The Future of English in the World of Communication

English – History

Britain’s colonial expansion established the pre-conditions for the global use of English, taking the language from its island birthplace to settlements around the world. The English language has grown up in contact with many others, making it a hybrid language which can rapidly evolve to meet new cultural and communicative needs.

English in the 20th century

The story of English has been closely linked to the rise of the US as a superpower that has spread the English language alongside its economic, technological and cultural influence. In the same period, the international importance of other European languages, especially French, has declined.

Who speaks English?

There are three kinds of English speaker:

- Those who speak it as a first language

- Those for whom it is a second or additional language

- Those who learn it as a foreign language.

English is remarkable for its diversity, its propensity to change and be changed. This has resulted in both a variety of forms of English, but also a diversity of cultural contexts within which English is used in daily life.

The main areas of development in the use and form of English will undoubtedly come from non-native speakers.

Major International domains of English

1. Working language of international organizations and conferences
2. Scientific publications
3. International banking, economic affairs and trade
4. Advertising for global brands
5. Audio-visual cultural products (e.g. film, TV, popular music)
6. International tourism
7. Tertiary education
8. International safety (e.g. ‘airspeak’, ‘seaspeak’)
9. International law
10. As a ‘ready language’ in interpretation and translation
11. Technology transfer
12. International communication.

English is the most widespread language on the earth, and it is second only to Mandarin Chinese in the number of people who speak it.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has five official languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese.

In the era of communication, English is gaining a strong position.

English -The most widespread language on the earth - How?

- When an Indonesian businessman meets a customer from Finland, they converse in English.

- Airline pilots flying international routes communicate with their controllers in English.

- 76% of the content of the Internet is in English. (The runners-up are, in order: Japanese, French, German, and Chinese.)

- Out of 193 countries of the world, 43 are English speaking [http://www.aneki.com/english.html]

- English is the second most spoken language in the world

- There are 57 million blogs on the Internet. English and Japanese remain the two most popular languages in the blogosphere. [http://technorati.com/weblog/2006/11/161.html]

- Most people use English language to communicate using SMS.

ENGLISH – COMPUTER LANGUAGES

English and computers have seemed, for decades to go together. Computers and the programs which make them useful were largely the invention of English speaking countries. The hardware and software reflect the needs of English language.

English will continue to be spread via software products and digitized intellectual property.

ENGLISH – THE WORLD

• English and the International Economy

The shifting patterns of trade and new working practices are affecting the use of English language in complex ways. At present there is a considerable increase in the numbers of people learning and using English.

• English and global culture
  
  

As the number of people using English grows, so second-language speakers are drawn towards the ‘inner circle’ of first-language speakers to the ‘outer circle’ of second-language speakers.

• English as a leading-edge phenomenon

English is closely associated with the leading edge of global scientific, technological, economic and cultural developments, where it has been unrivalled in its influence in the late 20^th century.

In four key sectors, the present dominance of English can be expected to give way to a wider mix of languages:

- The global audio-visual market, especially satellite TV

- The Internet and computer-based communication including language-related and document handling software

- Technology transfer and associated processes in economic globalization

- Foreign-language learning, especially in developing countries where growing regional trade may make other languages of increasing economic importance.

• A bilingual future

There is a growing belief among language professionals that the further will be a bilingual one, in which an increasing proportion of the world’s population will be fluent speakers of more than one language.

• Social value shifts

The spread of English has been made more rapid in recent years as a consequence of decisions and actions taken by governments, institutions and individuals.

The economic argument for English also may be challenged as developing countries make more careful evaluations of the costs and benefits of mass educational programmes in the English language.

Language shift

In many parts of the world there are ongoing shifts in the status of English.

In the countries listed below, the use of English for International communication is largely increasing:

- Argentina

- Belgium

- Costa Rica

- Denmark

- Ethiopia

- Honduras

- Lebanon

- Burma

- Nepal

- The Netherlands

- Nicaragua

- Norway

- Panama

- Somalia

- Sudan

- Surinam

- Sweden

- Switzerland

- United Arab Emirates.

DISCLAIMER: I have taken some information and print screens from an eBook at http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-elt-future.pdf.