English as a Global Language

Back cover, 1997

      David Crystal, world authority on the English language, has written a timely and informative account of the phenomenon of English as a global language. It includes a historical summary of the global development of English; an analysis, well supported by facts and figures, of the current spread and status of English as a first and second language internationally; and an informed assessment - by one of the leading scholars of and general writers about language matters - of the future of English. The book asks three basic questions: what makes a world language? why is English the leading candidate? and will it continue to hold that position? It steers even-handedly through the minefield of political debate about the cultural hegemony of English, and will appeal to anyone with an interest in language issues, whatever their political views on the subject.

Back cover, second edition, 2003

      David Crystal, world authority on the English language, presents a lively and factual account of the rise of English as a global language and explores the whys and wherefores of the history, current status and future potential of English as the international language of communication. English has been lauded as the most 'successful' language ever, with 1,500 million speakers worldwide ; but Crystal avoids taking sides and tells the story in a measured but engaging way, backed by facts and figures. this new edition of his classic book contains an extra section on the linguistic character of ' new ' Englishes, extensive additional footnotes and a full bibliography. There are updates throughout. This is a book for anyone of any nationality concerned with English : teachers, students, language professionals, politicians, general readers and anyone with an interest in the language.

Contents

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Preface to the first Edition, hard cover, 1997

It has all happened so quickly. In 1950, any notion of English as a true world language was but a dim, shadowy, theoretical possibility, surrounded by the political uncertainties of the Cold War, and lacking any clear definition or sense of direction. fifty years on, and World English exists as a political and cultural reality. How could such a dramatic linguistic shift have taken place, in less than a lifetime? And why has English, and not some other language, achieved such a status? These are the questions which this book seeks to answer.
    The time is right to address these issues. Thanks to progress in socio linguistics, we now know a great deal about the social and cultural circumstances which govern language status and change, and several encyclopedic surveys have made available detailed information about world language use. There is also an increasingly urgent need for sensitive discussion. In several countries, the role of English has become politically contentious, and arguments have raged about its current and future status. Have matters developed to the point where the rise of English as a world language is unstoppable ? To debate this question, we need to be aware of the factors which will influence the outcome.
    It is difficult to write a book on this topic without it being interpreted as a political statement. Because there is no more intimate or more sensitive an index of identity than language, the subject is easily politicized, as it has been in such diverse locations as India, Malaysia, and the USA. A detached account is all the more desirable, and this is what I have tried to write in these pages, partly based on the historical research I carried out for my Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, but extending this to provide a fuller and more focused analysis of the cultural factors involved. I have thus tried to tell the story of World English objectively, without taking sides on political issues, and without adopting the kind of triumphalist tone which is unfortunately all too common when people write on English in English.
    But authors should always tell their readership where they stand, when dealing with contentious topics, hence the following summary. I firmly believe in two linguistic principles, which some people see as contradictory, but which for me are two sides of the one coin.
• . . . multilingualism, . . .
• . . . common language, . . .

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1 . Why a global language?
'English is the global language.'

A headline of this kind must have appeared in a thousand news papers and magazines in recent years. 'English Rules' is an actual example, presenting to the world an uncomplicated scenario suggesting the universality of the language's spread and the likelihood of its continuation.¹ A statement prominently displayed in the body of the associated article, memorable chiefly for its alliterative ingenuity, reinforces the initial impression : "The British Empire may be in full retreat with the handover of Hong Kong, But from Bengal to Belize and Las Vagus to Lahore, the language of the sceptred isle is rapidly becoming the first global lingua franca." Millennial retrospectives and prognostications continued in the same vein, with several major newspapers, and magazines finding in the subject of the English language an apt symbol for the themes of globalization, diversification, progress and identity addressed in their special editions.² Television programmes and series, too, addressed the issue, and achieved world-wide audiences.³ Certainly, by the turn of the century, the topic must have made contact . . .
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1.Globe and Mail, Toronto, 12 July 1977.
2. Ryan (1999).
3. For example, Back to Babel, a four-part (four hour) series made in 2001 by Infonation, the film-making centre within the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, had sold to sixty-four countries by 2002. The series was notable for its range of interviews eliciting the attitudes towards English of users in several countries. It was also the first series to devote a significant . . .

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2 . Why English ?
The historical context

"Why is English the global language,and not some other?" There are two answers to that questions : one is geographical-historic ; and the other is socio-cultural. The geo-historical answer show how English reached a position of pre-eminence, and this is presented below. The socio-cultural answer explains why it remains so, and this is presented in chapters 3 and 4. The combination of these two strands has brought into existence a language which consists of many varieties, each distinctive in its use of sounds, grammar, and vocabulary, and the implications of this are presented in chapter 5.
    . . .

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3 . Why English ?
The cultural foundation

" I have taken to write a grammar of English", says John Wallis in the preface to his Grammar of the English Language, "because there is clearly a great demand for it from foreigners, who want to be able to understand the various important words which are written in our tongue." And he goes on "all kinds of literature are widely available in English editions, and , without boasting, it can be said that there is scarcely any worthwhile body of knowledge which has not been recorded today, adequately at least, in the English language."
    This is a familiar-sounding argument, to twentieth-century ears ; but these bold words are not from a modern author, John Wallis was writing in England in 1765. More over, the words are a translation. Wallis wrote his book in Latin, . . .

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4 . Why English ?
The cultural legacy

The first steps in the political consolidation of English were taken during the decision-making which followed the First World War, in 1919. . . .

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5 . The future of global English

. . . In speculating about the future of English as a world language, therefore, we need to pay careful attention to indications which seem to go against the general trend. And we need to ask, in broad terms : What kinds of development could impede the future growth of English ? It will then be possible to arrive at a balanced conclusion.
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