Vacuum Cleaner Of Language English Language Essay

Published: November 21, 2015 Words: 1885

Searching for the future of Word Englishes is a challenging undertaking for scholars all around the world as well as the topic of constant discussions and debates between linguists. The reason for this is very simple and yet so complex. The future is unpredictable! All the more so, when it comes to a constantly changing subject such as language. However, scholars have always tried to forecast possible future scenarios of many types, despite the fact that nobody knows what the future holds. Questions such as: "What language(s) will be spoken in the year 2050?" and "how will language evolve in the next 20-30 years" have been attracting scholars' attention for some time now, with varying results. In a time in which people all around the globe try to communicate with each other (more or less successfully) via the internet, it seems natural that there is going to be a language which should be intelligible to all those who use it. After the intense spread of English over large parts of the world during the last century, many scholars believe that English will stay the number one 'trading language'. But what makes a global language? Is it probable that the primacy of English will remain? Or is it also possible that languages such as Mandarin, Spanish or Arabic will become the future languages spoken in the world? Perhaps in the future, completely different languages will arise and we are heading for a future in which 'mixed' languages such as Singlish, Konglish or Spanglish will make their way into the textbooks for students of foreign languages.

The intention of this paper is to outline the development of the English language and why it became such an important 'lingua franca' for today's society. Therefore, I am going to briefly analyse possible reasons for English becoming the 'global language' of today as well as examining a few variations of English, developed in recent years. Furthermore, I am going to discuss the importance of identity, applied to language, and how linguists classify the use of English around the world. Finally, I will have a close look at the future perspectives of the English language with a special focus on its international use as a 'trading language' among non-native speakers and the usage of English in the World Wide Web.

2. Why is English so important?

No one questions that English plays an important role as a world-wide trading language and has therefore obtained a considerable status regarding the communication between people who do not share the same mother tongue. There are numerous countries which carry out their international business transactions almost exclusively in English (even if it is not their own mother tongue). So, what is it that made English to what it is today? The question is whether English possesses certain features that make the language especially suitable to serve as a 'lingua franca'. According to Jean Aitchison (2001), a well known British linguist and professor of Language and Communication at the University of Oxford, it is not the characteristics of the English language system that made English become the lingua franca it is today, but the distribution of power, dating back to the British Empire, a time the British Isles were the major colonial power. In the article Aitchison makes the point that "At one time French was the language of power and prestige, and Latin was also widely admired as fixed and firm." The reason for English is becoming the world language it is today is "all about the power of the people who speak it" (BBC News: Internet + English = Netglish: 2001)

In accordance with Aitchison I want to introduce another British linguist, whose findings in this particular field of studies must not remain unmentioned, namely David Crystal. Crystal, who is the author and editor of over hundred works about the English language states in his book English as a global language that what really makes a global language is definitely its speakers. He further on explains that it is not the number of native speakers of the particular language but who these speakers are. (2003: 7) Crystal directly relates the assertiveness of a language to the power of the people who speak it and emphasizes his point by giving the example of Latin - the main trading language during the Roman Empire.

In the case of Latin it is very unlikely that people of that time could have imagined that it would lose its status of being a global language and - even worse - being a dead language by now. Therefore it is, according to Crystal, the political and military power, as well as its economic, technological and cultural influence that made English a global language.

Crystals implementations also explain the, to my mind, rather confusing figures of the table below. As the below chart suggests, English ranks only at forth place of the most widely spoken languages in the world, which made me wonder why it was English that established as a global language. To understand this apparent contradiction I had a closer look at the table below and critically analysed the data.

Top 5 Languages by Number of Native Speakers

Data source: Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th ed. (2005)

Language

approximate # of speakers

Where is it spoken as an official language?

1.

Mandarin Chinese

NATIVE: 873 million

2nd: 178 million

TOTAL: 1.051 billion

OFFICIAL: People's Republic of China, Republic of China, Singapore

2.

Hindi

NATIVE: 370 million

2nd:120 million

TOTAL: 490 million

OFFICIAL: India, Fiji

3.

Spanish

NATIVE: 350 million

2nd: 70 million

TOTAL: 420 million

OFFICIAL: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, United States (New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela

4.

English

NATIVE: 340 million

TOTAL: 510 million

OFFICIAL: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Dominica, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong (People's Republic of China), India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevs, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

5.

Arabic

NATIVE: 206 million

2nd: 24 million

TOTAL: 230 million

[World Almanac est. total 255 million]

OFFICIAL: Modern Standard Arabic: Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, Yemen. | Hasaniya Arabic: Mauritania, Senegal

NATIONAL: Mali

Note: These figures combine all the varieties of Arabic. Some data sources, e.g. CIA World Fact Book, World Almanac, Ethnologue, treat these varieties as separate languages.

Given these numbers, and taking Crystals explanations into account, one can see that the vast number of countries (precisely 64 states) in which English is considered to be an official language have resulted in the fact that English is, what it is today. The variety of cultures as well as the economic dependence of these countries on the English speaking world, explain why it is necessary to use English as a lingua franca, especially in a globalized economy.

Another reason for English being so successful is the fact that the United States gained considerable influence, economically as well as politically, in the late 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Still, English is considered to be the language of successful business people, living, as it were the 'American Dream' so that many people believe that speaking English will somehow guarantee international success. Not to forget that there is still the belief of English being the language of the modern and 'hip' as it is in the German speaking countries and as carefully developed tricky advertising strategies try to make us believe….

It is estimated that more than half the world population will be "competent" in English by the year 2050. But it is likely that this new form of "World Speak" English will be very different from the language we understand now.

According to Jennifer Jenkins the amount of English speakers increased from 1603 to the start of 21st century from 6 million to 2 billion people all around the globe. Owing to this fact it is a logical consequence that over the time there was a certain change in language in order to the variety of types of people using English in their everyday lives. At the moment there are over 75 counties where English is spoken either as a native or as a second language. This is about a third of the world's population. Nevertheless there has to be a distinction of speaker of English as a first respectively second language and speakers of English which just use it as a lingua franca. The discussion whether English as a global Language is a "gift or a curse" (Ross Smith, Cambridge Journal) is therefore to my mind absolutely justified.

As David >Crystal points out in his The Cambridge Encyclopedia of English Language the reason of English being the number one global language is that it is spoken in more than 60 countries.

Here's a listing of the ten most popular languages spoken worldwide, along with the approximate number of primary or first language speakers for that language.

1. Mandarin Chinese - 882 million

2. Spanish - 325 million

3. English - 312-380 million

4. Arabic - 206-422 million

5. Hindi - 181 million

6. Portuguese - 178 million

7. Bengali - 173 million

8. Russian - 146 million

9. Japanese - 128 million

10. German - 96 million

Various sources were used to compile this listing of the most popular languages of the world but the primary source was the CIA World Fact book

Ethnologue: Languages of the World

An encyclopedic reference work cataloging all of the world's 6,909 known living languages

English is also the language of global communication

Concerning English he says that it was on the right place at the right time

In the 17th and 18th century, English was the language of the leading colonial nation -- Britain.

In the 18th and 19th century, it was the language of the leader of the industrial revolution -- also Britain.

In the late 19th century and the early 20th it was the language of the leading economic power -- the USA.

English emerged as a first-rank language in industries which affected all aspects of society -- the press, advertising, broadcasting motion pictures, sound recording, transport and communication.

: "At one time French was the language of power and prestige," she says, "and Latin was also widely admired as fixed and firm." The rise of English, she says, is "all about the power of the people who speak it" - first as the language of the British Empire and now, in a slightly different form, of American corporations, advertising and pop culture. It is estimated that more than half the world population will be "competent" in English by the year 2050. But it is likely that this new form of "World Speak" English will be very different from the language we understand now.