003e). Non-native speakers of English, for some example in a business situation, can according to Rohde be blunt, humourless, use complex grammar and apply their own English terms when they communicate (Rohde. 2003d). The future As we have look at both good and bad sides with Global English but we can still avoid the accelerating linguistic development? Rohde believes that the more spread of English cannot be halted. The globalisation of the world which is mostly driven by economics is inevitable and the world needs the most common language for trade, politics and culture (Rohde. 2003e). According to Crystal he meant that there is no reason for other languages to be fate because of an increasing use of English. Most of the world’s population are already naturally bilingual. This means that it might be possible to maintain the role of a standard language as a Global language and at the same time maintain local languages. The standard guarantees of intelligibility and the local expresses of identity are according to Crystal. Rohde goes a step further when he says that, as China continues to developed, some fear is that a form of Chinese could be possible to replace English as the world’s leading global language within three generations to come (Rohde. 2003f). Graddol also had a feeling that other languages in the world want to compete for the rule as a Global language. He says that, for many years, Latin served as a Global language in Europe. Global English language might be a new Latin but it might take some more centuries for Global English to developed like Latin took many centuries for its influence to decline (Graddol. 2004f). Conclusion In conclusion the changing world of today is likely to state that the use of a global language will increase as population also increase and that this global language wills probably being the English language. As more people in the world, both native and non-native, use English as a common language for communication it will change. Positive effects of using Global English language includes easier and less expensive communication among many countries and companies, less misunderstandings at the special fields and opportunities to discover and explore the world through travelling, working and studying abroad. The negative side is that Global English will look very different depending on the user of that language, many different varieties will occur and the intelligibility may be endangered from its originality. The interest in learning more languages can be low and there will be a risk of feting in some languages. Reference Crystal: D. 2003. English as a Global language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Goswami. R. 2003. Globalization erodes local languages, fuels “Glocal” English. Graddol.L. 2004). English-Language Dominance, Literature and Welfare. Retrieved Rohde. D. 2003. As English spreads, Speakers Morph it into World Tongue. Christian Science Tagliabue. J. 2002. In Europe going global means, Alas, English. New York Times.       Read More