English as a Global Language

English as a Global Language

Bill Lee

Instructor: Patrick Seifer

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English as a Global Language

Introduction

Few

people

will

give

it

a

second

thought

if

we

say

English

is

an

international

language. Someone may even go further as to say that English is a global language. In

my

opinion,

if

there

is

ever

a

global

language,

that

is

English.

English

as

a

global

language is the resultant interaction of historical dominance and present demand.

Of the historically international languages, what made English carry on with its

international influence?

The establishment of a language as an international language mainly relies on the

political

dominance,

especially

the

military

power

of

the

people

who

speak

it.

The

dominant

Roman

Empire

made

Latin

once

an

international

language,

but

with

the

downfall of the Roman Empire, Latin lost its glamour but still remained influential for

over one thousand years thanks to Roman Catholic Church. Now Latin is reduced to a

language

for

scholarly

study

and

ecclesiastic

learning.

Portuguese

was

once

the

international language spoken in South America, Africa and the Middle East due to

Portugal

’

s world- wide exploration and colonization

，

but now Portuguese exerts little

influence

in

international

affairs.

Latin

and

Portuguese

were

both

international

languages,

but

neither

of

them

can

carry

on

with

its

past

dominance,

let

alone

a

further

ascension

to

a

global

language.

Historical

dominance

alone

could,

at

most,

make an international language but it

’

s not sufficient to make a language maintain its

past influence. Historical dominance needs to go hand in hand with present demand to

make a language proceed from an international language to a global language, just as

the case with English.

In

the

18

th

century,

Industrial

Revolution

sped

up

Britain

’

s

industrial

development, and Britain became the workshop of the world. Global exploration and

colonization

turned

Britain

into

a

hegemonic

superpower

in

the

world

in

the

19

th

century. Power gave rise to the ascendancy of English over other languages all over

the world.

In some

colonized

countries

English eliminated or superseded the native

languages

and

became

the

only

language

or

official

language.

When

the

British

Empire

set,

America

emerged

as

a

superpower

and

became

even

stronger

than

the

British Empire had been. After World War II, America became the dominant pole in

the

bi-polarized

world.

With

the

disintegration

of

USSR,

America

became

the

only

superpower in the world. Money always talks; money and power combined talks even

louder. English, as the carrier of wealth and power, waxed and waned with Britain and

America,

but

fortunately,

historical

dominance

repeatedly

stood

with

English.

Meanwhile, present conditions also stand in its favor.

What

makes

English

proceed

from

an

international

language

to

a

global

language?

English is undoubtedly an international language, either from the perspective of