Introduction Since the establishment of the British Empire, the spread of English language has been experienced in many parts of the globe. The success can be attributed significantly to the colonization activities that the empire had embarked on. They would train the indigenous community English language as they suppressed the local dialect. This massive spread is termed as lingual imperialism (Osterhammel 2005, pp. 14). The English language has become the first and second language of many nations across the world, and this makes it an international language. The native’s proportion to the non-native who speaks English cannot be compared with nations in the isle of Britain and far are speaking the language .considering that more than 70% …show more content…
The British Empire was established in the early 1600s and its expansion activity within its Isle and other geographical regions in the quest of expanding the empire began, which led to a tremendous spread of the English language. The first colony of the British Empire to control was in North America, and the first base was launched in Virginia. The British fought the French, who had taken root in North America and won a seven-year war which enabled them to take control of the North American territories .They established new political systems and eroded those by French and disrupted the social life in that geographical region by the introduction of the slave trade. Although most North American countries attained their independence from the British Empire, they had expanded their sphere of influence to Caribbean and some South American territories. The second geographical region the British had colonized was Australia more than a century later after she had lost her American colonies. Australia was homeland for cockney English speakers. Just like in America; they neglected the Aboriginals, introduced the slave trade and pushed them away from the particular geographical regions they wanted to settle. The pattern of British colonization continued to West and South African regions. This happened after 1880 when the leadership pattern …show more content…
It has led to the development of new dialects and modification of existing ones. The British Empire has been able to spread the language across the globe and to date it is the most widespread language and most used in foreign transactions. Currently, the population of non- native English speakers is higher than native English speakers. This is a clear indication that English has become an international language.
References
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Osterhammel, J., &Petersson, N. P. (2005). Globalization: a short history. Princeton University Press.
SeargentPhilip, and Joan Swam. English in the world: History, diversity, change. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2012.
Sharma, B., 2008. “World Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca, and English Pedagogy”, Journal of NELTA 13 (2), pp. 121-130. Available from
It is accepted that the use of English language has increased steadily in the last 50 years all over the world. English language is important for travelling involves package holidays, sporting occasions, business meetings, international conventions, military occupations, academic conferences and transportation and lodgings (Crystal 2003). Some people believe that the USA economic power influenced spread of English by majority of institutions and other areas, such as UN, Hollywood and TV programmes. On the other hand, other people claim that language of English already have been used by majority of countries which is colony (Crystal 2003). This essay will firstly describe how economic power of the USA influence on spread of English to the world. Secondly, essay will point out opposing arguments that the colony of Britain. This essay will argue and indicate that truth of situation that the US English is the dominate world language nowadays.
“The English language has over three hundred sixty million native speakers in the world. Around four hundred million people speak English in the world.” (Brandon Brice, Why English Should Be Official Language of the United States Sept 2016) The language of English originated in Britain in the sixth or seventh century. It comes from three different periods of time; Old English (Anglo Saxon), Middle English, and Modern English. The English language is utilized all around the world in various countries where it may or may not be the official language.
—. Language: Readings in Language and Culture. 6th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1998. Print.
As a result of the worldwide influence, geographical-historical aspect, of the British Empire, English language enlarged its influence in every part of the world, because of expansion and colonisation of Africa and the South Pacific, English took a further step as a global language [Crystal, 2003:24].
The discourse about the use of English as a global language comes at a time when there exists cultural, political and economic supremacy among nations that are speaking different languages. The rise of nations such as China to the global platform and the influence of France in the European Union are making both the Chinese and the French languages to gain respect in the world. Beyond this, English remains a formidable language that can serve to unify all nations of the world. Firstly, English speaking countries have the powerful global status than other countries, English is a flexible language, making it easy to learn. This regards the fact that its grammar is generally simpler than most languages. Thirdly, English is a familiar language,
From the beginning of the 19th century we speak about the Late Modern English mostly affected by Industrial Revolution and the fact that British Empire took over a large part of the world what had an impact on nowadays status of English as the most widespread language.
Englishes in use today across the Australian, African and Asian continents are the results of eighteen and nineteen-century colonialism (Urszula, 2013). Various colonisers brought with them a version of European-base language to make a standardisation in their home location and overlaid the languages of indigenous peoples. Particular region, environmental, geographical and political factors also affect the forms of English, as vocabulary, pronunciation differ from one place to another, like Australian English, American English, Indian English (Urszula, 2013). The Indian linguistic B. Kachru (as cited Kachru & Smith, 2008) has put forward that today’s Englishes are can be viewed in three concentric circles: the Inner circle – represents countries where English is used as a primary language like U.K, U.S.A, Australia, Canada New Zealand; Outer circle – include countries like India, Philippines, Singapore and Nigeria, where English has been adopted due to colonisation as an additional language for intranational purposes like education, law and administration; Expanding circles – includes countries like China, Japan, Korea and the Middle East, where English is primarily used for inter-national
First of all, English is becoming an international language nowadays, and it is shared by people all over the world instead of only belonging to those who are native speakers of English. Swann (2001) classifies languages into four groups, which are called local languages or peripheral languages, central languages, super-central languages, and hyper-central languages respectively. English, in fact, is the only hyper-central language among all kinds of languages as it is spoken in almost any country for various purposes and it is taught in most countries all over the world. As a result, English has become a global lingual franca, not only used
Nowadays, English is the global and technology language. English play an important role in the world and it works like a passport because it became the language of technology and the language of internationals. As result, most of the people developed their global businesses through English language. In all over the world there are many opportunities that changes people life to make it better and its English language. There are many non- English speaking countries that use English as a second language and they teach subjects like science and mathematics and etc in their schools. Also they use English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) to provide more opportunity for their development.
There are about 6,500 spoken languages in the modern world. However, about 2,000 of these languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers. By 2010, 359 million people spoke English as their first language. It is probably the 3rd popular language by the number of its native speakers. However, when the native and the non-native speakers of English are combined, it turns to be probably the most commonly spoken language in the world. In the following essay, we will explain what English is drawing on communities where English is used as the national language and the way English is used around the world. We will also discuss the association of English with technical and scientific communication, education and employment. One more point that will be dicussed in this essay is the extent to which English is open to change and the emergence of world Englishes.
McCormick, K. (2012), 'English and Other Languages' in Seargeant, P. and Swann, J. (ed.) History, Diversity, Change (U214, English in the World), Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 245-290.
The settlement of the British Isles by north Europeans followed by Norman French paints the backdrop to this essay which will focus on the period between the early 15th and 17th centuries, when a'standard' English language evolved. It will show that modern-day English is very different to that first introduced to the British Isles, but by identifying changes through time, its continuity can be demonstrated. Finally, it will suggest that present day English is in a position analogous to that which existed before the Norman invasion, when there were many varieties and dialects, and that this may lead to its decline as a global language, due to decreasing intelligibility. The beginnings of English can be found in the occupation of England from the 5th century by north and west German ethnic groups who brought their 'indigenous dialects' (Seargeant, P. 2012, p. 1). The Oxford English Dictionary defines English as 'Of or related to the West Germanic language spoken in England and used in many varieties throughout the world' (Seargeant, P. 2012, p. 7).
Once English language was considered to be the language of imperialism, but now it can no longer be the language of elect society. Now it is the most viable and accessible language of every man in this planet. English occupies an important position in India as a second Language by winning a position of associate status and as an official Language for International, national, administrative, political, social, legal, academic commercial and scientific communication. English came to be the language of the legal system, higher education. It is also mainly used for diplomatic communication and for tourism around the world. Every Language is bound to its culture where as the English language is made to bind to any cultural society, it percolates,
In the dawn of the 21st century, English Language Teaching (ELT) and Second Language Acquisition (SLA) are central for individual progress and participation in an increasingly globalized culture and economy. As a discourse and process, globalization encapsulates the emergence of the network society (Erling & Seargeant, 2013) characterized by complex, disjunctive, contradictory, and sometimes unpredictable power relations (Appadurai, 1996). In this context, discourses about the role of English language and its contribution to the creation of just and democratic societies have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the last twenty years. Of course, these discourses have grown hand in hand with socio-cultural, economic, and political transformations. These transformations have had dramatic influence not only for language education policies and English teaching practices, but have also shaped conceptualizations of language, identity, culture, and attitudes about the role of English learning in the context of globalization. These developments have led to contradictory and conflicting claims about the ownership of English. According to some language scholars (e.g., Barlett, 2013), English language is no longer the exclusive property of the native speakers and advocate for recognition of emerging local varieties of English (Bamgbose, 1998; Kachru, 1996; Mirhosseini, 2008). Yet, in postcolonial spaces inherited colonial education systems are still struggling in their emancipatory upheavals for democracy and social justice in Africa. The language question and English language education, to be sure, is central to these struggles.