English as a global language

1、English as a global language Englishasagloballanguage EnglishasagloballanguageWhyagloballanguage?WhyEnglish?Thehistoricalcontext WhyEnglish?TheculturalfoundationWhyEnglish?TheculturallegacyThefutureofglobalEnglish Whyagloballanguage?Whatisagloballanguage?Whatmakesagloballanguage? Whydoweneedagloball

2、anguage?Whatarethedangersofaglobal language?Couldanythingstopagloballanguage?Acriticalera3 WhyEnglish?TheculturalfoundationPoliticaldevelopment AccesstoknowledgeTakenforgranted WhyEnglish?TheculturallegacyInternationalrelationsThemedia InternationaltravelInternationalsafetyEducationCommunicationTher

3、ightplaceattherighttime6 ThefutureofglobalEnglishTherejectionofEnglishContrastingattitudes:theUSsituationNewEnglishesThelinguisticcharacterofnewEnglishesThefutureofEnglishasaworldlanguageAnEnglishfamilyoflanguages?Auniqueevent? Whydoweneedagloballanguage?Peopleusingdifferentlanguagesneedalingua fran

4、catocommunicate:e.g.apidgin,asimplifiedlanguageadoptedbyseveralethnicgroupsalongtheWestAfricancoasttodotrade.MandarinChinese(anindigenouslang.)emergedasalinguafrancaamongtheChinesebecauseitisthelanguageofthemostpowerfulethnicgroup.Internationalacademicandbusinesscommunitiesneedalinguafrancatocommuni

5、cate:e.g.toconverseovertheInternetbetweenacademicphysicistsinGermany,Italy,andIndia,ortodiscussamultinationaldealinvolvingtheJapanese,Ger man,andtheSaudiArabianbusinessmen.Peoplebecomemoremobilebothphysicallyand11electronically. Whatarethedangersofagloballanguage?Agloballanguagewillcultivateanelitem

6、onolingual linguisticclass.Thosewhohavesuchalanguageasamothertonguewillbemoreabletothinkandworkquicklyinthelanguageandtomanipulatetotheiradvantage.Agloballanguagewillhastenthedisappearanceofminoritylanguages;thedangerthatsomepeoplewillcelebrateonelanguagessuccessattheexpenseofothers.Linguisticpowera

7、ndlinguisticcomplacency(pp.1617)12 AcriticaleraWithinlittlemorethanageneration,wehavemoved fromasituationwhereaworldlanguagewasatheoreticalpossibilitytoonewhereitisanevidentreality.Languagesofidentityneedtobemaintainedbutaccesstotheemerginggloballanguage-languageofopportunityandempowerment-needtobeg

8、uaranteed.Governmentsshouldallocateresourcesforlanguageplanning,whethertopromoteEnglishortodeveloptheuseofotherlanguagesintheircommunity(or,ofcourse,both).14 ExpandingcircleOuter/expandedcircleInnercircle:e.g.USA,UK320-380million e.g.India,Singapore300-500millione.g.China,Russia500-1000million Theth

9、reecirclesofEnglish(Kachru,1988:5)16 WhyEnglish?ThehistoricalcontextThreehundredyearslater,theprogressofEnglish towardsitsstatusasagloballanguaget ookplace.ThemovementofEnglisharoundtheworld:America(1584,1stsettlement,1607),Asia,andtheAntipodes(Aust.andNZ,JamesCook,1770),andtoAfrica,1820,andtheSouth

10、Pacific,1600(theBritishEastIndiaCompany)InIndia,ThomasMacaulay(1835)proposedtheintroductionofanEnglisheducationalsystem.InPenang(1786),inSingapore(1819),andinMalacca(1824).18 PoliticaldevelopmentWorldEnglishisduetothegrowthoftheBritish Empire.TheBritishEmpirecoversnearlyonethirdoftheearthssurfaceand

11、theBritishsubjectisnearlyonefourthofthepopulationoftheworld.AroundtheBritishEmpire:thelanguageasaguarantor,aswellasasymbolofpoliticalunity.Englishbecameanewunifyingmediumofcommunicationwithinacolony,butatthesametimeitreflectsthebondsbetweenthatcolonyandthehomecountry.19 AccesstoknowledgeBythebeginni

12、ngofthe19thcenturyBritain becametheworldsleadingindustrialandtradingnation.MostoftheinnovationsoftheIndustrialRevolutionwereoftheBritishorigin:ThomasNewcomen,JamesWatt,MathewBoulton,etc.Thenewterminologyoftechnologicalandscientificadvancehadanimmediateimpactonthelanguage.Thosewhowishedtolearnaboutth

13、emwouldneedtolearnthelanguage.20 TheculturallegacyEnglishisonetheofficiallanguagesusedin theUN.Englishisusedinmostproceedingsofmostothermajorinternationalpoliticalgatherings.Englishisusedinthemedia(thepress,advertising,broadcasting,cinema,andpopularmusic),ininternationaltravelandinternationalsafety.

14、 CommunicationThreequartersoftheworldsmailisin English.80%oftheworldselectronicallystoredinformationiscurrentlyinEnglish.ThefirstprotocolsdevisedtocarrydataontheNetweredevelopedfortheEnglishalphabet,usingcharacterset(calledLatin1). ThefutureofglobalEnglishWhatkindsofdevelopmentcould impedethefutureg

15、rowthofEnglish?Asignificancechangeinthebalanceofpower-political,economic,technologicalorcultural. tousethelanguageoftheformercolonialpower.E.g.Malaysia,in1967,disestablishedEnglishasajointofficiallanguage.EconomicargumentswhichmightpersuadeacountrytoreduceitsinvestmentintheEnglishlanguage.Theneedfor

16、intelligibilityandtheneedforidentityoftenpullpeople-andcountries-intoopposingdirections.27 nationtohaveasystemofourown,inlanguageaswellasgovernment(Webster,inCrystal,20XX:142).ManydistinctiveformsalsoidentifytheEnglishesoftheothercountriesintheinnercircle:AustralianEnglish,NZEnglish,Can.English,SAEnglish,CaribbeanEnglish,andwithinBritain,Irish,Scots,andWelshEnglish.There isanEnglishvarietycalledSouthAsianEnglish(India,Pakistan,Bangladesh,andSriLa