'Worldwide, there are over 1400 million people living in countries where English has official status. One out of five of the world’s populations speak English to some level of competence. Demand from the other four fifths is increasing… By the year 2000, it is estimated that over one billion people will be learning English. English is the main language of books, newspapers, airports and air traffic control, international business and academic conferences, science technology, diplomacy, sport, pop music and advertising.'
--British Council’s English 2000 Project
Looking at the past is an important step towards understanding the future. The end of the 20th century was characterized by much heart searching over the state of society – especially in social behavior and experimentation, fiction, science writing and legislative reform -- prompted by a concern at the social consequences of the industrial and information revolution. There is a general awareness of change, but no clear vision of where it may all be leading. The most rapid change is likely to last 20 years. During this period, the conditions will be established for more settled global relation, which may stabilize about 2050. Hence, the next 20 years or so will be a critical time for the English language and for those who depend upon it. The patterns of usage and public attitudes to English language, which develop during this period, will have long-term implications for its future in the world.
English is remarkable for its diversity, its propensity to change and be changed. English has changed substantially in the 1500 years or so of its use, reflecting patterns of contact with other languages and the changing communication needs of people. English is taken as the fabric of the social life, it acquire the variety of its own. English is also used for more purposes that ever before. Everyday it is at the leading edge of technological and scientific development, new thinking in economics and management, new literature and entertainment genres. These give rise to new vocabularies, grammatical forms and ways of speaking and writing. There is also the use of new concept of ‘Net English’ and ‘SMS English’.
We have entered a period in which language and communication will play a more central role than ever before in economics, political and cultural life. The spread of English in recent years is, by any criterion, a remarkable phenomenon. But when we closer examine the current trends, the more it becomes apparent that the future of English will be more complex, more challenging for the position of the native – speaking countries.
This paper is about the English language in the 21st century as well as today’s world, and about what is the significant aspect that is affecting the future of English language. This paper also talks about the position of English in the world and try to find out that the position of English will remain unchanged or changed in the world of communication explosion. This paper also explore the possible long-term impact of development in technology specially information technology on the English language. This paper also discusses the one significant global trend – development of technology, which will shape the future of English in the today’s world.
For this paper, I took the help of some of my friends, who belong to different social, cultural and economical background and different fields like Arts, Commerce, Management, Information Technology, Medical and Science. I had a discussion on the various questions related with the topic, with them. The questions were;
What role will English play in peoples live?
Will English language behave like a tool of expression and interaction? What effect will technology have on the demand for English?
Is the Internet the electronic ‘flagship’ of global English?
Will the growth of information revolution lead the future of English?
I could find that the technology (especially internet and computer) would have great impact on the future’s English language. My paper will give more light on this topic on next few pages.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Monday, November 13, 2006
English language – Historical background
The English language has been associated with migration since its first origins. The language came into being in the 5th century with patterns of people movement and resettlement. This language was a humble beginning as a native language by the Anglo-Saxons around 10th century. However, as a world language its history began in the 17th century and the historical expansion of British Empire and political and philosophical coverage of English culture have resulted in making this language a medium of international interaction.
In the new century, there are now over 205 states represented in the UN. The 20th century process of decolonisation created a force to establish new national languages. New words and ways of writing in English were developed. The language has continued to adapt itself swiftly to new circumstances and people. English has always been an evolving language and language contact has been an important force of change. A hybrid and flexible variety of English language came into existence such as Indian English, Singaporean English, African English and many more.
Who speaks English?
By the end of the 20th century, Britain had established the pre-conditions for English as a global language. Communities of English speakers were settled around the world. The position of English in the world today is thus the joint outcome of Britain’s colonial expansion and the more recent the rise of the superpower USA. According to the Crystal, 85% of international organisations now use English as one of their working language. English is used almost exclusively in publications, meeting, magazines, medium of conference, and journals. English is now the international currency of science and technology.
There are three types of English speaker in the world today. First language speakers (L1) are those whose first langue is English. Second language (L2) speakers have English as a second or additional language. The third group of English speakers are the growing number of people learning English as a foreign language (EFL). According to Braj B. Kachru, the spread of English may be viewed in terms of three circles representing the types of spread, the patterns of acquisition and the functional domains in which English is used across cultures and languages.
(Figure-1) English language speakers in the world, according to Kachru.
There is much evidence that because of the globalisation, world economy, population, technology, cultural flows, the position of English is changed. Advances in technology in the 20th century helped ‘kick start’ the long wave of economic growth, which is, yet to reach some part of the world. Technological change transforms the spaces in which we work and live. It is the trend, which will shape the demand for the English in the future, but they interact in complex ways and may produce unexpected cultural and political outcomes.
The Role of Technology
English today has been produced by the possessions of the industrial revolution. As English became the world’s language of discovery and invention and as rapid advances were made in materials science, engineering, manufacturing and communication-information technology, computer technology and mobile communication- new communicative functions were required of the language. Industrial and communication revolution created legal, management structures, each with different forms of information given. Thus, the ‘information age’ began in the 19th century, establishing many of the styles and conventions we take for granted today.
An editorial column in The Times, October 1903, predicated that the heavier-than-air flying machines were theoretically impossible – two months before the Wright brothers launched their first plane ‘Flyer 1.’ It is unlikely that world will be transformed by some extraordinary inventions in the next few decades as being transforming now a days. New technology takes time to develop, be implemented and then to have important transformative effects. The building of the first computers and development of high-level computer languages around 1950s only now have a significant impact on people’s work and spare time.
English and computers have seemed to go together. Computers and the programmes, which make them useful, were largely the invention of English-speaking countries. The hardware and software wants the needs of the English language. The computer operators interacted with the programmes using instructions in English. The Internet illustrates the way technologies have been converging – television, telephone, music and new consumer technologies, such as multimedia computers and ‘Net TV’ bring the English language in homes, schools and workshops.
An editorial column in The Times, October 1903, predicated that the heavier-than-air flying machines were theoretically impossible – two months before the Wright brothers launched their first plane ‘Flyer 1.’ It is unlikely that world will be transformed by some extraordinary inventions in the next few decades as being transforming now a days. New technology takes time to develop, be implemented and then to have important transformative effects. The building of the first computers and development of high-level computer languages around 1950s only now have a significant impact on people’s work and spare time.
English and computers have seemed to go together. Computers and the programmes, which make them useful, were largely the invention of English-speaking countries. The hardware and software wants the needs of the English language. The computer operators interacted with the programmes using instructions in English. The Internet illustrates the way technologies have been converging – television, telephone, music and new consumer technologies, such as multimedia computers and ‘Net TV’ bring the English language in homes, schools and workshops.
(Figur-2) Language – engineering products available for major languages in the 2000.
The majority of the research and development in technology is carried out in the US, Europe and Japan. At present, the most advanced tools are based in English.
Many global engineering companies e.g. Boeing have constructed new, simplified forms of English, which are claimed to make maintenance manuals more comprehensible to overseas intended to engineers. But the use of ‘controlled English’ is also intended to make automatic translation easier - opening up the possibility of human writing in restricted forms of English so that machines can translate documents into restricted forms of target languages. The growing use of English as a ‘relay language’, to permit translation from any language to any other language via English, will produce new forms of language contact with may encourage the union of other languages, at least in their controlled forms, with the semantic and syntactic structures of English.
The Internet, from its beginning as a tool for international communication between a global academic privileged, will increasingly serve local, cultural and commercial purposes. Technological developments, changing the way the world’s citizens communicate and the way organisations operate. The Internet is regarded by many as the flagship of universal English. English is the medium for 80% of the information stored in the world’s computers. It is certainly true that growth of computer use – and of the Internet in particular- has been impressive in the last few years. A major improvement of intellectual property rights in connection with electronic texts has been provoked in part because of the way information and ideas now surround the world. Using the same infrastructures as the telephone, the Internet carries English language services into nearly every country and English id deeply established among users of Internet user- scientist as the international lingua franca and from this beginning, English appears to have extended its domain of use to become the preferred lingua franca for the many new kinds of users. Now the English language is operating standard for global communication.
Many global engineering companies e.g. Boeing have constructed new, simplified forms of English, which are claimed to make maintenance manuals more comprehensible to overseas intended to engineers. But the use of ‘controlled English’ is also intended to make automatic translation easier - opening up the possibility of human writing in restricted forms of English so that machines can translate documents into restricted forms of target languages. The growing use of English as a ‘relay language’, to permit translation from any language to any other language via English, will produce new forms of language contact with may encourage the union of other languages, at least in their controlled forms, with the semantic and syntactic structures of English.
The Internet, from its beginning as a tool for international communication between a global academic privileged, will increasingly serve local, cultural and commercial purposes. Technological developments, changing the way the world’s citizens communicate and the way organisations operate. The Internet is regarded by many as the flagship of universal English. English is the medium for 80% of the information stored in the world’s computers. It is certainly true that growth of computer use – and of the Internet in particular- has been impressive in the last few years. A major improvement of intellectual property rights in connection with electronic texts has been provoked in part because of the way information and ideas now surround the world. Using the same infrastructures as the telephone, the Internet carries English language services into nearly every country and English id deeply established among users of Internet user- scientist as the international lingua franca and from this beginning, English appears to have extended its domain of use to become the preferred lingua franca for the many new kinds of users. Now the English language is operating standard for global communication.
The Future of English
The ‘rush’ to English around the world may prove to be a temporary phenomenon, which cannot be supported indefinitely. Leading edge technology, computers and information technology, has been largely English based in several respects. (1) Its research and development is focused in the US. (2) The literature and conferences in which researchers keep up to date with developments elsewhere are English based. (3) Communications technology and document-handing software have developed around the English language. (4) The installed user base of new technology is primarily located in the US, resulting in support manuals, help lines, on-screen menu system and so on, appearing first in English. As software and technology become more sophisticated, they supported other languages. Computer operating systems and software are now routinely versioned for many languages for e.g. in year 2004, Microsoft made his Windows and Ms-office software in Hindi version. In many cases, the user can further customise the product, allowing even very small languages, unknown to the manufactures, to be accommodated. Therefore, whereas English speakers used to enjoy the best and latest technology, this is no longer true.
The Internet epitomises the information society, allowing the transfer of services, expertise and intellectual capital across the world cheaply, rapidly and apparently without pollution. At present 90% of Internet hosts are based in English-speaking countries. The majority of traffic and of Web sites are based in English and that those users based in other countries and who normally work in other languages, find they have to communicate with others in the cyberspace community through the medium of English. The quantity of Internet materials in languages other than English is set to expand dramatically in the next decade. It is clear from the research by linguists that new genres and forms of English are arising on the Internet. The system is not simply encouraging the use of English, but transforming it. English will remain pre-eminent for some time, but it will eventually become one language amongst many.
As computer usage spreads, it is predicted that English content on the Internet may fall to 40% of the total material. The Internet Society has reported preliminary findings (figure-3) in a survey of the language of ‘home pages’ using different methodology. The main conclusion is that language other than English is now being used on the Internet and this trend is likely to be of growing importance.Figure-3. Languages of home pages on the Web
Conclusion
To conclude the paper, I would like to say that the English provides a vehicular language for international communication; it simultaneously finds itself acting as a language of identity for larger numbers of people around the world. L1 speakers of English will soon form a minority group but the EFL speakers will increase in numbers 100 millions to 400 millions by the year 2050. Local communication on the Internet is expected to grow significantly, this, and the increasing use of email for social and family communication, will encourage the use of a wider variety of English language. The indications are that English will enjoy a special position in the multilingual society of the 21 century: it will be the only language to appear in the language mix in every part of the world. Satellite technology has been regarded as a major driver of global English. National networks such as Star TV, MTV, CNN, in English speaking countries will continue to establish operations in other parts of the world, but their programming policies will may emphasise local programme. Such language technologies, widely available, may significantly reduce the need for learning English for the casual user, although the English language will provide a reliable means of communication between speakers of different languages. Yesterday it was the world’s poor who were multilingual; tomorrow it will also be the global elite. So we must not be hypnotised by the fact that this elite will speak English: the more significant fact may be that, unlike the majority of present-day native English speakers, they will also speak at least one other language – probably more fluently and with greater cultural loyalty. I would like to conclude this paper with the lines of the David Crystal who suggested that:
“It may well be the case…that the English language has already grown to be independent of any form of social control. There may be a critical number or critical distribution of speakers (analogous to the notion of critical mass in nuclear physics) beyond which it proves impossible for any single group or alliance to stop its growth, or even influence its future. If there were to be a major social change in Britain, which affected the use of English there, would this have any real effect on the world trend? It is unlikely.”
Bibliography
Crystal, D. (1997). English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Graddol, D. (1997). The Future of English? The British Council. The English company (UK) Ltd.
Hooke, G. From interviews made in 1996 by David Graddol.
Kachru, Braj B. (1985). Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English langues are in the outer circle, Three circles of world English. In R. Quirk and H. G. Widdowson (eds.) English in the World: Teaching and learning the language and literatures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nadkarni M. V. (2003). English as a Global Language. From H. M. Patel Memorial Lecture 10. H. M. Patel Institute of English Training & Research. Vallabh Vidyanagar.
Graddol, D. (1997). The Future of English? The British Council. The English company (UK) Ltd.
Hooke, G. From interviews made in 1996 by David Graddol.
Kachru, Braj B. (1985). Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English langues are in the outer circle, Three circles of world English. In R. Quirk and H. G. Widdowson (eds.) English in the World: Teaching and learning the language and literatures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nadkarni M. V. (2003). English as a Global Language. From H. M. Patel Memorial Lecture 10. H. M. Patel Institute of English Training & Research. Vallabh Vidyanagar.
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