English: The Past & the Future

Linguistic history has revealed that there has always been a close connection between language and power.

As David Crystal said in his 2003 English as a Global Language:

“A language has traditionally become an international language for one main reason: the power of its people – especially their political and military power.”

SEE ALSO: English as the modern world’s lingua franca

Nearly 2,500 years ago, the Greek language was recognized as the international norm in the Mediterranean and Middle East Asia because of the power of Alexander the Great’s army.  Similarly, Latin became known throughout most parts of Europe thanks to the legions of the Roman Empire.

Furthermore, Arabic came to be spoken so commonly across northern Africa and the Middle East, as the Islam spread rapidly in these regions, as well as in the Iberian Peninsula.  These are all examples where you can relate the language with power.

The rise of English

The rise of English as the language of international communication had a lot to do with the expansion of British colonial powers and the growing economic, military and political dominance of the United States.  The USA has come to be the dominant force in so many domains, which also helped at establishing English as a global language.  English has been spreading around the world for centuries, while the supporters of this growth argue that it might retain its universal position in foreseeable future.

But the question remains:

“Will this globally recognized language retain its pre-eminence in the 21st century?”

Scholars state that today’s world that uses English extensively is still in its early stages of major economic, social and demographic transition.  Although English is unlikely to be displaced as the world’s most important language, the future is more complex and less certain than some presume.

As the world enters in a transition mode, the English language itself takes new a form.  English has significantly changed in the past 2000 years to suit changing communication requirements of the people.  In many parts of the world, it entered the fabric of social life, acquiring dynamics and vitality of its own, and developing in ways that reflect local cultures, traditions and other spoken languages.  This is why the global English spoken today in most parts of the world increasingly differs from the kind of English spoken in Britain or North America.

The future of International Communication

English is currently at the centre of technological and scientific development; contemporary literature and entertainment genres rely on it; it has become the new norm in business, economics and management.  This all naturally gives rise to constant vocabulary additions, and, quite frequently, new sentence constructions.  One thing is for sure, the shifting world is affecting the use of the English language every day.

The changes in English have stimulated a debate about the global future of English and the implications both for British providers of English language services and the institutions and enterprises with which they work overseas.

Some critics put forward several thoughts to why we should reassess the place of English in the world.  They argue that the future of the English language may not be straightforward.  One of the reasons is that the economic supremacy of OECD countries, which earlier promoted English in the market economies of the world, is being replaced with Asian economies that grow and become the sources, rather than the recipients, of cultural and economic flows.

Moreover, population figures highlight that the population of the rich countries is diminishing, and that in the coming years, people with higher income will be found in Asia and Latin America rather than in the Europe and USA.  Furthermore, educational development in many countries suggests that languages other than English are already providing significant competition in school curricula.

Lastly, as the use of English grows, the second language speaker/learner is drawn towards the ‘inner circle’ of first-language speakers.  According to a British Council research, in 2050 the number of people who speak English as a second language will exceed the number of native speakers.  This implication would affect the authority of the language as it will shift the power away from native speakers due to their minority.

These changes raise many questions about the future of English, and its status in educational institutions worldwide.  The questions are related to future of English language teaching and learning, as well as to the norms that would be used – native or non-native.  They, however, are difficult to answer.  As a result, there is an ongoing argument that global processes are too complex, too overwhelming in their momentum and too unclear in their outcomes to permit the activities of a few people and institutions, even with coherent policies, to make any difference.

Author Bio
Sara Jones is a Master’s Degree holder in English literature.  She teaches, writes, and blogs informative articles on education.  Further, she is also a seasoned academic consultant at Done Assignment for providing assignment writing help to students in their projects and assignments.

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