The Place of English in the Globalized Environment

About the question of why has English become or is perceived to be the current global language, it is important first of all to take a step back and look at some context.

This post was written by our TEFL certification graduateJustin S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.

Old Global Languages

As a schoolboy up to O level, I learned Latin for fourteen years. Although generally speaking, if one wishes to pursue a career in medicine or botany, for example, a broad knowledge of Latin is important as it is still used to this for the classifications and individual plant and animal names. Some might argue that this is an elitist use of the language, but Linnaeus' reasoning appears to have been simply because it had long ceased to be a working language and was, therefore, an obvious choice. This doesn't make life any easier for medical students but it did allow for much deeper individual classifications.

A good example would be Latin which became the official language or Lingua Franca of the Roman Empire but only in the sense of drawing the obvious parallel with English from the spread of the British Empire. As both a military and governing language, there was a need to both understand and use this new language for many reasons, not least in the case of India from an administrative point of view.

Also Read: 5 Reasons Why Turkey is a Great Destination to Teach English

TEFL

Taking the spread of English throughout the globe in the context of TEFL, we have a situation where English has developed a momentum all of its own for reasons that I will discuss later, but this fact is in a sense providing that momentum for the need to learn it from a variety of different angles.

And having recently moved to Spain from the UK, there appears to be very little motivation despite a three million-plus strong British presence here, an understanding of their language is important, and rightly so because as native English speakers we cannot allow ourselves to be so arrogant that we should expect to be able to communicate abroad in English as some kind of a right.

The History

If we look back to the nineteen seventies when foreign travel started to become popular, shouting at waiters in frustration was then symptomatic of isolationist island culture, and even now recognizing that the rest of the world wants to learn our language should be humbling. But again, as another obvious comparison, the Conquistadors had previously taken Spanish to the South Americas propelling it to being the fourth most spoken global language. The Chinese and Hindu speakers are mainly in the top five more due to the weight of numbers. So it would appear that there are several different reasons why some languages become widely spoken.

Also Read: Advantages and Disadvantages of English being a Global Language

I think it is important to look at some reasons why a global language would have advantages and taking the example of Esperanto which was for a while proposed as a potential universal means of communication, it didn't have enormous success. I would suggest one reason for that could be that we, as nations are proud of our languages and in effect, identity.

Having said that, one of the main reasons why English is a major TEFL subject is the number of areas in which because of its increasing global use, it is in high demand for success in business and finance and is rapidly becoming the main language of the internet.

English and Entertainment

Also, Hollywood's huge influence, which is sadly shrinking intellectual capacity worldwide can be seen as an unfortunate by-product of a world giving only the illusion of choice, nevertheless, an understanding of English will at least allow this deception to be recognized.

Again, as we have already discussed the British Empire was the main driver of the spread of English, but alongside that, we must consider the Books and the literature which were the bedrock of the development of nearly all things British, and to be able to both read and understand the works of Shakespeare, Marlowe and Dickens to name a few has, without doubt, made the world a richer place.

And in tandem with, the unique simplicity and versatility of my native language being highly descriptive with the ability to give a sentence more than one meaning so powerful in the poetic depths we enjoy. And finally, on this topic, the relative ease of pronunciation and the readiness of English people to allow wide margins and patience to non-native speakers.

Also Read: Tips for Getting Involved in the EFL Community Abroad

Travel

The sheer amount of travel that the British have done, including global journalism, has also played its part in the spread of English, and in turn a need to make some attempt to communicate to allow their messages to be better understood globally.

I don't think we can have this debate in any serious sense without considering the enormous influence powerful countries like the United States have had and remembering that English would have been competing with several other European languages in the "New World". English emerged and the Americans have developed their idioms over time leading to famous quotes such as "two nations separated by a common language" which is somewhat arrogant but demonstrates how the English language can be adapted for use by an entirely different nation. I often see when applying for TEFL jobs the distinction between British and American English which speaks volumes to me.

Clearly, in Britain, there is a huge difference between what might be described the top and bottom level of English, when the language of the upper classes is juxtaposed with a lower class of spoken English, it does still, unfortunately, perpetuate a societal divide and is still largely due to where and into what part of society one is born. I would like to see better teaching of English by TEFL teachers in their home country because my concern is that the standards of domestic written and spoken English amongst a majority are beginning to fall behind if not the developed but the developing world too.

I read during my research recently that The British Council has projected that by 2020 two billion people in the world will be studying English and to consider whether that or any language were to become the shared global means of communication could be extremely important in terms is important not only in a work context in terms of communication of tasks and their execution where there is no misinterpretation and everyone knows what to do, or allowing a deeper understanding of different cultures through sharing, it could also assist with understanding on higher levels such as the future of the planet and fostering a better-shared sense of responsibility.

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As there is no real sign of any other major language making these strides, learning English is increasingly seen as important as it will almost certainly enable better communication with our fellow global citizens.

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