Learning elt-future

The Future of English?
A guide to forecasting the popularity of the
English language in the 21st century

David Graddol

First published 1997
© The British Council 1997, 2000

All Rights Reserved

This digital edition created by
The English Company (UK) Ltd

David Graddol hereby asserts and gives
notice of his right under section 77 of the UK Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of
this work.

What is this book about?
This book is about the English language in of the English language and concludes that forecasting, identifies the patterns which
the 21st century: about who will speak it the future is more complex and less underlie typical linguistic change and
and for what purposes. It is a practical predictable than has usually been assumed. describes the way large corporations have
briefing document, written for used ‘scenario planning’ as a strategy for
The book has been commissioned by the
educationists, politicians, managers – coping with unpredictable futures. Section
British Council to complement the many
indeed any decision maker or planning three outlines significant global trends
texts already available about the teaching
team with a professional interest in the which will shape the social and economic
and learning of English, the history and
development of English worldwide. world in the 21st century. Section four
development of English and the diversity
discusses the impacts these trends are
The Future of English? takes stock of the of forms of English worldwide. It is
already having on language and
present, apparently unassailable, position of intended to stimulate constructive debate
communication in everyday life.
English in the world and asks whether we about the future status of English which
can expect its status to remain unchanged can inform policy developments both in The last section summarises implications
during the coming decades of the British Council and other organisations for the English language and outlines ways
unprecedented social and economic global concerned with the promotion of English in which we might reach a better
change. The book explores the possible language teaching and learning. understanding of the status which English
long-term impact on English of will hold in the 21st century world. This
The book is divided into five main
developments in communications concluding section also argues for a
sections, each followed by a summary of
technology, growing economic reassessment of the role played by British
main points and references. The first
globalisation and major demographic shifts. providers of ELT goods and services in
section explains how English came to
The Future of English? examines the promoting a global ‘brand image’ for
reach its present position in the world.
complex mix of material and cultural Britain.
Section two examines techniques of
trends which will shape the global destiny

Overview
English is widely regarded as having become the global language – but will it A world in transition
retain its pre-eminence in the 21st century? The world in which it is used is in But there are reasons why we ought to take stock and
reassess the place of English in the world. The future of
the early stages of major social, economic and demographic transition. the English language may not be straightforward: celeb-
Although English is unlikely to be displaced as the world’s most important ratory statistics should be treated with caution.
language, the future is more complex and less certain than some assume. This book examines some facts, trends and ideas
which may be uncomfortable to many native speakers.
For example, the economic dominance of OECD count-
Why worry now? ries – which has helped circulate English in the new
Why worry now about the global future of the English market economies of the world – is being eroded as
language? Is it not the first language of capitalism in a Asian economies grow and become the source, rather
world in which socialism and communism have largely than the recipient, of cultural and economic flows.
disappeared? Is it not the main language of international Population statistics suggest that the populations of the
commerce and trade in a world where these sectors seem rich countries are ageing and that in the coming decades
increasingly to drive the cultural and political? Has it not young adults with disposable income will be found in
WWW more cultural resources, in the sense of works of litera- Asia and Latin America rather than in the US and
ENGLISH 2000 ture, films and television programmes, than any other Europe. Educational trends in many countries suggest
http://www.britcoun.org/ language? Is it not, as The Economist has described it, that languages other than English are already providing
english/enge2000.htm ‘impregnably established as the world standard significant competition in school curricula.
language: an intrinsic part of the global communications The Future of English? identifies such significant global
ENGLISH CO UK LTD revolution’? (The Economist, 21 December 1996, p. 39) trends – in economics, technology and culture – which
http://www.english.co.uk/ Isn’t it obvious, in other words, that the English may affect the learning and use of English internatio-
language will continue to grow in popularity and influ- nally in the 21st century. We suggest that the close of the
ence, without the need for special study or strategic 20th century is a time of global transition and that a new
management? world order is emerging. The period of most rapid
The simple answer to all these questions is probably change is likely to last about 20 years and can be expec-
‘yes’. There is no imminent danger to the English ted to be an uncomfortable and at times traumatic
language, nor to its global popularity – a fact which is experience for many of the world’s citizens. During this
recognised by the majority of people who are professio- period, the conditions will be established for more settled
nally concerned with the English language worldwide global relations which may stabilise about 2050. Hence
(Figure 1). The press release for the launch of the British the next 20 years or so will be a critical time for the
Council’s English 2000 project in 1995 summarised the English language and for those who depend upon it. The
position of English: patterns of usage and public attitudes to English which
develop during this period will have long-term implicat-
World-wide, there are over 1,400 million people living in
ions for its future in the world.
countries where English has official status. One out of five of
In this book we argue that the global popularity of
the world’s population speak English to some level of
English is in no immediate danger, but that it would be
competence. Demand from the other four fifths is increa-
foolhardy to imagine that its pre-eminent position as a
sing. ... By the year 2000 it is estimated that over one billion
world language will not be challenged in some world
people will be learning English. English is the main
regions and domains of use as the economic, demograp-
language of books, newspapers, airports and air-traffic cont-
hic and political shape of the world is transformed.
rol, international business and academic conferences,
science technology, diplomacy, sport, international competi- A language in transition
tions, pop music and advertising.
4,000 As the world is in transition, so the English language is
itself taking new forms. This, of course, has always been
Fin de siècle true: English has changed substantially in the 1500 years
3,000 The position of English as a world language may seem to or so of its use, reflecting patterns of contact with other
be so entrenched and secure that agonising over ‘where languages and the changing communication needs of
we are’ and ‘where we are going’ might be regarded as people. But in many parts of the world, as English is
no more than a fin de siècle indulgence. The end of the taken into the fabric of social life, it acquires a momen-
2,000
19th century was characterised by much heart searching tum and vitality of its own, developing in ways which
over the state of society – evident in social behaviour and reflect local culture and languages, while diverging incre-
experimentation, fiction, scientific writing and legislative asingly from the kind of English spoken in Britain or
1,000 reform – prompted by a concern at the social consequ- North America.
ences of the industrial revolution. How much greater English is also used for more purposes than ever
might be the mood of self-reflection at the end of a before. Everywhere it is at the leading edge of technolo-
0
millennium, when the communications revolution and gical and scientific development, new thinking in
economic globalisation seem to be destroying the reassu- economics and management, new literatures and enter-
w
e

ee
re

ring geographical and linguistic basis of sovereignty and tainment genres. These give rise to new vocabularies,
vie
gr
Ag

o
isa

N

national identity. How many titles of social and econo- grammatical forms and ways of speaking and writing.
D

Figure 1 Will English remain mics books include the word ‘end’ or the prefix ‘post’: Nowhere is the effect of this expansion of English into
the world’s language? ‘The end of history’, ‘the post-industrial societies’, new domains seen more clearly than in communication
Composite responses to the ‘post-modernism’, ‘post-capitalism’, ‘post-feminism’. on the Internet and the development of ‘net English’.
British Council’s English There is a general awareness of change, but no clear But the language is, in another way, at a critical
2000 Global Consultation vision of where it may all be leading. It seems we are not moment in its global career: within a decade or so, the
Questionnaire yet living in a new era, but have fallen off the edge of an number of people who speak English as a second
old one. language will exceed the number of native speakers. The

2 The Future of English?

The future of English will be more complex, more
demanding of understanding and more
challenging for the position of native-speaking
countries than has hitherto been supposed.

implications of this are likely to be far reaching: the Questioning the future
centre of authority regarding the language will shift from The Future of English? thus explores a range of topics with
native speakers as they become minority stakeholders in a common theme: the changing world which affects our
the global resource. Their literature and television may use of language. Its primary purpose is to stimulate
no longer provide the focal point of a global English informed debate about the global future of English and
language culture, their teachers no longer form the the implications both for British providers of English
unchallenged authoritative models for learners. language services and the institutions and enterprises Jurassic Park grossed $6m
with which they work overseas. For this reason, the book in India in 1994. But in
Contradictory trends aims to provide thought-provoking ideas rather than firm what language?
Many of the trends that are documented here are not predictions. It points to areas of uncertainty and doubt – p. 47
simply ‘driving forces’ whose impact and consequences where an understanding of local issues will be as valuable
can be easily predicted. And in so far as they are under- as that of global trends. Many of the issues the book
stood they appear to be leading in contradictory direc- addresses will be of interest to a wide range of people, 385 million people will
tions – tendencies to increasing use of English are both specialists and professionals, but also members of be employed in world
counterposed by others which lead to a reducing the general public. These issues raise such questions as: tourist services by 2006.
enthusiasm for the language. On the one hand, the use Will they all need
q How many people will speak English in the year English?
of English as a global lingua franca requires intelligibility
2050? p. 36
and the setting and maintenance of standards. On the
other hand, the increasing adoption of English as a q What role will English play in their lives? Will they
second language, where it takes on local forms, is leading enjoy the rich cultural resources the English language How many people will
to fragmentation and diversity. No longer is it the case, if offers or will they simply use English as a vehicular speak English in 2050?
it ever was, that English unifies all who speak it. language – like a tool of their trade? p. 27
These competing trends will give rise to a less predi-
q What effects will economic globalisation have on the
ctable context within which the English language will be
demand for English?
learned and used. There is, therefore, no way of preci- What have been the
sely predicting the future of English since its spread and q Will the emergence of ‘world regions’ encourage heroic failures of the past
continued vitality is driven by such contradictory forces. lingua francas which challenge the position of in predicting the number
As David Crystal has commented: English? of English speakers?
There has never been a language so widely spread or spoken q How does English help the economic modernisation p. 18
by so many people as English. There are therefore no prece- of newly industrialised countries?
dents to help us see what happens to a language when it
q Is the Internet the electronic ‘flagship’ of global
achieves genuine world status. (Crystal, 1997, p. 139)
English?
The likelihood, as this book demonstrates, is that the
q Will the growth of global satellite TV, such as CNN
future for English will be a complex and plural one. The
and MTV, teach the world’s youth US English?
language will grow in usage and variety, yet simulta-
neously diminish in relative global importance. We may q Will the spread of English lead to over half of the
find the hegemony of English replaced by an oligarchy world’s languages becoming extinct?
of languages, including Spanish and Chinese. To put it
q Is it true that the English language will prove to be a
in economic terms, the size of the global market for the
vital resource and benefit to Britain in the coming
English language may increase in absolute terms, but its
century, giving it a key economic advantage over
market share will probably fall.
European competitors?
A new world era Commentators vary greatly in attitudes towards, and
According to many economists, cultural theorists and expectations of, global English. At one extreme, there is
political scientists, the new ‘world order’ expected to an unproblematic assumption that the world will eventu-
appear in the 21st century will represent a significant ally speak English and that this will facilitate the cultural
discontinuity with previous centuries. The Internet and and economic dominance of native-speaking countries
related information technologies, for example, may (especially the US). Such a view is challenged, however,
upset the traditional patterns of communication upon by the growing assertiveness of countries adopting
which institutional and national cultures have been built. English as a second language that English is now their
We have entered a period in which language and language, through which they can express their own
communication will play a more central role than ever values and identities, create their own intellectual property
before in economic, political and cultural life – just at the and export goods and services to other countries.
moment in history that a global language has emerged. The spread of English in recent years is, by any
There are signs already of an associated shift of social criterion, a remarkable phenomenon. But the closer one
values which may have a significant impact on the future examines the historical causes and current trends, the
decision-making of organisations, governments and more it becomes apparent that the future of English will
consumers. Some commentators predict that, just as be more complex, more demanding of understanding
environmental issues were once regarded as less impor- and more challenging for the position of native-speaking
tant than the need for profit, so issues of social equity will countries than has hitherto been supposed.
form a third ‘bottom line’ in the global business environ- This book is neither triumphalist nor alarmist, but
ment. This suggests that those who promote the global seeks to chart some of the territory, to stimulate a more
use of English will be burdened with new social responsi- informed debate which can, in turn, help all those con-
bilities and may have to engage with a more complex cerned with the future of English prepare for the
public agenda, including ethical issues relating to lingu- significant changes the 21st century will bring.
istic human rights.

The Future of English? 3

Book highlights

1 English and the international economy 4 A bilingual future
The shifting patterns of trade and new working practices (such There is a growing belief amongst language professionals that
as the growing prevalence of screen-based labour) which the future will be a bilingual one, in which an increasing
follow globalisation are affecting the use of the English proportion of the world’s population will be fluent speakers of
language in complex ways. At present there is a considerable more than one language. For the last few hundred years
increase in the numbers of people learning and using English, English has been dominated by monolingual speakers’
but a closer examination of driving forces suggests that the interests: there is little to help us understand what will happen
long-term growth of the learning of English is less secure than to English when the majority of the people and institutions
might at first appear. who use it do so as a second language.

2 English and global culture 5 Social value shifts
As the number of people using English grows, so second- The spread of English has been made more rapid in recent
language speakers are drawn towards the ‘inner circle’ of years as a consequence of decisions and actions taken by
first-language speakers and foreign-language speakers to the governments, institutions and individuals. This process has
‘outer circle’ of second-language speakers. During this status been guided by a logic of ‘economic rationalism’. However,
migration, attitudes and needs in respect of the language will significant social value shifts may occur in public opinion,
change; the English language will diversify and other countries making social equity as important a factor in public policy as
will emerge to compete with the older, native-speaking economic issues, and quality of life as important as income in
countries in both the English language-teaching industry and personal life choices. Such value shifts would foreground the
in the global market for cultural resources and intellectual complex ethical issues associated with the world dominance of
property in English. a single language and cause a reassessment of the impact of
English on other cultures, national identities and educational
3 English as a leading-edge phenomenon opportunities for the world’s non-English speaking citizens.
English is closely associated with the leading edge of global The economic argument for English may also be challenged as
scientific, technological, economic and cultural developments, developing countries make more careful evaluations of the
where it has been unrivalled in its influence in the late 20th costs and benefits of mass educational programmes in the
century. But we cannot simply extrapolate from the last few English language.
decades and assume this trend will continue unchanged. In
four key sectors, the present dominance of English can be 6 Need for scenario building
expected to give way to a wider mix of languages: first, the This book suggests that development work should be put in
global audio-visual market and especially satellite TV; second, hand towards the building and testing of ‘scenarios’ which
the Internet and computer-based communication including encompass a range of possible futures for English in key areas.
language-related and document handling software; third, A ‘Delphi panel’ of experts (p. 23) in different regions of the
technology transfer and associated processes in economic world could be invited to respond to the scenarios and help
globalisation; fourth, foreign-language learning especially in establish local understandings of the changing role of English.
developing countries where growing regional trade may make Such qualitative work should go hand-in-hand with the
other languages of increasing economic importance. collection of key statistics and trend data.

References
Crystal, D. (1997) English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Maybin, J. and Mercer, N. (1996) (eds) Using English: from conversation to canon.
Press. London: Routledge/Open University.
The Economist (1996) Language and Electronics: the coming global tongue. 21 Mercer, N. and Swann, J. (1996) (eds) Learning English: development and diversity.
December, pp. 37–9. London: Routledge/Open University.
Goodman, S. and Graddol, D. (1996) (eds) Redesigning English: new texts, new
Further reading identities. London: Routledge/Open University.
There are many books now available which examine the social and linguistic
contexts in which English developed historically. The Future of English? has Sources
been written to complement the following books in particular: A composite list of sources for the tables and figures in this book can be found
on the inside back cover.
Crystal, D. (1997) English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. Note
Graddol, D., Leith, D. and Swann, J. (1996) (eds) English: history, diversity and All references to $ in this text are to US$. 1 billion = 1,000 million; 1 trillion =
change. London: Routledge/Open University. 1,000,000 million


English today

1
q The legacy of history Looking at the past is an important step towards
Britain’s colonial expansion established the pre-conditions for the understanding the future. Any serious study of English
global use of English, taking the language from its island birthplace to in the 21st century must start by examining how
settlements around the world. The English language has grown up in
contact with many others, making it a hybrid language which can
English came to be in its current state and spoken by
rapidly evolve to meet new cultural and communicative needs. those who speak it. What factors have ensured the
spread of English? What does this process tell us
q English in the 20th century about the fate of languages in unique political and
The story of English in the 20th century has been closely linked to cultural contexts? In what domains of knowledge has
the rise of the US as a superpower that has spread the English
language alongside its economic, technological and cultural influence.
English developed particular importance and how
In the same period, the international importance of other European recently?
languages, especially French, has declined.
English is remarkable for its diversity, its propensity to
q Who speaks English? change and be changed. This has resulted in both a
There are three kinds of English speaker: those who speak it as a first variety of forms of English, but also a diversity of
language, those for whom it is a second or additional language and cultural contexts within which English is used in daily
those who learn it as a foreign language. Native speakers may feel the
life. The main areas of development in the use and
language ‘belongs’ to them, but it will be those who speak English as
a second or foreign language who will determine its world future. form of English will undoubtedly come from non-
native speakers. How many are there and where are
q Language hierarchies they located? And when and why do they use English
Languages are not equal in political or social status, particularly in instead of their first language? We need to be aware
multilingual contexts. How does English relate to other languages in a
of the different place that English has in the lives of
multilingual speaker’s reper toire? Why does someone use English
rather than a local language? What characteristic patterns are there in native speakers, second-language users and those
the use of English by non-native speakers? who learn it as a foreign language.
This section examines the development of English,
identifies those languages which have historically
rivalled English as a world language and explains the
special place that English has in multilingual countries
and in the repertoires of multilingual speakers. By
showing how our present arose from the past, we will
be better equipped to speculate on what the future
might hold in store.


The legacy of history
Britain’s colonial expansion established the pre-conditions for the global use language in a way similar to the 17th century extension
of English, taking the language from its island birthplace to settlements of English in vocabulary and function.
Nation states are getting more plentiful – there are
around the world. The English language has grown up in contact with many now over 180 states represented at the UN – and one
others, making it a hybrid language which can rapidly evolve to meet new consequence of the break-up of larger territories into
cultural and communicative needs. separate states has been the emergence of new national
languages. Simultaneously, the role of the nation state is
being weakened as economic globalisation, regional
The colonial period trading blocs and new multilateral political affiliations
The English language has been associated with migrat- limit national spheres of control. Nevertheless, the death
ion since its first origins – the language came into being of the nation state is much exaggerated. National educa-
in the 5th century with patterns of people movement tion systems, for example, play a major role in determi-
and resettlement. But as a world language its history ning which languages in the world are taught and
began in the 17th century, most notably in the foundat- learned. The role of nation states is changing but is by
ion of the American colonies. Many European powers no means abolished.
were similarly expanding: French, Dutch, Portuguese
and Spanish became established as colonial languages, The emergence of national varieties
the latter two still important outside Europe in Latin The attempt to fix and ‘ascertain’ the English language,
America. But in the 19th century the British empire, made in the 18th and 19th centuries, was never entirely
with its distinctive mix of trade and cultural politics, successful: the language has continued to adapt itself
consolidated the world position of English, creating a swiftly to new circumstances and people. And it was not
‘language on which the sun never sets’. just Britain which desired a national language from
English. Noah Webster’s proposed reforms of the
The rise of the nation state American spelling system, some of which give it a distin-
In Europe of the middle ages, power was distributed ctive appearance in print, were intended explicitly to
between Church, sovereign and local barons, creating create a national linguistic identity for the newly inde-
multiple agencies of social control, government and land pendent country:
Is English the most management. Even in the 1500s, a monarch such as
The question now occurs; ought the Americans to retain
widely spoken language Charles V ruled geographically dispersed parts of
these faults which produce innumerable inconveniences in
in the world today? Europe. But by the 17th and 18th centuries, the nation
the acquisition and use of the language, or ought they at
p. 8 state had emerged as a territorial basis for administration
once to reform these abuses, and introduce order and regu-
and cultural identity. Yet language diversity was exten-
Will future language use larity into the orthography of the American tongue? ... a
sive and many language boundaries crossed the borders
be shaped by time zone capital advantage of this reform ... would be, that it would
of newly emerging states. Each nation state required
rather than geography in make a difference between the English orthography and the
therefore an internal lingua franca, subject like other
the 21st century? American. ... a national language is a band of national
instruments of state to central regulation, which could
p. 53 union. ... Let us seize the present moment, and establish a
act as a vehicle of governance and as an emblem of
national language as well as a national government.
national identity. ‘National’ languages, not existing in
(Webster, 1789)
Europe prior to the creation of nation states, had to be
constructed. Consequently, the English language was There are an increasing number of national stan-
self-consciously expanded and reconstructed to serve the dards, including those related to the ‘New Englishes’
purposes of a national language. which have appeared in former colonial countries such
Profound cultural as well as political changes affected as Singapore. Each standard is supported (or soon may
the English language. Modern institutions of science be) by national dictionaries, grammars and style sheets.
were founded, such as the Royal Society in Britain; Nevertheless, no central authority has ever existed,
language was added to the scientific agenda and made either nationally or globally, which can regulate the
an object of study alongside investigations of the natural language.
world. New words and ways of writing in English were
developed. For a time, scholars and clerics who regularly A hybrid and flexible language
travelled across the boundaries of national languages English has always been an evolving language and
continued to use Latin as their lingua franca. But as language contact has been an important driver of
knowledge of Latin declined and the rise of merchant change. First from Celtic and Latin, later from
and professional classes produced travellers unschooled Scandinavian and Norman French, more recently from
in Latin, people sought alternative means of internatio- the many other languages spoken in the British colonies,
nal communication. the English language has borrowed freely. Some analysts
The idea of a national language being a requirement see this hybridity and permeability of English as defining
for a nation state has remained a powerful one. The features, allowing it to expand quickly into new domains
20th century process of decolonisation created a drive to and explaining in part its success as a world language.
establish new national languages which could provide an One of the few certainties associated with the future
integrated identity for multi-ethnic states set up on the of English is that it will continue to evolve, reflecting and
European model. Few countries were as bold as constructing the changing roles and identities of its spea-
Singapore, in adopting a multi-language formula which kers. Yet we are now at a significant point of evolution:
reflected the ethnic languages of the new state. Even in at the end of the 20th century, the close relationship that
India, Hindi is the sole national language and English has previously existed between language, territory and
technically an ‘associate’. In some countries a new natio- cultural identity is being challenged by globalising forces.
nal language had to be created – such as Bahasa The impact of such trends will shape the contexts in
Malaysia which raised the status of Malay into a national which English is learned and used in the 21st century.


Seven ages of English
This page provides an overview of the history of English, from its birth in the 5th century to the present day

1 Pre-English period ( – c. AD 450) 5 Early Modern English (c.1450–1750)
The origins of English are, for a language, surprisingly well docu- This period spans the Renaissance, the Elizabethan era and
mented. At the time of the Roman invasion c.55 BC, the indigenous Shakespeare. It is the period when the nation states of Europe took
languages of Britain were Celtic, of which there were two main their modern form. The role of the Church and Latin declined. In
branches (corresponding to modern Gaelic and Welsh). The England, key institutions of science, such as the Royal Society,
Romans made Latin an ‘official’ language of culture and govern- were established and, by the end of the 17th century, theoreticians
ment, probably resulting in many communities in Britain beco- like Isaac Newton were writing their discoveries in English rather
ming bilingual Celtic-Latin. Garrisons of troops then arrived from than Latin.
elsewhere in the Roman empire, particularly Gaul, another Celtic
Britain grew commercially and acquired overseas colonies. English
area. In some points, the English language has repeated this early
was taken to the Americas (first colony at Jamestown, Virginia
history of Latin: it was brought into many countries in the 17th to
1607) and India (first trading post at Surat 1614). With the rise of
19th centuries as the language of a colonial power and made the
printing (first printed book in English 1473) English acquired a
language of administration, spoken by a social elite, but not used
stable typographic identity. Teaching English as a foreign language
by the majority of the population. It served, moreover, as an inter-
began in the 16th century, first in Holland and France.
national lingua franca amongst the elites of many countries. But
the use of Latin rapidly declined in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Will English share this fate? A common writing: whereby two, although not
understanding one the others language, yet by the helpe
thereof, may communicate their minds one to another. ...
2 Early Old English (c.450–c.850) The harshness of the stile, I hope, will be corrected by
The English language developed after the Anglo-Saxon invasion the readers ingenuity.
c.449 AD, when the Romans left Britain and new settlers brought Preface to A Common Writing, Francis Lodwick, 1647
Germanic dialects from mainland Europe. Latin was still an impor-
tant written language because of the Church and many Latin
words were introduced into Old English during this early period, 6 Modern English (c.1750–1950)
but the language developed a new form: the first English literary English had become a ‘national’ language. Many attempts were
texts appeared. made to ‘standardise and fix’ the language with dictionaries and
grammars (Johnson’s Dictionary 1755, the Oxford English Dictionary
1858–1928). The industrial revolution triggered off a global
Gefeng þa be feaxe (nalas for fæhðe mearn) restructuring of work and leisure which made English the internat-
Guð-Geata leod Grendles modor; ional language of advertising and consumerism. The telegraph was
brægd þa beadwe heard, þa he gebolgen wæs, patented in 1837, linking English-speaking communities around
feorhgeniðlan, þæt heo on flet gebeah. the world and establishing English as the major language for wire
Beowulf seizes Grendel’s mother by the hair: a fragment services. As Britain consolidated imperial power, English-medium
from the epic Old English poem composed c. 750 education was introduced in many parts of the world. The interna-
tional use of French declined. The first international series of
English language-teaching texts was published from Britain in 1938
3 Later Old English (c.850–1100) and the world’s first TV commercial was broadcast in the US in
This was a time of invasion and settlement from Scandinavia (the 1941. English emerged as the most popular working language for
Vikings) and a time of language change. In the north of England transnational institutions.
dialects of English were extensively influenced by Scandinavian
languages. In the south, King Alfred, concerned about falling
educational standards, arranged for many Latin texts to be transla-
7 Late Modern English (c.1950–)
ted into English. With Britain’s retreat from the empire, local and partially standar-
dised varieties of English have emerged in newly independent
countries. ELT has become a major private-sector industry. In the
aftermath of World War II, the US became a global economic and
4 Middle English (c.1100–1450)
cultural presence, making American English the dominant world
The Norman Conquest (1066) and rule brought about many lingu- variety. The first geostationary communications satellites were
istic changes. French, now the official language in England, affec- launched (Early Bird 1965) and the Internet was invented (US
ted English vocabulary and spelling. The grammar of English was 1970s). A world market in audio-visual products was created and
also radically transformed. Whereas Old English expressed gram- soap operas such as Dallas circulated the globe. Worldwide English
matical relations through inflections (word endings), Middle language TV channels began (CNN International launched 1989).
English lost many inflections and used word order to mark the Meanwhile, English has acquired new electronic forms, as the frag-
grammatical function of nouns. Educated people probably needed ment of a textual interaction from a north European reflector for
to be trilingual in French, Latin and English. It was a flourishing Internet Relay Chat shows:
period for English literature. Writers included Geoffrey Chaucer,
whose language is beginning to look like modern English.
Moonhoo joined (total 22)
<Moonhoo> cam someone ping me please
And preie God save the king, that is lord of this langage, <NorthBoy> action fires a harpoon at Moonhoo.
and alle that him feith berith and obeieth, everich in his <Wiz09> whispers: U all dont sound to awfullly excited :(:(
degre, the more and the lasse. But considere wel that I <BigMix> North the host is a geek though
ne usurpe not to have founden this werk of my labour <NorthBoy> Moonhoo: you’re lagged bigtime.
or of myn engyn.
Prologue of A Treatise on the Astrolabe,
Geoffrey Chaucer, 1391


English in the 20th century
The story of English in the 20th century has been closely linked to the rise of For the spread of English, the aftermath of World
the US as a superpower that has spread the English language alongside its War II was decisive. American influence was extended
around the world. As George Steiner has observed:
economic, technological and cultural influence. In the same period, the
international importance of other European languages, especially French, has English acted as the vulgate of American power and of
Anglo-American technology and finance. ... In ways too
declined. intricate, too diverse for socio-linguistics to formulate preci-
sely, English and American-English seem to embody for
The rise of the US men and women throughout the world – and particularly
for the young – the ‘feel’ of hope, of material advance, of
By the end of the 19th century, Britain had established
scientific and empirical procedures. The entire world-image
the pre-conditions for English as a global language.
of mass consumption, of international exchange, of the
Communities of English speakers were settled around
popular arts, of generational conflict, of technocracy, is
the world and, along with them, patterns of trade and
permeated by American-English and English citations and
communication. Yet the world position of English might
speech habits. (Steiner, 1975, p. 469)
have declined with the empire, like the languages of
other European colonial powers, such as Portugal and Steiner captures the complex mix of the economic,
the Netherlands, had it not been for the dramatic rise of technological, political and cultural which is evident in
the US in the 20th century as a world superpower. the international domains of English at the end of the
There were, indeed, two other European linguistic 20th century. Those domains, listed in Table 2, are
contenders which could have established themselves as discussed more fully later in the book. Here, we briefly
the global lingua franca – French and German. Eco examine how this situation arose in the second half of
Will the growth of the
(1995) suggests: the 20th century.
Internet help maintain
the global influence of Had Hitler won World War II and had the USA been redu- World institutions
English? ced to a confederation of banana republics, we would
After the war, several international agencies were estab-
p. 50 probably today use German as a universal vehicular
lished to help manage global reconstruction and future
language, and Japanese electronic firms would advertise
governance. The key one has proved to be the United
their products in Hong Kong airport duty-free shops
Nations and its subsidiary organisations. Crystal (1997)
(Zollfreie Waren) in German. (Eco, 1995, p. 331)
What effect will changing estimates that 85% of international organisations now
patterns of trade have on This is probably a disingenuous idea: the US was use English as one of their working languages, 49% use
the use of English? destined to be the most powerful of the industrialised French and fewer than 10% use Arabic, Spanish or
p. 33 countries because of its own natural and human resour- German. These figures probably underestimate the de
ces. The US is today the world’s third most populous facto use of English in such organisations. The
country with around 260 million inhabitants. Not surpri- International Association for Applied Linguistics, for
sing therefore that it now accounts for the greater example, lists French as a working language (and is
proportion of the total number of native English spea- known by a French acronym AILA), but English is used
kers. According to Table 1, which uses data generated almost exclusively in its publications and meetings. In
by the engco forecasting model (described more fully on Europe, the hegemony of English – even on paper – is
p. 64), only Chinese has more first-language users. While surprisingly high. Crystal (1997) estimates 99% of
such league tables beg as many questions as they answer, European organisations listed in a recent yearbook of
(and we will later discuss the serious problems attached international associations cite English as a working
to statistics relating to language use) they do make language, as opposed to 63% French and 40% German.
provocative reading – Hindi, Spanish and Arabic are French is still the only real rival to English as a work-
close behind English, but how secure their place will be ing language of world institutions, although the world
in the 21st century is a matter of speculation. position of French has been in undoubted rapid decline

Language engco model Ethnologue
1 Chinese 1,113 1,123 1 Working language of international
2 English 372 322 organisations and conferences
3 Hindi/Urdu 316 236 2 Scientific publication
4 Spanish 304 266 3 International banking, economic affairs and trade
5 Arabic 201 202 4 Advertising for global brands
6 Portuguese 165 170 5 Audio-visual cultural products (e.g. film, TV,
7 Russian 155 288 popular music)
8 Bengali 125 189 6 International tourism
9 Japanese 123 125 7 Tertiary education
10 German 102 98 8 International safety (e.g. ‘airspeak’, ‘seaspeak’)
11 French 70 72 9 International law
12 Italian 57 63 10 As a ‘relay language’ in interpretation and
13 Malay 47 47 translation
11 Technology transfer
Table 1 Major world languages in millions of first-language 12 Internet communication
speakers according to the engco model and comparative
figures from the Ethnologue (Grimes, 1996) Table 2 Major international domains of English


‘It has all happened so quickly’ – David Crystal in
English as a global language.

since World War II. Its use in international forums is Japanese 5.1% Russian 4.7%
unlikely to disappear entirely, however, because it retains
a somewhat negative convenience in being ‘not English’, Spanish 6.7% Portuguese 4.5%
particularly in Europe. It is the only alternative which
can be used in many international forums as a political French 7.7% Korean 4.4%
gesture of resistance to the hegemony of English. As a
delegate from Ireland once addressed the League of Italian 4.0%
Nations many years ago, explaining his use of French, ‘I
can’t speak my own language, and I’ll be damned if I’ll
German 11.8% Dutch 2.4%
speak English’ (cited in Large, 1985, p. 195). Chinese 13.3% Swedish 1.6%
Financial institutions English 28% Other 5.8%
English has been spread as a world language not only via
political initiatives. Key financial institutions have been
established in the 20th century, again after World War
II and with major American involvement. The Figure 2 The proportion of the world’s books annually published in each language. English is the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank most widely used foreign language for book publication: over 60 countries publish titles in
were established after the ‘Bretton Woods’ conference in English. Britain publishes more titles than any other country, thus generating more intellectual
1944. Through the Marshall plan, the US became property in the language than the US. Some UK publishers, however, adopt US English house-
closely involved in the post-war economic reconstruction styles and this, together with the fact that print runs in North America are typically much
of Europe, Japan and other parts of the Asia Pacific longer than in the UK, ensures that books published in US English receive a wider circulation
region. The Korean and later the Vietnamese war conti- than those in British English. In the 21st century there is likely to be considerable growth in
nued the process of spreading American influence. English language publishing in countries where English is spoken as a second language
Cultural, economic and technological dependency on
America were soon a concern for nations across the
world. The Bretton Woods system has since played a It is not just in scientific publishing, but in book
significant role in regulating international economic rela- publication as a whole that English rules supreme.
tions and in introducing free-market regimes in countries Worldwide, English is the most popular language of
where control has been traditionally centralised. As publication. Figure 2 shows the estimated proportion of
more countries have been rendered ‘open’ to global titles published in different languages in the early 1990s.
flows of finance, goods, knowledge and culture, so the Unesco figures for book production show Britain
influence of English has spread. outstripping any other country in the world for the
number of titles published each year. In 1996, a remar-
Scientific publishing kable 101,504 titles were published in Britain
English is now the international currency of science and (Independent, 25 February 1997, p. 11). Although there
technology. Yet it has not always been so. The renais- are countries which publish more per head of the popu-
sance of British science in the 17th century put English- lation and many countries which print more copies,
language science publications, such as the Philosophical none publishes as many titles. Many of these books are
Transactions instituted by the Royal Society 1665, at the exported, or are themselves part of a globalised trade in
forefront of the world scientific community. But the posi- which books may be typeset in one country, printed in
tion was soon lost to German, which became the domi- another and sold in a third.
nant international language of science until World War It is difficult to decide the relative cultural influence
I. The growing role of the US then ensured that English of huge numbers of copies of few titles available on the
became, once again, the global language of experiment one hand, against many titles printed in short runs on
and discovery. the other. However, the statistics show the enormous Physics 98%
Journals in many countries have shifted, since World amount of intellectual property being produced in the Chemistry 83%
War II, from publishing in their national language to English language in an era where intellectual property is Biology 81%
Psychology 81%
publishing in English. Gibbs (1995) describes how the becoming increasingly valuable. Maths 78%
Mexican medical journal Archivos de Investigación Médica Earth Sciences 76%
shifted to English: first publishing abstracts in English, English in the 21st century Medical Science 72%
then providing English translations of all articles, finally The position of English in the world today is thus the Sociology 72%
hiring an American editor, accepting articles only in joint outcome of Britain’s colonial expansion and the Philosophy 56%
English and changing its name to Archives of Medical more recent activity of the US. Any substantial shift in Forestry 55%
Research. This language shift is common elsewhere. A the role of the US in the world is likely to have an Vet. Sciences 53%
study in the early 1980s showed nearly two-thirds of impact on the use and attractiveness of the English Economics 48%
publications of French scientists were in English. Viereck language amongst those for whom it is not a first Sports Sciences 40%
Linguistics 35%
(1996) describes how all contributions in 1950 to the language. Later, we will see how the economic domi- Education 27%
Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie were in German, but by 1984 nance of the US is expected to decline, as economies in Literature 23%
95% were in English. The journal was renamed Ethology Asia overtake it in size. The question remains whether History 20%
two years later. English has become so entrenched in the world that a Classics 17%
As might be expected, some disciplines have been decline in the influence of the US would harm it. Are its Theology 12%
more affected by the English language than others. cultural resources and intellectual property so extensive Law 8%
Physics is the most globalised and anglophone, followed that no other language can catch up? Or will other
a close second by other pure sciences. Table 3 shows the languages come to rival English in their global impor- Table 3 Disciplines in
percentage of German scholars in each field reporting tance, pushing English aside much in the same way as which German academics
English as their ‘de facto working language’ in a study by Latin was abandoned as an international lingua franca claim English as their
Skudlik (1992). 300 years ago? working language


Who speaks English?
There are three kinds of English speaker: those who speak it as a first Possible
language, those for whom it is a second or additional language and those language
who learn it as a foreign language. Native speakers may feel the language shift
‘belongs’ to them, but it will be those who speak English as a second or
foreign language who will determine its world future. Possible
language
shift
Three types of English speaker
There are three types of English speaker in the world 375 million 750 million
today, each with a different relationship with the
L2 speakers EFL speakers
language. First-language (L1) speakers are those for
whom English is a first – and often only – language.
These native speakers live, for the most part, in countries 375 million
in which the dominant culture is based around English. L1 speakers
These countries, however, are experiencing increasing
linguistic diversity as a result of immigration. Second-
language (L2) speakers have English as a second or addi-
tional language, placing English in a repertoire of Figure 4 Showing the three circles of English as overlapping
languages where each is used in different contexts. makes it easier to see how the ‘centre of gravity’ will shift
Speakers here might use a local form of English, but may towards L2 speakers at the start of the 21st century
also be fluent in international varieties. The third group
of English speakers are the growing number of people of English called creoles. Creoles have as their origin a
learning English as a foreign language (EFL). pidgin – a reduced form of communication used
Leith (1996) argues that the first two kinds of English- between speakers of mutually unintelligible languages –
EXPANDING
speaking community result from different colonial which becomes extended in vocabulary and grammar as
OUTER processes. He identifies three kinds: a result of being used as a mother tongue. Classification
of creole speakers is problematic. From a linguistic view,
In the first type, exemplified by America and Australia,
INNER there is merit in regarding creoles as distinct languages.
substantial settlement by first-language speakers of English
320-380 From a sociolinguistic view, it may be better to regard
displaced the precolonial population. In the second, typified
creole speakers as belonging to the English-speaking
by Nigeria, sparser colonial settlements maintained the
150-300 community, because of the emergence in several count-
precolonial population in subjection and allowed a propor-
ries of a ‘post-creole continuum’: a range of language
100-1000 tion of them access to learning English as a second, or addi-
varieties from standard English to fully fledged creole.
tional, language. There is yet a third type, exemplified by
Dividing English speakers into three groups is a time-
the Caribbean islands of Barbados and Jamaica. Here a
Figure 3 The three circles of honoured approach to language use and, though not
precolonial population was replaced by a new labour from
English according to Kachru without its problems, is a useful starting point for under-
elsewhere, principally West Africa. ... The long-term effect
(1985) with estimates of standing the pattern of English worldwide. These three
of the slave trade on the development of the English
speaker numbers in millions groups have become widely known (after Kachru, 1985)
language is immense. It gave rise not only to black English
according to Crystal (1997) as the ‘inner circle’, the ‘outer circle’ and the ‘expanding
in the United States and the Caribbean, which has been an
circle’ (Figure 3). One of the drawbacks of this termino-
important influence on the speech of young English spea-
logy is the way it locates the ‘native speakers’ and native-
kers worldwide, but it also provided the extraordinary
speaking countries at the centre of the global use of
context of language contact which led to the formation of
English and, by implication, the source of models of
English pidgins and creoles. (Leith, 1996, pp. 181–2, 206)
correctness, the best teachers and English-language
Table 4 Native speakers of Each colonial process had different linguistic conse- goods and services consumed by those in the periphery.
English (in thousands) quences. The first type created a diaspora of native spea- This model, however, will not be the most useful for
incorporating estimates by kers of English (US, Canada, South Africa, Australia, describing English usage in the next century. Those who
Crystal (1997) New Zealand), with each settlement eventually establis- speak English alongside other languages will outnumber
hing its own national variety of English. The second first-language speakers and, increasingly, will decide the
(*indicates territories in (India, West Africa, East Africa) made English an elite global future of the language. For that reason we retain
which English is used as an second language, frequently required for further educat- here the terminology of ‘first-language speaker’ (L1),
L1, but where there is ion and government jobs. ‘second-language speaker’ (L2) and ‘speaker of English
greater L2 use or significant The linguistic consequences of the third type were as a foreign language’ (EFL). Figure 4 provides an alter-
use of another language) complex, including the creation of new hybrid varieties native way of visualising these three communities.

Antigua and Barbuda 61 Guam* 56 Papua New Guinea* 120 Trinidad and Tobago 1,200
Australia 15,316 Guyana 700 Philippines* 15 UK (England, Scotland,
Bahamas 250 Hong Kong* 125 Puerto Rico* 110 N. Ireland, Wales*) 56,990
Barbados 265 India* 320 Sierra Leone* 450 UK Islands
Belize* 135 Irish Republic 3,334 St Kitts and Nevis 39 (Channel*, Man) 217
Bermuda 60 Jamaica 2,400 St Lucia 29 US* 226,710
Brunei* 10 Liberia* 60 St Vincent and Grenadines 111 Virgin Is (British) 17
Canada 19,700 Malaysia* 375 Singapore* 300 Virgin Is (US) 79
Cayman Is 29 Montserrat 11 South Africa* 3,600 Zambia* 50
Gibraltar* 25 Namibia* 13 Sri Lanka* 10 Zimbabwe* 250
Grenada 101 New Zealand 3,396 Suriname 258


Those who speak English alongside other languages will
outnumber first-language speakers and, increasingly, will
decide the global future of the language.

The first-language countries
Using a tripartite division as a starting point for analysis,
we can find English spoken as a first language in over 30 American English British English
territories (Table 4). Crystal (1997) calculates that world-
wide there are a little over 377 million speakers of
English as a first language, including creole. It is a figure
in line with other recent estimates and the figures gene-
rated by the engco model (Table 1, p. 8, see also p. 64).
Canada British Isles
The second-language areas U.S.
In the 19th century, it was common to refer to English as
‘the language of administration’ for one-third of the S. Asia Philippines (US)
Caribbean
world’s population. It is interesting to compare this AUSTRALASIA
Am. Samoa W. Africa
figure with Crystal’s present-day estimate (1997) that the E. Africa S.E. Asia
aggregated population of all countries in which English PNG
has any special status (the total number of people Fiji
Anglophone
‘exposed to English’), represents around one-third of the S. Africa
Australia
New Zealand
world’s population. It is not surprising that the figures
are similar, since the more populous of the 75 or so
countries in which English has special status (Table 5)
are former colonies of Britain.
Competence in English among second-language Figure 5 The branches of world English
speakers, like that in EFL speakers, varies from native-
like fluency to extremely poor, but whereas in EFL areas part of the speaker’s identity repertoire. In the EFL
English is used primarily for communication with spea- world there is, by definition, no local model of English, Argentina
kers from other countries, in an L2 area English is used though speakers’ English accents and patterns of error Belgium
Costa Rica
for internal (intranational) communication. may reflect characteristics of their first language. Denmark
Areas in which English is used extensively as a second Ethiopia
language usually develop a distinct variety of English Language shift Honduras
which reflects other languages used alongside English. In many parts of the world there are ongoing shifts in Lebanon
Parts of the world where such varieties (‘New Englishes’) the status of English. These are largely undocumented Myanmar (Burma)
have emerged are the former colonial territories in and unquantified, but will represent a significant factor Nepal
South Asia, South-east Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. in the global future of the language. In those countries Netherlands
Although these local forms of English have their own listed in Table 6, the use of English for intranational Nicaragua
vitality and dynamic of change, there is often an under- communication is greatly increasing (such as in profes- Norway
Panama
lying model of correctness to which formal usage orients, sional discourse or higher education). These countries Somalia
reflecting the variety of English used by the former colo- can be regarded as in the process of shifting towards L2 Sudan
nial power. In the majority of countries this is British status. In existing L2 areas, a slight increase in the Surinam
(Figure 5), with some exceptions such as the Philippines proportion of the population speaking English (for Sweden
and Liberia, which orient to US English. example, in India, Pakistan, Nigeria and the Switzerland
Philippines), would significantly increase the global total United Arab Emirates
The foreign-language areas of secondlanguage speakers.
The number of people learning English has in recent In many L2 areas, there is a trend for professional Table 6 Countries in
years risen rapidly. This, in part, reflects changes in and middle classes who are bilingual in English (a transition from EFL to L2
public policy, such as lowering the age at which English rapidly growing social group in developing countries) to status
is taught in schools. Like L2, the EFL category spans a adopt English as the language of the home. English is
wide range of competence, from barely functional in thus acquiring new first-language speakers outside the Table 5 (below)
basic communication to near native fluency. The main traditional ‘native-speaking’ countries. Yet the number Second-language speakers of
distinction between a fluent EFL speaker and an L2 of new second-language speakers probably greatly offsets English (in thousands)
speaker depends on whether English is used within the the children in L2 families who grow up as first-language (*indicates a larger number
speaker’s community (country, family) and thus forms speakers – a trend shown graphically in Figure 4. of L1 English speakers)

Australia* 2,084 Hong Kong 1,860 Nepal 5,927 Solomon Is 135
Bahamas* 25 India 37,000 New Zealand* 150 South Africa 10,000
Bangladesh 3,100 Irish Republic* 190 Nigeria 43,000 Sri Lanka 1,850
Belize* 30 Jamaica* 50 Northern Marianas 50 Surinam 150
Bhutan 60 Kenya 2,576 Pakistan 16,000 Swaziland 40
Botswana 620 Kiribati 20 Palau 16,300 Tanzania 3,000
Brunei 104 Lesotho 488 Papua New Guinea 28,000 Tonga 30
Cameroon 6,600 Liberia 2,000 Philippines 36,400 Tuvulu 600
Canada* 6,000 Malawi 517 Puerto Rico 1,746 Uganda 2,000
Cook Is 2 Malaysia 5,984 Rwanda 24 UK* 1,100
Dominica 12 Malta 86 St Lucia* 22 US* 30,000
Fiji 160 Marshall Is 28 Samoa (American) 56 US Virgin Is* 10
Gambia 33 Mauritius 167 Samoa (Western) 86 Vanuatu 160
Ghana 1,153 Micronesia 15 Seychelles 11 Zambia 1,000
Guam 92 Namibia 300 Sierra Leone 3,830 Zimbabwe 3,300
Guyana* 30 Nauru 9,400 Singapore 1,046


Language hierarchies
Languages are not equal in political or social status, particularly in have greater territorial ‘reach’. For example, in the
multilingual contexts. How does English relate to other languages in a second layer from the base will be languages which in
India form the medium of primary education, newspa-
multilingual speaker’s repertoire? Why does someone use English rather than pers, radio broadcasts and local commerce. Above these
a local language? What characteristic patterns are there in the use of English in the hierarchy will be languages used in official admini-
by non-native speakers? stration, secondary education and so on to the highest
level, in which will be found the languages of wider and
international communication. The taper of the pyramid
English and other languages reflects the fact that fewer language varieties occupy this
A large number of native speakers is probably a pre- position: greatest linguistic diversity is found at the base
requisite for a language of wider communication, for amongst vernacular languages. Indeed, very few of the
these speakers create a range of cultural resources (works world’s languages are used for official administration and
of literature, films, news broadcasts) and pedagogic in other public forums.
materials (grammars, dictionaries, classroom materials) Not all speakers will be fluent in language varieties at
and provide opportunities for engaging in interactions the higher levels. The normal pattern of acquisition will
which require knowledge of the language. begin with those languages at the base. Many of the
But a full understanding of the role of English in a world’s population never require the use of varieties at
world where the majority of its speakers are not the uppermost layer because they never find themselves
first-language speakers requires an understanding of how in the communicative position which requires such
English relates to the other languages which are used language. For example, an Indian from the state of
alongside it. The European concept of bilingualism Kerala whose mother tongue is a tribal language may
reflects an idea that each language has a natural geog- also speak Tulu (2 million speakers) and the state
raphical ‘home’ and that a bilingual speaker is therefore language Malayalam (33 million), or the neighbouring
someone who can converse with monolingual speakers state language of Kannada (44 million). If they know any
from more than one country. The ideal bilingual speaker Hindi or English, it is likely to be their fourth or fifth
is thus imagined to be someone who is like a monolin- language. However, more and more people in the world
gual in two languages at once. But many of the world’s will learn languages in the uppermost layer as a result of
bilingual or multilingual speakers interact with other improved education and changing patterns of communi-
multilinguals and use each of their languages for diffe- cation in the world.
rent purposes: English is not used simply as a ‘default’ Although a simple pyramid figure captures somet-
language because it is the only language shared with hing of the hierarchical relationship between language
another speaker; it is often used because it is culturally varieties, it perhaps suggests too neat a pattern of
regarded as the appropriate language for a particular language use. For the majority of the world’s population,
communicative context. a particular language will exist at more than one level
Languages in multilingual areas are often hierarchi- (for example, serve as a public language as well as a
cally ordered in status. To the extent that such relations- language in the family), though where a language serves
hips are institutionalised, the hierarchy can be thought of different communicative functions in this way it usually
as applying to countries as much as to the repertoire of also takes a variety of forms. For example, the classic
individual speakers. Shown schematically in Figure 6 is a sociolinguistic pyramid used to describe British English
language hierarchy for India, a complex multilingual (Trudgill, 1974, p. 41) shows a similarly layered structure
area where nearly 200 languages exist with differing in which vernacular, informal varieties, often with strong
status. At the pyramid base are languages used within geographical basis, exist at the lowest layer, whilst at the
the family and for interactions with close friends. Such apex is a standard form of English, showing little regio-
languages tend to be geographically based (or used by nal variation and used for public and formal communi-
migrant communities) and are the first languages learned cation. All speakers can be expected to modify their
by children. Higher up the pyramid are languages which language to suit the communicative situation; even a
are found in more formal and public domains and which monolingual English speaker will adapt accent, vocabu-
lary, grammar and rhetorical form to suit the context.
National languages English and code-switching
HINDI, ENGLISH Where English has a place alongside other languages in
a local language hierarchy, speakers will normally use
Scheduled languages
HINDI, TELEGU, BENGALI, MARATHI, TAMIL
their first language in different contexts from those in
URDU, GUJRATI, KANNADA, MALAYALAM, ORIYA
which they use English. Whereas the first language may
PUNJABI, KASHMIRI, SINDHI, ASSAMESE, SANSKRIT
be a sign of solidarity or intimacy, English, in many
bilingual situations, carries overtones of social distance,
Languages with widespread currency formality or officialdom. Where two speakers know both
41 languages used for education
languages, they may switch between the two as part of a
58 taught as school subjects negotiation of their relationship. Indeed, they may
87 used in media switch between languages within a single sentence. In
the following example a young job seeker comes into the
Local vernacular varieties manager’s office in a Nairobi business. The young man
Over 190 recognised language varieties begins in English, but the manager insists on using
1,652 'mother tongues' recorded in 1961 census Swahili, ‘thus denying the young man’s negotiation of
the higher status associated with English’ (Myers-
Scotton, 1989, p. 339). Bilingual speakers use code-
Figure 6 A language hierarchy for India switching as a communicative resource, varying the mix


English is not used simply as a ‘default’ language;
it is often used because it is culturally regarded as
the appropriate language for a particular
communicative context.

of the two languages, for example, Swahili and English, Non-native speaker interactions
in a way which only a member of the same speech English increasingly acts as a lingua franca between non-
community can fully understand. native speakers. For example, if a German sales manager
conducts business in China, English is likely to be used.
Young man: Mr Muchuki has sent me to you about the Little research has been carried out on such interactions,
job you put in the paper. but they are likely to have characteristic features,
reflecting complex patterns of politeness and strategies
Manager: Ulituma barua ya application? [DID YOU SEND A Will English become a
for negotiating meaning cross-culturally. Firth (1996), for
LETTER OF APPLICATION?] language for work, like a
example, analysed international telephone calls involving
Young man: Yes, I did. But he asked me to come to see two Danish trading companies and identified several ‘coat worn at the office
you today. conversational strategies. The exchange below, between but taken off at home’?
a Dane (H) and a Syrian (B), shows one strategy which p. 42
Manager: Ikiwa ulituma barua, nenda ungojee majibu. he termed ‘let it pass’ – where one person does not
Tutakuita ufike kwa interview siku itakapofika. [IF YOU’VE understand what has been said, but delays asking for
WRITTEN A LETTER, THEN GO AND WAIT FOR A RESPONSE. WE WILL elucidation in the hope that the meaning will emerge as Will the spread of English
CALL YOU FOR AN INTERVIEW WHEN THE LETTER ARRIVES] talk progresses or else become redundant. be responsible for the
B: So I told him not to send the cheese after the blowing extinction of thousands
Leo sina la suma kuliko hayo. [TODAY I HAVEN’T ANYTHING
of lesser used languages?
in the customs. We don’t want the order after the
ELSE TO SAY]
cheese is blowing. p. 38

Young man: Asante. Nitangoja majibu. [THANK YOU. I WILL H: I see, yes.
WAIT FOR THE RESPONSE]
B: So I don’t know what we can do with the order now.
What do you think we should do with this all blowing,
One of the global trends we identify later is the develop-
Mr Hansen?
ment of world regions composed of adjacent countries
with strong cultural, economic and political ties. As such H: I’m not uh (pause). Blowing? What is this, too big or
regions develop, so it is likely that new regional language what?
hierarchies will appear. The European Union, for
B: No, the cheese is bad Mr Hansen. It is like fermenting
example, may be in the process of becoming a single
in the customs’ cool rooms.
geolinguistic region like India (Figure 7). A survey in
1995 by the European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages H: Ah, it’s gone off!
reported that 42% of EU citizens could communicate in
B: Yes, it’s gone off.
English, 31% in German and 29% in French (cited in
Crystal, 1997). Surveys of European satellite TV audien- Experienced users of English as a foreign language may
ces (p. 46) confirm the widespread understanding of acquire communicative skills which are different from
English – over 70% of viewers claim they can follow the those of native speakers, reflecting the more hazardous
news in English and over 40% could do so in French or contexts of communication in which they routinely find
German. (Sysfret, 1997, p. 37). themselves. However, the strategies employed by non-
It is possible to conceptualise a world hierarchy, like native speakers remains an under-researched area of
that outlined for Europe or India, (Figure 8), in which English usage, despite the fact that there may already be
English and French are at the apex, with the position of more people who speak English as a foreign language
French declining and English becoming more clearly the than the combined totals of those who speak it as a first
global lingua franca. Later, we argue that English is also and second language.
steadily ‘colonising’ lower layers in this hierarchy for
many of the world’s speakers, whereas the majority of The big languages
the world’s languages – found at present only at the base ENGLISH FRENCH
– are likely to become extinct.
Regional languages
The big languages (*languages of the United Nations)
ARABIC, CHINESE*, ENGLISH*
ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN FRENCH*, GERMAN, RUSSIAN*
SPANISH*
National languages National languages
DANISH, DUTCH, ENGLISH, FINNISH
Around 80 languages serve over 180 nation states
FRENCH, GERMAN, GREEK, IRISH
ITALIAN, PORTUGUESE, SPANISH, SWEDISH

Officially recognised and supported Official languages within nation states
languages (and other ‘safe’ languages)
ALSATION, ASTURIAN, BASQUE, CATALAN, CORSICAN
FRISIAN, GALICIAN, LADIN, LUXEMBOURGISH Around 600 languages worldwide (Krauss, 1992)
OCCITAN, SARDINIAN, SCOTS GAELIC, WELSH (e.g. Marathi)

Vernacular varieties of indigenous EU communities Local vernacular languages
ALBANIAN, ARAGONESE, BRETON, CORNISH, FRANCO-PROVENCAL, FRIULIAN
KARELIAN, LALLANS, MACEDONIAN (GREECE), MANX, POLISH, ROMANY, SAMISH The remainder of the world's 6,000+ languages
CROAT, SLOVENE, SORBIAN, TURKISH, VLACH

Figure 7 A language hierarchy for the European Union Figure 8 The world language hierarchy


Summary

1 The development of the language 3 English and other languages
The English language has changed substantially in vocabulary The majority of speakers of English already speak more than
and grammatical form – often as a result of contact with other one language. An important community for the future
languages. This has created a hybrid language; vocabulary has development of English in the world is the ‘outer circle’ of those
been borrowed from many sources and grammatical structure who speak it as a second language. English often plays a special
has changed through contact with other languages. This may role in their lives and the fate of English in the world is likely to
cause problems for learners, but it also means that speakers of be closely connected to how this role develops in future. English,
many other languages can recognise features which are not too for example, is becoming used by many EFL and L2 speakers
dissimilar to characteristics of their own language. Although the for a wider range of communicative functions. This process, by
structural properties of English have not hindered the spread of which English ‘colonises’ the lower layers of the language
English, the spread of the language globally cannot be hierarchy in many countries, means that English may take over
attributed to intrinsic linguistic qualities. some of the functions currently served by other languages in the
construction of social identity and the creation and maintenance
2 The spread of English of social relationships.
There have been two main historical mechanisms for the spread
of English. First was the colonial expansion of Britain which 4 A single, European, linguistic area
resulted in settlements of English speakers in many parts of the Western Europe is beginning to form a single multilingual area,
world. This has provided a diasporic base for the language – rather like India, where languages are hierarchically related in
which is probably a key factor in the adoption of a language as a status. As in India, there may be many who are monolingual in
lingua franca. In the 20th century, the role of the US has been a regional language, but those who speak one of the ‘big’
more important than that of Britain and has helped ensure that languages will have better access to material success. Other
the language is not only at the forefront of scientific and world regions may develop in a similar way. This book focuses
technical knowledge, but also leads consumer culture. particularly on emergent trends in Asia, but significant
developments are likely to occur also in the Americas, in Russia
and in sub-Saharan Africa.

References
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Stevenson (ed) The German Language and the Real World: sociolinguistic, cultural and Oxford University Press.
pragmatic perspectives on contemporary German. Oxford: Clarendon Press. McArthur, T. (1996) English in the world and in Europe. In R. Hartmann (ed)
Crystal, D. (1995) Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: The English Language in Europe. Oxford: Intellect.
Cambridge University Press. Myers-Scotton, C. (1989) Code-switching with English: types of switching, types
Crystal, D. (1997) English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University of communities. World Englishes, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 333–46.
Press. Skudlik, S. (1992) The status of German as a language of science and the
Eco, U. (1995) The Search for the Perfect Language. Oxford: Blackwell. importance of the English language for German-speaking scientists. In U.
Firth, A. (1996) ‘Lingua Franca’ English and conversation analysis. Journal of Ammon and M. Hellinger (eds) Status Change of Languages. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Pragmatics, April. Swinburne, J.K. (1983) The use of English as an international language of
Gibbs, W.W. (1995) Lost science in the third world. Scientific American, August, science: a study of the publications and views of a group of French scientists.
pp. 76–83. The Incorporated Linguist, vol. 22, pp. 129–32.
Grimes, B.F. (1996) (ed) Ethnologue: languages of the world. Dallas: Summer Institute Steiner, G. (1975) After Babel: aspects of language and translation. Oxford: Oxford
of Linguistics. University Press.
Hagen, S. (1993) (ed) Languages in European Business: a regional survey of small and Strevens, P. (1992) English as an international language. In B.B. Kachru (ed)
medium-sized companies. London: CILT. The Other Tongue: English across cultures. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Hesselberg-Møller, N. (1988) Eksport og uddannelse. Copenhagen: Sysfret, T. (1997) Trend setters. Cable and Satellite Europe, January, pp. 34–7
Industrirådet. Trudgill, P. (1974) Sociolinguistics: an introduction. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Kachru, B.B. (1985) Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: the Viereck, W. (1996) English in Europe: its nativisation and use as a lingua franca,
English language in the outer circle. In R. Quirk and H.G. Widdowson (eds) with special reference to German-speaking countries. In R. Hartmann (ed) The
English in the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. English Language in Europe. Oxford: Intellect.
Krauss, M. (1992) The world’s languages in crisis. Language, vol. 68, no. 1, pp. Webster, N. (1789) An essay on the necessity, advantages and practicability of
7–9 reforming the mode of spelling, and of rendering the orthography of words
Large, A. (1985) The Artificial Language Movement. Oxford: Blackwell. correspondent to the pronunciation. Appendix to Dissertations on the English
Leith, D. (1996) English – colonial to postcolonial. In D. Graddol, D. Leith and Language. Extracts reprinted in T. Crowley (ed) Proper English: readings in
J. Swann (eds) English: history, diversity and change. London: Routledge. language, history and cultural identity. London: Routledge.


Forecasting

2
q Futurology History is littered with failures of prediction and there
Futurology is one of the oldest of professions, judged with scepticism is no reason to believe that attempts to predict
and awe in equal measure. Although facts and ﬁgures are an impor- precisely what will happen to the English language will
tant ingredient in forecasting, they need to be interpreted with care. fare any better.
On these pages we outline some basic features of language change
and describe common problems with using statistics. It is, however, possible to understand something of
the ways in which languages evolve and how
q Making sense of trends
individual speakers adapt their patterns of language
One of the key skills in forecasting is being able to recognise an un-
derlying trend and to understand how it might develop in the future. use. This gives us some useful indicators as to the
Linguistic and social change rarely happen at a steady and predictable conditions under which change occurs, which kinds of
rate. Here we discuss various hazards associated with the interpre- change are likely and which unlikely, the reasons why
tation of trend data using examples relevant to the English language.
linguistic change happen and the timescales that
q Predictability or chaos? different kinds of change require.
The use of English worldwide can be regarded as a ‘complex system’ But many factors affecting the use of languages cannot
in which many factors interact in ways that are not easily predictable.
But recent advances in modelling the behaviour of complex systems
be predicted easily. Major upheavals – war, civil
– such as the weather – could help us understand what patterns may revolution and the breakup of nation states – can
emerge in the global use of English. cause languages to take unexpected directions, as can
the vagaries of fashion amongst the global elite. Most
q Scenario planning
people have opinions, ambitions and anxieties about
How do forecasters in large companies cope with the uncertainty
that the future holds? Can the methods they employ be applied to the future, but few people know how to plan
matters of culture and language as easily as to the price of oil? strategically for such unpredictable events.
Scenario building is one methodology used by strategists to put to-
gether known facts with imaginative ideas about the future. Strategic planning is not the same as prediction. This
section provides a guide to some of the techniques
used by strategists and planners to create
‘future-proof ’ models and shows how they can be
applied to aspects of language change and global
trends in the use of the English language.
The section begins with the hazards of extrapolating
from current data, examines what insights chaos
theory – used for weather forecasting – has provided
into the behaviour of complex systems and ends with
a discussion of the scenario-building techniques used
by transnational companies to ensure their strategic
decisions on investment and management stay robust
against a range of possible futures.


Futurology
Futurology is one of the oldest of professions, judged with scepticism and stances. A government policy decision, for example,
awe in equal measure. Although facts and figures are an important might change the status of English as the first foreign
language taught in schools, or may encourage
ingredient in forecasting, they need to be interpreted with care. On these English as a medium of university education. Or
pages we outline some basic features of language change and describe market liberalisation might result in the establishment
common problems with using statistics. of joint-venture companies, paying high salaries but
requiring English-language skills in their workforce.

q Innovation in language tends to diffuse through social networks.
Trend spotting It has often been observed that people who interact
Futurologists inhabit a frontierland between historical together on a regular basis, who have common loyal-
facts and guesses about the future. Most of the practical ties and identity and who like each other, tend to use
techniques of strategic planning used by large corporat- language in similar ways. Any change in the patterns
ions employ some kind of mix of empirical evidence of communication or in the structure of social relat-
together with the insight and judgement borne of practi- ionships in such networks is likely to lead to a change
cal experience. But getting the mix right is an extremely in language use. The creation of new forms of social
difficult task. Identifying trends even in the present can network or new patterns of social affiliation can also
be remarkably problematic. And although statistical be expected to alter the way that speech communities
information is a primary resource for the futurologist, are created and maintained. New communications
What effect will the anyone trying to forecast the future of English will technology, such as the Internet for example, may be
growth of third-world encounter problems in locating and using statistics asso- encouraging the formation of new kinds of social
cities have on the future ciated with relevant worldwide trend data (opposite). affiliation and new ‘discourse communities’.
development of English? English in the future, as in the past, will be subject to
p. 27 three types of change. First, although different speakers, q Language change does not move across geographical territories in
communities or communicative domains may be affec- a linear fashion. Linguistic innovations, such as new
ted differently, there will be changes to the language itself. pronunciations, tend to jump from one urban area to
How much of the world’s Certainly in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, another, across rural areas and across national
wealth will Asia control in but also in the range of text types and genres which borders. In this respect they are similar to other
2050? employ English. Second, there will be changes in status. changes brought about by social contact through
p. 29 English may acquire a different meaning and pattern of urban settings – such as fashions in clothing, or the
usage among non-native speakers, or be used for a wider adoption of some new kind of consumer hardware.
range of social functions. Third, English will be affected The growth of large cities in Asia will lead to many
by quantitative changes, such as numbers of speakers, the kinds of social change, including new patterns of
proportion of the world’s scientific journals published in language use.
English, or the extent to which the English language is
used for computer-based communication. q Young people are important leaders of change. There has
Listed here are some broad principles of language long been recognised a so-called ‘critical period’ in
change. Identifying ways in which various changes are early life when children seem able to learn languages
taken up and spread from one community to another easily. But adolescence is perhaps an even more
may suggest areas where we need to seek further infor- important stage, where young people make the tran-
mation. While the dynamics of language change are sition to a social life which is largely directed by
likely to be different within the three communities of themselves, when they acquire new social networks
English speaker we have already identified – and identities and feel the requirement for appropri-
first-language speaker (L1), second-language speaker (L2) ate language styles. They may take aspects of these
and the speaker of English as a foreign language (EFL) – identities through to adulthood; others may be transi-
some general patterns can be observed. tional teenage phenomena. An understanding of
which languages the next generation of teenagers will
How does language change? be speaking and learning is an important step in
identifying future trends.
q Some kinds of change occur quickly, others slowly. Fashions
in slang usage among native speakers, or the borro- q Language change may follow change in material circumstances.
wing of words into another language, can develop in Language is often linked to particular social and
months, not years. But the shift which occurs when a cultural practices. Rehousing schemes, shifts in
community or family abandons one language and employment and increased wealth may all contribute
begins to use another as a first language is usually to rapid linguistic change. This particularly contribu-
intergenerational. Language shift often needs three tes to ‘language loss’ – such as the disuse of Gaelic in
generations to take full effect, which means that there north-eastern Scottish fishing communities, or of
may be initial signs now of long-term changes which Aboriginal languages in Australia, in favour of
might take the greater part of another 100 years to English.
fully complete.
q Social and geographical mobility cause language change.
q Individuals act as agents of change as do governments and People moving, whether as migrant labour to another
institutions. Successful learning of English is known to country, or even within the same country (especially
be closely associated with personal ambition and from rural areas to urban ones), take their language
attributes such as personality type. But language with them, but also learn the language used in the
change may also be imposed from outside or it may new home area. The more mobile a society, the more
result from a rational response to a change in circum- open it will be to change.


Establishing and understanding the links between
those things which can and have been measured and
the use of the English language worldwide, is a
matter of theory building and testing.

Problems with statistics
1 Statistics rarely provide equivalent data book we document a global shift towards divergent in a huge variety of contexts?
across the countries, sectors and years the information society: the world is infor- The lack of comparative data means that
surveyed. Often, like is not compared mation rich, but information has become a futurologists have to make their own facts:
with like, or key data is missing from traded commodity. The World Wide Web, to put together what is known in an inno-
tables. for example, provides a wonderful mecha- vative manner and make informed estima-
nism for disseminating the most recent data tes.
2 Statistical data is collected primarily by and all the key international agencies
national or international agencies. This 6 Interpretation of statistics needs qualita-
possess their own Web sites. But informat- tive work. There is a tendency to count
means that particular information, for ion is now too valuable to give out for free
example about flows within transnational that which can be easily counted, but as
and, increasingly, such agencies are expec- Peter Schwartz commented in a classic
corporations (TNCs), either is not collected to be self-financing if not profit centres:
ted or is not publicly available. book on strategic planning, ‘we know the
hence the most useful and recent data is numbers, we just don’t know their
3 Statistics take time to collect, collate and sold at market rates. A single report on the meaning’ (Schwartz, 1996, p. 118).
publish. There is typically a lead time of demographics of the Internet might sell for Establishing and understanding the links
about three years for the publication of $1,500. Since futurology is an eclectic disci- between those things which can and have
primary UN statistics. There is a further pline, drawing together information from been measured and the use of the English
lead time for studies which analyse and scattered sources across many sectors, the language worldwide, is therefore a matter
interpret such figures. Thus books and cost of access to a range of databases can of qualitative work, theory building and
scholarly papers published at the end of exceed the value of the information gained. testing. It may be necessary to carry out
the 1990s draw on statistics from the Furthermore, those institutions which small-scale studies, such as ethnographic
beginning of the decade – by the time employ futurology typically do so in order studies of employee behaviour, language
decision makers read them the figures are to help develop policy before major funding audits or focus-group studies of young
a decade out of date. Unfortunately, many is committed. people. In this way we might better
key developments affecting the use of 5 Very little comparative data exists for the understand the link, for example, between
English have emerged in the last few years. immediate sphere of our enquiry, the inter- the start-up of joint-venture companies in
Take, for example, the growth of the national use of English. Who truly knows developing economies and the demand
Internet, which seemed to reach a critical how many people are learning English for English, or the relationship between
mass outside the US only during 1996. around the world? How could we reach numbers of Internet users in a country and
Somehow, futurology needs to be infor- agreement on a method of estimating the the use of local languages in electronic
med by an understanding of recent trends, proficiency of the millions of casual lear- communities. A great deal of data then
as well as by data collected within a longer ners? How can we gather sensible figures of becomes usable because we can under-
timeframe; it needs to be able to identify English as a second language in countries stand the potential implications of the
new trends in the early stages. where the gathering of statistical informat- statistics for the everyday use of English.
4 Statistics are costly and futurologists tend ion is difficult? How can we apply systematic
to be under-funded. Elsewhere in this criteria when patterns of English use are so

q Languages in contact with each other cause change. Language q The dynamics of L1, L2 and EFL change are very different.
contact has long been recognised as a major engine Change in the number of people speaking English as
of change; a historical example is that of Danish and a first language cannot happen rapidly: change in
English which led to a major shift in the vocabulary speaker numbers will depend mainly on demographic
and grammar of English. The increasing use of shifts, but populations in the English-speaking count-
English in many parts of the world affects both local ries are fairly stable. The number of people using
languages and English and is giving rise to new, English as a second language could change more
hybrid language varieties. substantially over a generation or two. The EFL
community is potentially the most volatile: major
q Changes often occur first in informal and casual language. shifts in the number of people learning English
Since the majority of such language is spoken, change around the world could occur quickly – within a
is rarely documented in the early stages. For similar decade – as a result of changing public policy in
reasons, language change occurs quickest among developing countries or a change in public interest.
first- and second-language users, rather than among
speakers of English as a foreign language. It will be clear that the key ‘drivers’ of linguistic
change are both social and material in nature. Economic
q New technology gives rise to language change. Technological developments, technological innovations, new social
innovation may give rise to new modes of communi- networks or demographic shifts are all likely to give rise
cation. The style of written text widely used in to language change. We can also see that some kinds of
electronic mail, for example, seems to share characte- change extend over longer periods of time than others:
ristics of spoken language. Technology may also language shift may take 50–100 years, while a significant
create new patterns of communication, perhaps by change in the number of people learning English as a
providing cheap international telephone links, or it foreign language can occur within a few years. Certain
may create new words needed to describe new age groups also play a more important role in instigating
objects and social practices which arise around their and advancing change than others. The complex inter-
use. action between these factors means that it is perfectly
possible that there will be widespread shifts in the way
languages are used in the future.


Making sense of trends
One of the key skills in forecasting is being able to recognise an underlying have a linear pattern. Rather, a change begins slowly,
trend and to understand how it might develop in the future. Linguistic and gathers speed and then slows down. If you graphed such
a change against time, you would get an S-shaped curve.
social change rarely happen at a steady and predictable rate. Here we Such a curve can represent changes within a language,
discuss various hazards associated with the interpretation of trend data say of pronunciation, as well as larger scale changes such
using examples relevant to the English language. as language shift.
As an example of change within a language,
Chambers and Trudgill (1980) show how in the north of
Simple projections England many speakers still pronounce words like ‘must’
The rise of global English was foreseen in the 19th and ‘butter’ with a [U] sound, not dissimilar to the gene-
century by many commentators in America and Europe. ral pronunciation in Shakespeare’s day. Gradually, such
Indeed, wild speculations began to circulate about the speakers are adopting the RP pronunciation [^]. Not all
growth of the number of English speakers in the coming words are immediately affected, however. The change
century, based on projections of current trends. Bailey diffuses through the vocabulary, following an S-curve
(1992) reviews some of these accounts: pattern. Figure 9 shows the way a new pronunciation
moves through the English vocabulary, picking up speed
The most extravagant projections were the most satisfying
as the majority of words become pronounced in the new
to the anglophone community and, therefore, the most
way and then slowing down when only a few, apparently
popular. The Swiss botanist Alphonse de Candolle
more resistant words remain.
(1806–93) turned his attention to the question in the early
The S-curve applies as much to grammatical change
1870s. ...
as to change in pronunciation. For example, English
‘Now, judging by the increase which has taken place in the progressive verb forms – such as I am coming as opposed
present century, we may estimate the probable growth of to I come – began to develop slowly in Old English,
population as follows: gathered speed in Shakespeare’s time and are now the
norm. Although this change in usage is levelling off, the
‘In England it doubles in fifty years; therefore in a
trend is still gradually extending to other kinds of verb.
century (in 1970) it will be 124,000,000. In the United
Aitchison notes that mental-process verbs such as ‘know’
States, in Canada, in Australia, it doubles in twenty-five;
and ‘want’ are also beginning to be used in the progres-
therefore it will be 736,000,000. Probable total of the
sive form, as in utterances such as ‘we’re certainly
English speaking race in 1970, 860,000,000.’
hoping they’ll be wanting to do it again’ (Aitchison, 1991,
p. 100). This example demonstrates how difficult it is
(Bailey, 1992, p. 111)
sometimes to recognise that a trend is still in progress
As each speculation quickly became ‘fact’, ever larger when it is in the slow sections of the curve.
figures appeared, until projections of English speakers
for the year 2000 exceeded a billion. The reality (Table Recognising trends
4, p. 10) is that there are only about 375 million native By the time we notice a change is in progress, it is
speakers of English. Clearly, the 19th century futurolo- usually in its middle segment – the period of most rapid
gists were not only misguided in their projections of change. Then it is easy to assume that the trend will
native speakers, they also failed to foresee that the continue indefinitely at the same rate. But the S-curve
growth in second- and foreign-language speakers would model suggests the assumption may be mistaken, for a
be a much more important phenomenon. rapid change may shortly slow up. Some changes have a
When assessing what will happen next, we often natural end point – when everyone who can change has
assume that what is happening now will simply continue. done so, when market penetration approaches 100%
Thus the 19th century commentators imagined that and so on. But the end point in many cases is less certain
growth in the number of native speakers would follow a and dependent on a complex interaction of factors. For
straight-line progression. But most social changes do not example, an increase in numbers of children learning

100
100
Percentage vocabulary affected

80
Percentage singular concord

60

40

20

0
0 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980
Time

Figure 9 Lexical diffusion of a sound change Figure 10 Singular verbs used with collective noun subjects in
editorials in The Times


19th century futurologists failed to foresee that the
growth in second- and foreign-language speakers
would be a much more important phenomenon.

English at school is limited ultimately by the size of the from trend data gathered during the period of most
global school population. But in practice the limits are rapid change; second, failing to recognise an underlying
lower; many countries lack qualified teachers or other trend because of local or temporary variation. A third
resources to make the teaching of English in primary common error arises when it is assumed that the trend
schools effective. However, if new methods of language which is currently most visible will remain the dominant
teaching were developed, or if there were a shift in factor in the future.
public-sector resources, then the end point would move Figure 11 shows schematically the growth in Internet
and a new S-shaped trajectory become established. usage in the US and elsewhere in the world. What starts How much of the global
A futurologist ideally wishes to identify changes at the as the uppermost curve shows users in the US, where the economy will be based
beginning, but because so many changes start slowly, it is Internet started and where growth during the 1990s was on ‘language-intensive’
difficult to know whether we are at the beginning of an quickest. But the second, underlying curve shows the service culture by 2050?
S-curve or just experiencing an insignificant, temporary likely growth elsewhere in the world, particularly in p. 35
‘blip’. It also means that if one is looking for evidence of Europe and Asia. If we examine the data in 1997, at first
a particular change (such as ‘the economy is picking up’, sight it appears that Internet usage is much higher in the
or ‘house prices are rising again’) then there will be a US and that growth here is quickest. By implication,
tendency to ‘recognise’ the start of the trend prematu- English would appear to be the most dominant language How will the falling cost
rely, whenever a temporary movement occurs in the of the Internet. But the first trend will not continue to be of transatlantic calls affect
expected direction. But the start of unexpected changes the main determinant. Internet usage began later in language use?
are likely to go unnoticed. Europe and elsewhere in the world and is now rapidly p. 31
Long-term trends are rarely as consistent as Figure 9 gathering pace. By the year 2000, it is likely that users in
suggests: a smooth progression uninterrupted by the the US will be outnumbered by users elsewhere. In
interfering variables of real life. Figure 10 shows a 20th Europe, Germany is expected to be the largest Internet
century change in the use of singular verbs where the user. In other words, the proportion of the global
subject is a collective noun. Many writers in standard Internet population based in the US is expected to incre-
English are in doubt as to whether they should write ase during 1997, but then begin to fall.
sentences such as ‘The team was in good form’ or ‘The
team were in good form’. A study reported by Bauer Cyclical patterns
(1994, p. 63) shows that writers of editorials in The Times Sometimes, trends change direction in a cyclical but
have been inconsistent. If you had started collecting data predictable way. For example, many thousands of young
in 1945, you would probably have assumed that the people visit Britain each year to enrol on English
ongoing trend would continue – in this case towards language courses – a demand that rises over summer.
plural verbs with subjects such as ‘government’, or Seasonal cycles like this must be taken into account
‘team’. If you collected data over a longer period you when assessing underlying trends (Figure 12). It may be
would have found an underlying increase in the use of that other factors with cyclical patterns also vary trend
singular verbs with collective noun subjects. The many data – the regular upturns and downturns in the econ-
fluctuations which move in the opposite direction were omy of any country known as the ‘business cycle’.
caused, no doubt, by the fact that different writers were During a recession, there will be fewer jobs in the tourist
responsible for the texts studied. Such ‘noisy’ data is industry or less opportunity for the kind of casual job
common: it means that trend data needs to be collected that language students often require to support them-
over a longer period of time and then averaged. This selves whilst taking courses.
should alert the cautious futurologist to the fact that local Identifying trends is therefore of great help to plan-
perturbations may disguise a general trend. ners and strategists, but generally they need to be inter-
preted with awareness and caution. The use of historical
When several trends interact trend data may be most helpful when combined with
As we can see, there are two common reasons for mista- other approaches, which we examine next.
ken forecasting: first, extrapolating in a linear fashion

125 500
English language courses (thousands)
Number of Internet users (millions)

Students visiting Britain to take

US

Rest of world

0 0
Jan Aug Jan Aug Jan Aug
1997 2000

Figure 11 Projected increase in Internet users Figure 12 Cyclical patterns in student enrolments on English
language courses in Britain


Predictability or chaos?
The use of English worldwide can be regarded as a ‘complex system’ in Forecasting L1 and L2 speakers
which many factors interact in ways that are not easily predictable. But Of three linguistic communities which we identified
earlier (first language, second language and EFL, p. 10),
recent advances in modelling the behaviour of complex systems – such as it is the first-language community which is most easily
the weather – could help us understand what patterns may emerge in the forecast. Two main factors need to be considered: future
global use of English. patterns of language shift and demographic trends –
including birth rate, migration and so on. Figure 14
shows the projections made by the engco model for
Using forecasting models young speakers of Malay in order to assess the likely role
How do we assess such complex trends as are involved in of the language in South-east Asia in the 21st century.
the study, use and evolution of English worldwide? The The ‘low’ line shows projections based on UN populat-
traditional approach to forecasting requires all ion forecasts. The ‘high’ line includes potential language
significant factors to be identified. A mathematical shift during this period (both from the many smaller
model is then constructed which shows how these languages spoken in the region, but also from Javanese).
influence each other and produce the behaviour which is The uppermost line shows, for comparison, the demog-
of interest. Future demand for electric power, for raphic projections for young English speakers globally.
example, is usually forecast in this way (below). This line does not include any allowance for language
Such methods might be applied to forecasting the shift which is much more difficult to estimate for English
demand for English which is, after all, a little like electri- than for Malay because of the number of countries
city consumption in the way that demand is related to a involved. It does, however, show how the demographic
variety of economic and cultural factors. Each ‘driver’ of curve for English is surprisingly ‘bumpy’, as baby
English would be identified, the reasons why it led to boomers themselves have children.
demand for English understood and its own future beha- Forecasting the use of a second language is a similar,
viour modelled. Indeed, such forecasting techniques – but more complex process, more dependent on accurate
based on demographic models which predict how many forecasting of language shift.
children will be living where – are used by governments
to anticipate the future need for teachers. Forecasting EFL speakers
We draw on two forecasting models in this book to It is, however, the EFL community which will be of most
analyse the future of English. The first, which we refer to interest to many readers of this book. More complex
as the ‘Hooke model’, was devised by the Australian forecasting models, along the lines of the electricity
economist Gus Hooke. The model provides long-term model, might be constructed to predict ELT demand in
forecasts of the global economy, including the education certain sectors. For example, demand for the ‘Business
and training sector. It also provides projections of the English Certificate’ increased in Central China in the
demand for different languages in education through to mid 1990s. A forecasting model which took into account
the year 2050. the long-term plans to make the city of Wuhan a focus of
The second forecasting model, the ‘engco model’ (see industrial development, based around joint-venture
p. 64) has been constructed by The English Company companies, might have been able to predict demand for
(UK) Ltd to provide predictions of the global ‘influence’ different kinds of vocationally oriented English courses.
of key languages, such as English, Spanish and The development of such complex forecasting models
Mandarin. Just as the electricity example requires data does help identify the key variables and bring together
from a weather forecasting model, so the Hooke and relevant baseline statistics, but there is reason to believe
engco models require input data from demographic and that a forecasting model is not the best approach to
economic forecasts in order to predict demand for understanding future EFL demand around the world.
languages. The Hooke model takes account of environ-
mental development, technical progress and technology The limits of deterministic models
transfer. The engco model draws on UN demographic There is a strong argument against attempting forecasts
projections and a model for regional language shift. in a sphere of life in which cultural and political factors

Forecasting electricity demand cycle (winter/summer) (below left). Superimposed on these may be a
long-term trend for increased consumption, reflecting new housing or
Electricity generating companies need to forecast demand for power,
industrial development, or short-term fluctuations – for example, when
both in the short and long term. The pattern of power consumption is
in Britain there is a rush to switch on an electric kettle during an adver-
an uneven one, but it contains many cyclical patterns such as a daily
tising break in a popular TV programme. A forecasting model would
cycle (night/day), a weekly cycle (weekend/weekday) and an annual
thus need to take into account a huge number of variables related to
the physical environment, the economic cycle, cultural and demograp-
2,500
hic factors. Separate forecasting models are then required to provide
the data in each area known to affect demand for power: weather
MWH (thousands)

2,000 forecasts would indicate temperature trends, TV schedules would indi-
cate when the advertising breaks were due and so on. The complexity
1,500
of the operation – not to say the hazards in using data which are alre-
ady the output from another, possibly inaccurate, model – can be
appreciated. And, having built the model, it might apply only to condi-
1,000
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 tions in one region. In Britain, for example, high temperatures decrease
Months consumption of electricity: there is no need for heating. In Saudi Arabia
high temperatures lead to an increase: people switch on the air condi-
Figure 13 Monthly electricity consumption in Eastern Province, tioning.
Saudi Arabia 1986–90 (after Al-Zayer and Al-Ibrahim, 1996)


An apparently unstoppable trend towards global
English usage could change direction in the future as
the consequence of some surprisingly minor event.

are so salient. A forecasting model suggests that patterns
of English language usage will be determined by econo- Chaos theory
mic and technological developments which can be One of the central insights of chaos theory is that complex behaviour can result from
measured and reduced to numbers. But of course, the interaction of simple forces. For example, the forces which act on a table-tennis
English is used by people and institutions and is partly ball and which determine the direction of movement are relatively simple and can be
regulated by governments. Real-life decisions are taken modelled. But when a number of balls are put together, so that they bounce off each
for a variety of reasons. They are driven not simply by other, the result is sufficiently unpredictable as to form the basis for choosing the
instrumental motives such as economic improvement, numbers in the British national lottery.
but also by less tangible, cultural and political processes,
Chaos theory also explains why very small influences can sometimes give rise to large
such as those connected with the construction of perso-
effects. The classic but somewhat fanciful metaphor is that of a butterfly which flaps
nal and national identities.
its wings in the Amazon and triggers a hurricane in the Pacific. In both cases, the
Predictability would rely, at the very least, on indivi-
behaviour of the system is counter-intuitive: most people imagine that if we under-
duals and institutions behaving in ‘rational’ ways to
stand basic mechanisms we should be able to predict the overall behaviour of the
changed material circumstances and continuing to expe-
system. We also feel a small force should have a smaller effect than a large one.
rience the same needs and motives and seeking the same
Chaos theory suggests that both intuitions can be wrong.
goals. This cannot be relied upon in the 21st century.
The ‘rationality’ of the rush to English for economic
reasons is also far from uncontested: a variety of cultural some ways worse. Just as it would be foolish to regard it
and political movements exist around the world promo- as being a well-governed, mechanistic system, amenable
ting views which are directly or indirectly ‘anti-English’; to traditional forecasting techniques, so it would be
other regional languages may gain in political impor- equally foolish to imagine it is a wholly random affair. As
tance to national governments as patterns of trade and a recent futurological analysis of social behaviour in
political alliances change; there is widely believed to be a Europe suggests:
changing attitude in the world’s public towards decisions
The complex systems and worlds which are coming under
based on concerns with quality of life rather than simple
the spotlight share the unpredictability of chaotic systems,
financial benefit. It may be that, in the longer term, an
but also demonstrate self-organisation, evolutionary innova-
alternative logic will guide people’s responses to econo-
tion, creativity, and, as a result, far-from-equilibrium beha-
mic and technological change. We explore this idea at
viour. Such characteristics mean that complex systems – or
the end of the book.
worlds – are intrinsically uncertain and unplannable.
A world in chaos (Elkington and Trisoglio, 1996, p. 764)
Forecasting is thus best suited to mechanistic systems As it is difficult to predict exactly what will happen
where certain ‘driving forces’, such as economic moder- when a prevailing wind enters a local landscape, meets a
nisation, are taken to have a predictable effect on a variety of obstructions and is channelled down valleys
‘dependent variable’, such as the demand for English. and around buildings, so there is a similar global-local
But the ‘system’ – which interrelates language use with dynamic with the spread of English. There may appear
cultural, political, economic and technological factors – to be a prevailing trend, but a country’s cultural, econo-
is not, as we have seen, a mechanistic one: it may display mic, political and linguistic conditions provide a local How do forecasts for
some of the characteristics of what has become known as human-built landscape across which winds of change English native speakers
a ‘complex system’. must flow. Thus there is a need for an understanding of compare with those for
The mathematical approach used to model such the dynamics of the overall system, but also a knowledge other world languages?
complex systems is known as ‘chaos theory’. Chaos and understanding of local conditions. p. 26
theory can help in forecasting the future of English in Perhaps the most important lesson provided by the
several ways. First, it provides a conceptual metaphor for study of complex systems is the finding that apparently
the ‘behaviour’ of English as a complex system – as the stable states or trends can, without much warning,
outcome of many different effects, each of which could become unstable. An apparently unstoppable trend
be modelled, but whose complex interactions make towards global English usage could change direction in
prediction unreliable. One of the first applications of the future as the consequence of some surprisingly minor
chaos theory was in weather forecasting and this provi- event.
des a useful analogy for English. As Roger Bowers,
addressing an English 2000 conference in Beijing (as
Assistant Director-General of the British Council), Figure 14 Young native
80
suggested: speakers (aged 15–24) of
It is like one of those weather maps that we see on our tele- English English and Malay, 1950–2050,
visions of the globe as viewed from above the earth’s from the engco model
Numbers of speakers (millions)

(globally)
60
atmosphere – with great swathes of cloud sweeping and
swirling around continents and across oceans. And here we The ‘Malay low’ line is the low
are at the epicentre of two such systems – English spreading estimate for Malay, based
across the world on a tide of functionality, Chinese on a tide 40 simply on population change.
of common culture and ethnicity. (Bowers, 1996, p. 1)
Malay (high) The ‘high’ line is the higher
estimate obtained by taking
Chaos theory tells us that, as in weather forecasting, likely language shift into
it may be possible to make short-term general predictions 20 account. The line for English
Malay (low)
with some success, but predictions of precise local condi- does not incorporate language
tions or long-term forecasts are likely to go badly wrong. shift
But the system that spreads English usage around the 0
world is not entirely a ‘chaotic’ one – the situation is in 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050


Scenario planning
How do forecasters in large companies cope with the uncertainty that the The importance of a good story
future holds? Can the methods they employ be applied to matters of culture Perhaps the most popular form of futurology is science
fiction, which gathers together complex ideas about
and language as easily as to the price of oil? Scenario building is one science and society and communicates them in an enga-
methodology used by strategists to put together known facts with ging and persuasive narrative. Indeed, science fiction has
imaginative ideas about the future. perhaps had more influence than any other genre in
forming public awareness of the effects of technology on
society. H.G. Wells, for example, author of science
Dealing with uncertainty fiction such as The Time Machine and idealist social
If all cultural and linguistic trends could be linked to commentaries such as The Work, Wealth and Happiness of
factors of relatively little uncertainty, such as economic Mankind, published a Utopian fictional history of the
growth, population trends and technological innovation world as written in the 22nd century, The Shape of Things
– areas where futures research has been conducted and to Come, where he foresaw a triumphant future for global
forecasting models developed – then there would be little English.
problem in modelling the future of English in different
One of the unanticipated achievements of the twenty first
parts of the world. But where there is extensive uncer-
century was the rapid diffusion of Basic English as the
What value shifts among
tainty, a different approach is needed – preferably, a
lingua franca of the world and the even more rapid modifi-
young people might
methodology which bridges the gap between the predi-
cation, expansion and spread of English in its wake. ... This
affect the future of
ctable and the unknown in a structured way, which
convenience spread like wildfire after the first Conference of
English?
marries empirical data such as market intelligence with
Basra. It was made the official medium of communication
p. 48
intuition, experience and imagination.
throughout the world by the Air and Sea Control, and by
The importance of process 2020 there was hardly anyone in the world who could not
talk and understand it. (Wells, 1933, pp. 418, 419)
Futurology is an ancient discipline whose practitioners –
star gazers, palmists, tarot-card readers, geomancers and Language is a common preoccupation in science
diviners – traditionally use some form of empirical data. fiction: the genre has probably explored the linguistic
It is tempting to see corporate consultants as the modern future more extensively than any other mode of futures
parallel, to whom large sums of money are paid to advise research. Much science fiction provides a narrative
companies how to manage the future. But fortune tellers structure through which we can conceptualise the future,
provide a valuable lesson. Their predictions are based on exploring possible social outcomes of technological
two important mechanisms: first, predictions typically developments and asking ‘what if?’ Arthur C. Clarke, for
arise from interactions with the client who may give a example, famously speculated on satellite communicat-
great deal of information – often unwittingly – to the ions long before the first satellite was launched.
fortune teller. Second, through the same process, clients
are likely to offer their own interpretations and betray Social and political forecasting
their own fears and desires, providing the fortune teller In the late 1960s and 70s several companies attempted
with the required information. social forecasting. Among them, the General Electric
Fortune telling offers a mechanism for clients to Company (GEC) instituted an in-house forecasting
reflect on what they already know; to see new service to guide strategic corporate planning. Its Business
significance in details and to confront fears and desires Environment Studies unit was aware that economic and
about the future. After all, the client is the ‘expert’ in technological forecasting would be insufficient to predict
local knowledge and experience. The fortune teller acts the contexts in which the company would employ
as a facilitator who provides a structure within which labour, produce goods and market its products. The unit
knowledge can be married with hopes and anxieties and therefore devised methods of ‘sociopolitical’ forecasting.
thus lead to a clearer understanding of what might One tool used was a chart (Figure 15) showing likely atti-
happen, what is desired and what must be avoided. tude shift over a 15 year period amongst the ‘trend
This aspect of the technique has its analogy in corpo- setting’ segment of the population – young, well educa-
rate planning in the ‘processual approach’ – the idea ted, relatively affluent, committed. The commercial
that a planning and learning process ensures a company rationale for the exploration of social trends was that:
maintains an active and intelligent watch on its business
WWW Without a proper business response, societal expectations of
environment – which is more important than a finished
today become the political issues of tomorrow, legislated
DEMOS SERIOUS FUTURES plan. Van der Heijden (1996) retells an anecdote about a
requirements the next day, and litigated penalties the day
http://www.demos.co.uk group of Hungarian soldiers lost in the Alps and presu-
after that. (Wilson, 1982, p. 218)
med dead, but who returned safely after some days. ‘We
considered ourselves lost and waited for the end, but This illustrates several features of social forecasting.
then one of us found a map in his pocket ... and with the First, how long-term events can be predicted by hypot-
map we found our bearings’ (p. 36). When their lieuten- hesising a chain of events and looking for precursors.
ant examined the map he found it was of the Pyrenees Second, how some sectors of the population are of parti-
not the Alps. Van der Heijden comments: cular interest to the futurologist. Third, that if trends can
be identified earlier, the more options are available for
the map had given them a reason to act. Accuracy did not
action. Indeed, it may be possible to alter a chain of
come into it. By taking some action the soldiers started to
events by intervening in the early stages. For this reason,
obtain new feedback about their environment, and they
the best forecasts are often inaccurate – their very exis-
entered a new ‘learning loop’ which gradually built up
tence may change the course of history.
their understanding and mental map. (Van der Heijden,
1996, p. 37)


‘Scenarios are not predictions. The point of scenario-
planning is to help us suspend our disbelief. Then we
can prepare for what we don’t think is going to happen’
– Peter Schwartz in The Art of the Long View.

1970 1985 2000
Scenario planning thinking highlighted, organi- War (military Peace
Techniques of social forecasting were, by and large, sational obstacles accounted might) (economic
superseded by alternative techniques that are better able for in management design, or development)
to deal with social and political uncertainties. The forward plans made robust Nationalism Internationalism
method now known as ‘scenario planning’ brings against a range of possibilities. Federal State/ local
government government
together ideas of social forecasting, the processual Scenarios also sensitise a
Public Private
approach and the envisioning of futures in narrative. planning team to recognise enterprise enterprise
A scenario is a possible future. Scenario builders take early-warning signs which Organisation Individual
known facts and trends and build imaginatively on them, otherwise might be missed. Uniformity/ Pluralism
providing a narrative account which links events and Shell did not predict the oil conformity
explores possible chains of consequences. Scenarios were crisis, but had tested their Independence Inter-
dependence
first developed as a strategic military-planning technique management strategies
Sociability Privacy
after World War II and later adopted by large corporat- against such an improbable
Materialism Quality of life
ions such as Royal Dutch/Shell. The company’s use of context. When the crisis arri- Status quo/ Change/
scenarios was one of the first significant demonstrations ved, they were able to recog- permanence/ flexibility/
of the technique’s utility when, in the 1970s, Shell nise the signs faster than routine innovation
proved to be the only large oil corporation prepared for competitors and already had Future Immediacy
the oil crisis. an organisational understan- planning
In building a scenario for the future of English, the ding of the required course of Work Leisure
Authority Participation
language itself would be a central character; hero or action for a rapid response.
Centralisation Decentralisation
villain. Other characters might be institutions and Scenario planning is a Ideology/ Pragmatism/
governments, or the driving forces identified in forecast flexible methodology which dogma nationality
models. A scenario would allow motives, probable can be adapted to organisat- Moral Situation ethics
actions, possible decisions, relationships between ions and circumstances. One absolutes
‘characters’ to be explored and ‘what if’ questions to be recent project, using a scena- Economic 'Social justice'
asked. Peter Schwartz, who helped Shell’s scenario plan- rio technique to explore efficiency
ning exercises, explains: possible futures for European Means (esp.
technology)
Ends (goals)

transport and communicat-
Scenarios are not predictions. It is simply not possible to
ions during the next 30 years, described the focus of the Figure 15 A profile of social
predict the future with certainty. ... Rather, scenarios are
enquiry in ways which could apply to language: values held by ‘trend setters’
vehicles for helping people learn. Unlike traditional business
forecasting or market research, they present alternative As a method of exploring the future scenarios are superior created by GEC in 1970,
images; they do not merely extrapolate the trends of the to more rigorous forecasting methods such as statistical together with GEC’s
present. ... The point of scenario-planning is to help us extrapolation or mathematical models if the number of forecast of likely value shifts
suspend our disbelief in all the futures: to allow us to think factors to be considered and the degree of uncertainty about during the following 15
that any one of them might take place. Then we can the future is high. This clearly applies in the case of trans- years. This study was one of
prepare for what we don’t think is going to happen. port and communications. Transport and communications the earliest to forecast a
(Schwartz, 1996, pp. 6, 195) are closely interrelated with almost all aspects of human life. trend away from values
They are linked to social and economic developments, are based on ‘economic
Kees van der Heijden, another former member of efficiency’ towards those
influenced by technological innovations and are subject to
the Shell team, suggests that scenario planning is the best based on ‘social justice’ – a
numerous political and institutional constraints. (Masser et
methodology for dealing with mid-term futures – when trend which other
al., 1992, p. 4)
there is much information to hand, but where key factors researchers suggest has
may be unknown. In the long term, when too much is This project developed a variation of the classic since gathered momentum.
unpredictable, there is little left but hope. In terms of scenario-planning technique by employing the so-called The dashed line for the year
corporate strategy, ‘hope’ might be said to be invested in Delphi method: panels of experts from different count- 2000 represents a
mission statements or corporate visions (Figure 16). ries were involved in both the construction of scenarios speculative assessment of
There is a clear management advantage in scenario and their evaluation. This, the authors claim, facilitated: how social values have
building. Scenarios provide a windtunnel where personal shifted since the GEC study
the process of converging initially different expert views
or corporate strategies can be tested, weaknesses in
towards one or possibly a few dominant opinions. In addi-
tion, scenario writing as a group exercise has the potential of
Uncertainty generating awareness of factors and impacts which may not
have been identified through formal forecasting methods.
Scenario planning

(Masser et al., 1992, p. 4)
Forecasting

There are many possible variants of scenario plan-
Hope

ning but most share an emphasis on alternatives and
possibilities. The technique is capable of bringing
together a variety of stakeholders: those in the field with
local knowledge, at the centre in senior management
roles, people who have researched the issues, or those
Predetermined who are most affected should the scenarios turn out to
be true. But scenario planning only really makes sense
Short Mid term Long when particular questions have been identified as requi-
term term ring answers. There is little point in building a wind-
Figure 16 Forecasting, scenario planning and hope tunnel if there is no vehicle to test.


Summary

1 Scarcity of relevant facts 4 Some predictions are safe, others dangerous
There is a surprising scarcity of data which directly relates to the An understanding of the nature of change helps identify what
development of global English, since there is no central kind of prediction is relatively safe and what is dangerous. The
international authority which collects such information. growth and decline of native speakers of a language is a
relatively long-term change which can be monitored and to
2 Variety of change some extent forecast. Changes in the number of people learning
A wide range of change is occurring in the status and form of English as a foreign language, however, may be surprisingly
English around the world. Some changes are relatively swift and volatile.
ephemeral (such as fashions in vocabulary), others are more
profound and long term (such as language shift in families). 5 Scenario building
Scenario building is one approach to strategic management
3 The complex interplay of causes which allows an understanding of the causes and patterns of
We may be able to identify some of the apparent ‘drivers’ of change to inform forward planning, even where there is
change – the circumstances which appear to encourage people considerable uncertainty about what the future might hold.
to learn English or to give up their parents’ language in favour ‘Forecasting’, in a narrow sense of building models which
of English – but the way such causes of change interact with predict future patterns of behaviour, is not the only form of
each other makes prediction of the direction and extent of ‘futurology’.
change extremely hazardous.

References
Aitchison, J. (1991) Language Change: progress or decay? Cambridge: Cambridge 762–9.
University Press. English 2000 (1995) Benchmarks Report: a study to establish systems to measure Britain’s
Al-Zayer, J. and Al-Ibrahim, A.A. (1996) Modelling the impact of temperature share of the global ELT market. Manchester: British Council.
on electricity consumption in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Journal of Hooke, A. (1996) An Export-Oriented Approach to Regional Development. Unpublished
Forecasting, vol. 15, pp. 97–106. paper, Sydney.
Bailey, R.W. (1992) Images of English: a cultural history of the language. Cambridge: Masser, I., Sviden, O. and Wegener, M. (1992) The Geography of Europe’s Futures.
Cambridge University Press. London: Belhaven Press.
Bauer, L. (1994) Watching English Change. London: Longman. Schwartz, P. (1996) The Art of the Long View. New York: Doubleday.
Bowers, R. (1996) English in the world. In J. Hilton (ed) English in China: the Van der Heijden, K. (1996) Scenarios: the art of strategic conversation. Chichester:
English 2000 Conference. Peking: British Council. John Wiley & Sons.
Chambers, J. and Trudgill, P. (1980) Dialectology. Cambridge: Cambridge Wilson, I. (1982) Socio-political forecasting: the General Electric experience. In
University Press. B. Twiss (ed) Social Forecasting for Company Planning. London: Macmillan.
Elkington, J. and Trisoglio, A. (1996) Developing realistic scenarios for the Wells, H.G. (1933) The Shape of Things to Come: the ultimate revolution. London:
environment: lessons from Brent Spar. Long Range Planning, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. Hutchinson.


Global trends

3
q Demography There is much evidence – economic, technological
How many people will there be in 2050? Where will they live? What and demographic – that the world has now entered
age will they be? Population projections exist for all the world’s
countries and answers to such demographic questions can help us
a period of unprecedented and far-reaching change
make broad predictions about a question at the heart of this study: of a kind which will transform societies and reshape
who will speak what languages in the 21st century? the traditional relations of economic, cultural and
q The world economy political power between the west and ‘the rest’
The economic shape of the world is rapidly changing. The world as which have led world events for several hundred
a whole is getting richer, but the proportion of wealth created and
spent by the west will decrease markedly in the next few decades.
years.
This will alter the relationship between the west and the rest of the
world – especially Asia – and will change the economic attractiveness
It is coincidental that a new millennium should be
of other major languages. associated with the construction of a new world
q The role of technology order: the roots of the present period lie at least in
Advances in technology in the 19th century helped ‘kick start’ the the industrial revolution which began in Europe and
long wave of economic growth which is yet to reach some parts of in particular in Britain. It can be argued that its
the world. Technological change transforms the spaces in which we
work and live, but it is difficult to predict precisely how technology
starting point was even earlier – in Renaissance
will shape our future global patterns of language use. Europe which gave rise to the nation state and
q Globalisation national languages, to modern science and
World economies and cultures are becoming increasingly intercon- institutional structures.
nected and interdependent, politically, socially and technologically:
‘complexification’, ‘cross-border activity’ and ‘process re-engineering’ The fact that the world has reached a transformative
have been the buzz words of the 1990s. Here we examine the im- moment in a long historical process is remarkable
pact of economic globalisation on patterns of communication.
enough, but even more remarkable is the idea that
q The immaterial economy rapid change will not now be a permanent feature
The world’s output is getting lighter. Within a few decades, many
more people will be employed in the service industries which cha-
of global life; rather it is a consequence of the
racterise economic globalisation. New forms of global teleworking transition towards a new and more settled world
are emerging and an increased proportion of the value of goods is order, with quite different cultural, economic and
produced through language-related activity.
linguistic landscapes.
q Cultural flows
Language has been regarded since the Renaissance in terms of ter- This section deals with key global trends, each of
ritory. Statistics about language, culture and economy, collected by which are now helping transform the need for
international bodies, have been based on nation states, populations
of speakers and relative sizes of economies. But chaos theory sug-
communication between the world’s peoples – from
gests the concept of flow may be better suited to understanding population shifts to economic globalisation; from the
language in a borderless world. invention of the Internet to the restructuring of
q Global inequalities social inequality. It is these trends which will shape
As developing economies mature and per capita income rises, so the demand for English in the future, but they
social and economic inequalities also seem to grow: proficiency in
English may be one of the mechanisms for dividing those who have
interact in complex ways and may produce
access to wealth and information from those who don’t. The global unexpected cultural and political outcomes.
spread of English may also be associated with decreased use of en-
dangered languages.


Demography
How many people will there be in 2050? Where will they live? What age will engco model uses this approach as the basis of its projec-
they be? Population projections exist for all the world’s countries and answers tions: Figure 18 shows estimates based on UN demog-
raphic data for first-language speakers of major world
to such demographic questions can help us make broad predictions about a languages from 1950 to 2050. Table 7 shows the possible
question at the heart of this study: who will speak what languages in the number of native speakers of a wider range of languages
21st century? in 2050.
However, population growth is slowing in European
countries: roughly equal percentages of the population
Population growth are under the age of 15 and over the age of 65 (The
When looking to the future, few things are more predi- Economist, 1996). Yet in non-OECD countries, the popu-
12.5
ctable than population growth. Provided that current lation is increasingly becoming younger. This global shift
World Population (billions)

10 trends of increased lifespan and fertility rates in develo- in the location of young people will have significant
ping countries continue, we can estimate from infants linguistic consequences. Since young people are key
7.5
born this year the numbers of their offspring in 2020 and agents for language change and development, while
5 so on: the UN estimates the global population in 2150 older people tend to be more stable in speech habits, we
will be 11.54 billion. Figure 17 shows the predicted can expect patterns of language change to be marked in
2.5
population growth worldwide to 2300. Charted, it shows those countries of increasing youth: Africa, Asia and
0
1500 1700 1900 2100 2300
an S-curve rise (such as those described in section 2), South America. Of these, the last two regions are experi-
with rapid growth beginning about the time of the indu- encing considerable social and economic change. This
strial revolution. As is the problem with S-curves, it is combination of factors will make Asia and Latin
Figure 17 World population difficult to determine the point at which rapid populat- America potentially significant regions of language
growth is expected to ion increase will slow and stabilise, but the demographic change in the next century.
stabilise at the end of the models used by the UN do expect stabilisation to take
21st century place in the first half of the next century. Language and migration
Population trends differ greatly from country to The English language arose as a fringe consequence of
country, however. This in turn means that as the demog- large-scale people movement in northern and western
raphic shape of the world changes, so will the relative Europe, which not only changed the European linguistic
status of different languages. Which languages then will map but also led to the downfall of the Roman empire.
this growing number of people speak? Migration has since shaped the development of English
The languages people speak show two main across the world. During the 16th to 19th centuries, both
influences: first, the speech community they are born the slave trade and colonisation moved people and
WWW into, which for an increasing number of the world’s languages: from Europe to the Americas, India, Africa
population is a multilingual one; and second, the and Australia; from Africa to the Americas; and from
UN DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
languages people learn through life as a consequence of Oceania to Australia and New Zealand.
gopher://gopher.undp.org:70/
education, employment, migration or increased social In the 20th century, patterns of immigration partially
11/ungophers/popin
mobility. The languages that people use in their every- reversed. As a consequence of decolonisation, many
day interactions do not change rapidly, unless a families came to Britain from the Indian sub-continent
speaker’s social circumstances quickly change. and the Caribbean, while immigration policies of
Multilingual speakers may add languages during their Australia encouraged migration from Asia rather than
lifetime and they may find that another becomes less from Britain and Europe. As a consequence, highly
used. But major language shift, from one first language multilingual cities have arisen in countries which imagi-
to another, is usually slow, taking place across generat- ned themselves to be predominantly monolingual
ions. Hence, if we take into account current patterns of English speaking. Censuses of London schoolchildren,
language use amongst the young, including infants and for example, show that by the 1980s around 200 langua-
teenagers, we can make a fair prediction about patterns ges were spoken in the city’s primary schools.
of language use in 50 years time, with the proviso that Yet the mass migrations of the 1990s between parts
rapid social change may complicate the pattern. The of Africa have had little impact upon world varieties:

Chinese

50 2050

1992
Percentage of US population

1,000 40

30
What languages will be
spoken by global Hindi/Urdu
teenagers in 2050? Spanish
20
500
p. 49
English
300 Arabic 10
Portuguese

100 Japanese
French 0
0 Total non- Black Native Americans
white Hispanic Asians & Pacific
1950 1970 1990 2010 2030 2050
Islanders
Figure 18 Demographic estimates of first-language speakers (in millions) for Figure 19 How the ethnic composition of the US
some major languages according to the engco model population is expected to change


It is amongst professional groups that the use of
English is most prevalent and professional middle
class families are most likely to adopt English as the
language of the home.

Africa is one of the least-developed world regions econo- The language of cities
mically and is least connected to global cultural systems. The future for an increasing number of the world’s
This, of course, may change in the longer term. But it population will be an urban one: the UNDP suggests the
appears that mass, long-distance migration is no longer a proportion of people living in towns and cities will be
substantial source of language shift, as the richer count- over 50% by 2005 (UNDP, 1996). A far cry from the
ries effectively close their doors. start of the 16th century when only 5 European cities
There remain three kinds of migration which are had populations over 100,000 – Constantinople, Naples,
likely to have linguistic consequences in the 21st century. Venice, Milan and Paris. By 1600 the number had
First, migration from poorer countries on the fringes of trebled. Between World War I and World War II, New
richer ones – either permanently or as ‘guest workers’. York became the first city to grow beyond 10 million
Second, migration across language boundaries within inhabitants. The cities expected to be the largest by the
economic blocs, such as the EU. Third, migration within year 2000 are listed in Table 8. 1 Chinese 1,384
2 Hindi/Urdu 556
countries, mainly towards areas of economic growth. The most rapid urbanisation, like population growth, 3 English 508
The flow of economic migrants across borders into is taking place in the developing world. Between 1950 4 Spanish 486
richer countries seems to be ever increasing. It is estim- and 2000 some 1.4 billion more people will have become 5 Arabic 482
ated that 4% of the population of Mexico shifted to the city dwellers in the developing world. UN estimates for 6 Portuguese 248
US between 1970 and 1990. In Europe in 1990, follo- 1994 to 2025 show Asia achieving one of the largest 7 Bengali 229
wing the breach of the Berlin wall, roughly 1 million increases in urban growth – some 20.7%. And in South 8 Russian 132
people moved from Poland, East Germany and elsew- Asia alone, over the period 1960 to 2000, urban popula- 9 Japanese 108
here to settle in West Germany. Layard et al. (1994) tion is expected to have doubled. 10 German 91
suggest that this is the beginning of continued movement Urbanisation is likely to have wide-reaching effects 11 Malay 80
12 French 76
from eastern Europe to the richer west, mirroring the on the world’s languages. Rural areas have been known
relationship between Mexico and the US. as linguistically conservative since 19th century Table 7 Estimates provided
European dialect surveys hunted out elderly, rustic by the engco model of
If we focus on the next 15 years and think in terms of 3 per
peasants as ‘informants’ about ‘pure unadulterated’ native-speaker numbers
cent, this would imply that at least 4 million non-Soviet
speech, untainted by the culture of the industrial revolu- for major world languages
Eastern Europeans would wish to move to Western Europe
tion. There was considerable romanticism in these in 2050 (millions)
or the United States. (Layard et al., 1994, p. 12)
projects, but also a recognition of the role that urban
Such movements have unpredictable effects on areas play in cultural and linguistic change. As cosmopo-
language use and often give rise to political tension. In litan centres they provide a focal point for in-migration
the US for example, immigration from other countries from different parts of a country and become important
may leave the ‘white’ population barely in the majority zones of language contact and diversity; they give rise to
by 2050, according to estimates from the US Commerce dense but interlinked social networks; they encourage
Department’s Census Bureau (cited in McRae, 1994). the growth of a middle class with disposable income who
The population of Hispanic, Asian, Native American become consumers of global material culture; they are
and black Americans would grow as indicated in Figure centres of social innovation and fashion. This is precisely
19. Some political groups in the US now suggest this will the kind of environment where social and cultural practi-
threaten the hegemony of English. Certainly, demograp- ces are transformed and where new language varieties
hic change is likely to alter the percentage of US citizens and speech habits emerge. Furthermore, new language
who are first-language English speakers and estimates of varieties emerging from large, densely populated cities
global native English speakers in 2050 may be, as a are usually economically and culturally significant. In the
result, too high. coming decades, the rapid urbanisation in the Shanghai
Increasingly, migration is taking place within count- area of northern China, for example, may create a new
ries. In developing countries, the most important trend is variety of Wu Chinese with not only a large number of
likely to be migration to the cities from rural areas. The speakers but also powerful economic and cultural
Special Economic Zones of China, for example, will support.
experience greater pressure as these trading areas A good deal of sociolinguistic research has been carr-
develop. Migration to these zones is likely to lead to ied out in urban centres but studies of new city develop-
wider usage of regional lingua francas, such as ments are scarce. One recent British research project
Cantonese or Wu Chinese. examined the linguistic consequences of new-city devel-
opment in the British town of Milton Keynes (situated
The growing middle classes 90 km north-west of London). Kerswill (1996) reports
One of the most significant social consequences of the that the accents of children had a great deal in common,
industrial revolution in Europe was the creation of an but did not follow those of their parents, nor that which 1 Mexico City 25.6
2 Tokyo-Yokohama 24.2
educated middle class with social aspirations and already existed in the area. A new dialect seemed to be 3 Sao Paulo 22.1
sufficient disposable income to help build a consumer emerging amongst new-town adolescents. ‘What we see 4 Shanghai 17.0
culture. Likewise, one of the significant trends in Asia is possibly a sign of future changes in English: new towns 5 New York 16.8
and Latin America is a parallel expansion of the middle are perhaps in the vanguard of the dialect levelling 6 Calcutta 15.7
classes: Schwartz and Leyden (1997, p. 126) suggest that found in England as a whole’ (Kerswill, 1996, p. 299). 7 Bombay 15.4
over 2 billion Asians will have made the transition into Urbanisation thus has important effects on language 8 Beijing 14.0
the middle class by 2018. This demographic shift may demography. New languages emerge, others change, 9 Los Angeles 13.9
prove to be the most significant factor of all in determi- some are lost. In the world’s cities – the nexus for flows 10 Jakarta 13.7
ning the fate of global English in the next century – it is of people, goods and ideas – the spread of English will be
Table 8 The 10 largest
amongst professional groups that the use of English is felt first and most keenly; new patterns of English use will
cities in the ye ar 2000
most prevalent and professional middle-class families are arise amongst second-language speakers. But such cities
(population millions)
most likely to adopt English as the language of the home. will also form the foundation for other, potentially rival,
lingua francas.


The world economy
The economic shape of the world is rapidly changing. The world as a whole group together those OECD countries which comprise
is getting richer, but the proportion of wealth created and spent by the west the world’s ‘Big Three’ trading blocs – North America,
the European Union and Japan. At the present time, the
will decrease markedly in the next few decades. This will alter the vast proportion of the world’s wealth is produced by
relationship between the west and the rest of the world – especially Asia – these regions and circulates within them. As yet, the Big
and will change the economic attractiveness of other major languages. Three blocs also possess most of the world’s manage-
ment and technological expertise, scientific knowledge
and advanced industrial skills.
A richer, smaller world But the present period is a transitional time: we are
Since the industrial revolution, the world’s wealth has witnessing radically changing economic relationships
been steadily increasing. A calculation of the total value between countries and world regions. Transition over
of goods and services created and supplied throughout the next 50 years will be uncomfortable in many ways,
the world shows that in 1750 (converted to 1990 prices), particularly for the Big Three trading regions. As Gus
the Gross World Product (GWP) was around $50 billion. Hooke (1996) remarked, ‘For those who don’t like
By 1990, however, this was the size of the Malaysian change, best either to be born before 1800 or hang on to
economy alone – GWP had risen to $25 trillion. The about 2050. For those who love change, the ideal time to
Hooke forecasting model suggests that by 2050 the be alive is 1995 to 2010.’
global economy will have grown a further tenfold to
WWW $250 trillion. The relatively rapid growth in wealth has Economic strength of languages
WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION led to the popular idea that economic growth is a perma- The shift in economic relations will have a profound, but
http://www.wto.org nent condition – but in fact the growth of GWP seems to as yet poorly understood, effect on the popularity and
be taking the form of an S-curve, beginning with the use of different languages. It is clear that a language
industrial revolution and flattening out in the next which is spoken by rich countries is more attractive to
century. This period of rapid growth – the steep portion learners than one which provides no access to personal
of the curve we are now living in – began in Britain and betterment or lucrative markets. Ammon (1995) puts
Europe and may span eventually a period of 250 to 300 forward this argument in exploring the status of German
years. as an international language:
GWP is now rising at an average annual 2.5%. Most
The language of an economically strong community is
of the industrialised countries have experienced growth
attractive to learn because of its business potential.
rates around the global average, but elsewhere growth is
Knowledge of the language potentially opens up the market
uneven. Some countries have experienced, like China,
for producers to penetrate a market if they know the
an average annual growth of over 9% since 1985; the
language of the potential customer. (Ammon, 1995, p. 30)
economies of other countries, particularly those affected
by war or political upheaval, have shrunk. These uneven One corroboration of the attractiveness of the
growth rates reflect the fact that economies of develo- language of an economically strong country comes from
ping countries are gradually coming ‘up to speed’ – that Coulmas (1992), who was able to show that the rise in
is, achieving productivity levels typical of developed the number of students enrolling on courses worldwide
countries. This process is facilitated by technology and in Japanese as a foreign language closely mirrored a rise
skills transfer from richer countries, which have greatly in the value of the Japanese yen against the US dollar
reduced the time required for a country to double its per during the period 1982 to 1989 (Coulmas, 1992, p. 78).
capita income. Whereas Britain took 58 years – its A relatively straightforward way of estimating the econo-
growth was generated by invention and innovation – mic strength of a language is simply to rank the econo-
countries benefiting from flows of knowledge, expertise mies of the countries where native speakers live (Table
and technology transferred from the west have been able 9). According to this we find an international order for
to double their income in reducing timescales, as Figure the late 1980s (Ammon, 1995).
20 illustrates. A slightly more sophisticated approach is to take into
account all countries in which a language is spoken and
Turning the tables allocate the GDP of each country proportionally to the
As countries grow richer, the OECD countries will languages spoken there. The engco forecasting model
become proportionally less important in the world econ- calculates a ‘GLP’ (Gross Language Product) in this way
omy. Figure 21 shows world distribution of wealth for and produces figures for the major languages (Table 10).
1990 and Figure 22 that projected for 2050 – the time The estimates differ from Ammon’s both because of the
when world growth is expected to stabilise. These figures different method of calculation and because the engco
60
model draws on GDP figures for 1994 – the latest avai-
Figure 20 Length of time lable in 1997.
taken to double per capita
Traded languages
Years to double per capita income

income

40
Establishing a link between macro-economic factors and
language popularity is an attractive idea: there are more
statistics on the economy available, country by country,
than for any other sphere of human activity. But it is
20
insufficient to note that strong economies attract interest
in languages: we need to understand better how econo-
mic power encourages the use of particular languages.
Only then can we predict whether the relative shrinking
of English-speaking economies will lead to a reduction in
demand for English.
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az

hi
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U

Ko
Jap

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Br

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S.
In

The shift in economic relations will have a profound,
but as yet poorly understood, effect on the popularity
and use of different languages.

This is a large question which cannot be answered Big Three 55% Figure 21 Proportions of
simply, but one approach is to analyse business transac- world wealth in 1990
tion. It is notable that the volume of international trade (total $25 trillion)
has been growing rapidly: between 1950 and 1994 world
trade multiplied 14 times while output rose only 5.5
times (World Trade Organisation, 1995). In other Asia 21%
words, an increasing proportion of wealth is created by
trade – part of a general process of globalisation now Rest 24%
bringing world economies and cultures in ever-closer
union.
There is a general rule of thumb, probably existing
since the earliest days of international trading, that Rest 28% Big Three 12%
selling must be carried out in the customer’s language
unless the commodity is in short supply or there is a
monopoly provider. The linguistic consequence of this is
that language popularity will follow markets: ‘the
merchant speaks the customer’s language’. In import-
export terms, the language of the customer will tend to
dictate the process. Since most countries aim to balance Figure 22 Estimated shares
the value of imports and exports, at least roughly, then of world wealth in 2050
the language effect should be reciprocal. Therefore it (total $250 trillion, average
might be argued that the world status of a language Asia 60% world growth at 4%)
depends less on GDP than on the extent to which its
native speakers trade their goods and services internatio- ions made by German Chambers of Commerce to
nally. The engco model calculates languages related to members on which languages should be used for trade
trade in an index of traded GLP (Table 11). with each country in the world (cited by Ammon, 1995).
English is recommended as the sole language for 64
English in business countries. German is recommended as the exclusive
But international trade is often a complex, cross-border language of trade with only one other country – Austria
business: goods are taken from one country, refined or – though German is suggested as a co-language for up to
given added value by a second, sold to a third, repacka- 25 countries, including Holland, Denmark and those in
ged, resold and so on. Such multilateral trade brings eastern Europe. French is recommended for 25 countries
with it greater reliance on lingua francas. and Spanish for 17. English is thus the preferred, but not
In Europe there is growing evidence that English has the sole, language of external trade for European count-
become the major business lingua franca. A study ries. Japan and the US also use English widely for inter-
conducted in 1988 for the Danish Council of Trade and national trade.
Industry reported that English is used by Danish compa- The overall pattern seems to be that trade driven by
nies in over 80% of international business contacts and the Big Three encourages the use of English globally.
communications (cited in Firth, 1996). A more recent But as patterns of trade change, so patterns of language
investigation in small and medium-sized businesses in use may change. The key to understanding the future of
peripheral areas of Europe (Hagen, 1993) found that business English will lie in the extent to which other
although English is probably the most used language of languages become important trade lingua francas for
business across Europe, German is used extensively in internal trade within Asia and Latin America.
particular areas, especially for informal communication.
German is, understandably, in more widespread use than
English in European regions bordering on Germany,
thereby underlining a common misperception of English as
1 English 4,271 1 English 7,815 1 English 2,338
the sole lingua franca of international business. This is appa-
2 Japanese 1,277 2 Japanese 4,240 2 German 1,196
rent in the Dutch and Danish samples, where German is
3 German 1,090 3 German 2,455 3 French 803
ahead of English in the use of oral-aural skills, though this
4 Russian 801 4 Spanish 1,789 4 Chinese 803
order is reversed for reading and writing. (Hagen, 1993, p.
5 Spanish 738 5 French 1,557 5 Japanese 700
14)
6 French 669 6 Chinese 985 6 Spanish 610
The use of German seems to be increasing in parts of 7 Chinese 448 7 Portuguese 611 7 Italian 488
central and eastern Europe: a trend that may be 8 Arabic 359 8 Arabic 408 8 Portuguese 138
confirmed as more countries join the European Union. 9 Italian 302 9 Russian 363 9 Malay 118
Hagen (1993) suggests knowledge of one language is not 10 Portuguese 234 10 Hindi/Urdu 114 10 Arabic 85
sufficient for a company to conduct business successfully 11 Dutch 203 11 Italian 111 11 Russian 73
in Europe: ‘a minimum level of linguistic competence for 12 Hindi/Urdu 102 12 Malay 79 12 Hindi/Urdu 25
a European company is the ability to perform in three: 13 Indonesian 65 13 Bengali 32 13 Bengali 9
namely, English, German and French’ (Hagen, 1993, p. 14 Danish 60
12). British companies seem least able to meet this crite- 15 Greek 49
rion.
However, the use of German and French is almost Table 9 Estimated economic Table 10 Estimates of Gross Table 11 Major languages by
exclusively confined to trade within Europe: German strength of languages Language Product (GLP) of traded GLP in $billion
companies generally use English for trade outside the in $billion major languages in $billion (engco model)
European Union. This is apparent from recommendat- (after Ammon, 1995) (engco model)


The role of technology
Advances in technology in the 19th century helped ‘kick start’ the long wave and then to have important transformative effects. Any
of economic growth which is yet to reach some parts of the world. technology which is to have significant social, economic
and linguistic effects in the near future will be already
Technological change transforms the spaces in which we work and live, but it known. David (1990) shows how the introduction of the
is difficult to predict exactly how technology will shape our future global dynamo – permitting commercial use of electricity –
patterns of language use. took, from the early 1880s, another 40 years to yield
significant productivity gains. Likewise, the building of
the first computers and development of high-level
Technological past computer languages in the 1940s only now have a signif-
English today has been shaped by the effects of the indu- icant impact on people’s work and leisure. The impact of
strial revolution. As English became the world’s technology on everyday life is determined by the speed
language of discovery and as rapid advances were made of institutional and social change rather than by the
in materials science, engineering, manufacturing and speed of technological invention and scientific discovery.
communications, new communicative functions were Joseph Schumpeter suggested in the 1930s that tech-
required of the language. Industrial and communications nological innovation affected the economy in a series of
technology created legal, management and accounting ‘long waves’ about 50 years apart. If we update his ideas,
structures, each with different forms of information to cover the period 1780 to 2080, this provides six ‘long
giving. New, more complex communicative skills were waves’ each associated with a transformative technology
required by employees – such as literacy skills – while (Table 12). Based on this, we can see that major changes
the industrial economy gave rise to greater interaction in culture and language during the next few decades are
between institutions and the general public, mediated those connected with computers and communications.
through railway timetables, company accounts, instruc-
tions for household products and advertisements. Computer languages
Typographic design expanded accordingly, as did the English and computers have seemed, for decades, to go
range of written and spoken genres institutionalised in together. Computers and the programs which make
English. Thus the ‘information age’ began in the 19th them useful were largely the invention of English-
century, establishing many of the styles and conventions speaking countries. The hardware and software reflected
we take for granted today. the needs of the English language. The early systems for
Technology has indeed proved to be of profound text-based communication were unfriendly to accented
significance to culture and language. Is there now a characters and almost impossible for languages using
revolutionary technology ‘just around the corner’ which non-roman writing systems, while computer operators
will transform our use and expectations of language in interacted with programs using instructions in English.
the way that the industrial revolution did? English will, no doubt, continue to be spread via soft-
ware products and digitised intellectual property, but it
Will English continue to Technological future seems the days of language restriction are over. There
be closely associated Forecasting key technologies of the future is an unrelia- are, for example, Chinese versions of all major American
with leading-edge ble activity, as some heroic failures in the past demonst- programs, including the Windows operating system and
technology? rate. An editorial in The Times, October 1903, predicted Microsoft Word word processor. Interface design and on-
p. 61 that heavier-than-air flying machines were theoretically screen help now make new software more easily and
impossible – two months before the Wright brothers rapidly customised for lesser used languages. Schools in
launched their first plane. In 1876 the Western Union – Wales, for example, are able to use software and opera-
a telegraph company – decided not to take up the patent ting systems in Welsh. This adaptability of recent soft-
on Bell’s telephone because they considered the device ware is a significant characteristic. It has allowed new
to be ‘inherently of no value to us’. Western Union were technical vocabulary to develop in languages other than
not Luddites: they were in business at the leading edge of English, while desktop publishing systems have made
telecommunications technology. But even ‘experts’ can possible short-run printing in minority writing systems.
get it wrong. The close linkage that once existed between computers
It is unlikely that the world will be transformed by and English has been broken.
some extraordinary invention in the next few decades. One of the most important computer-related techno-
New technology takes time to develop, be implemented logies to emerge in recent decades with implications for
language use is, undoubtedly, the Internet, which we
discuss in detail later. The Internet illustrates the way
technologies have been converging: television, telep-
hone, music and document transfer all share the same
Figure 23 Language-
Arabic distribution infrastructure. And new consumer technolo-
engineering products
Russian gies, such as multimedia computers and ‘Web TV’,
available for major languages
Japanese
bring them together in the home, school and workplace.
in the mid 1990s
Portuguese Language engineering
Italian Besides consumer applications software, such as word
Spanish processors and spreadsheets, there now exists a wide
German range of software products designed for natural language
French manipulation: parsing tools, abstracting and information
English retrieval, speech recognition and automatic translation.
The majority of this research and development work is
0 200 400 600 800 carried out in the US, Europe and Japan. At present the
Language engineering products available most advanced tools are based in English (Figure 23)


Any technology which is to have significant social,
economic and linguistic effects in the near future will
be already known.

although other major languages – such as Chinese – operated by British companies and London was the £500

have recently become the focus of much research and relay centre for most of the world’s long-distance cables.
development by the US software industry. The social and commercial implications of the techno-
Language professionals, however, have long been logy were widely debated and by the end of the 19th £400

sceptical of the ability of computer-based applications to century it had become a cliché to wonder at ‘the annihi-
deal adequately with natural language. In the 1970s lation of space and time’. Since then there have emerged
most linguists were convinced of the impossibility of a three related trends in telecommunications – alongside £300
‘typewriter you could talk into’ – it raised problems at so improved technology – which have shaped global
many levels of linguistic processing that it was widely patterns of communication and which may continue to
regarded as no more than a dream of science fiction. impact on language flow and use: liberalising regulatory £200
And yet, only 20 years later, practical voice-transcription regimes allowing competition and reducing national
software is used on desktop PCs. A similar scepticism is control, falling costs and the increasing one-to-one, or
now directed at automatic translation, but this overlooks point-to-point, nature of telecommunications.
£100
the fact that machine translation already plays a
significant role in commercial and institutional life. And Cheaper communications
it is English, sometimes in special form, which has emer- Cost has been, traditionally, a major barrier to long-
ged as a lingua franca for machines. distance calls. But the cost of communication has lowe- £0
1927 1935 1955 1970 1993
Yet globalisation requires the closer integration of red dramatically (Figure 24). Falling prices have resulted 1928 1945 1963 1984 1996
organisations which employ different working languages from liberalisation of the market, huge increases in
while the increase in world trade has multiplied the need demand and technological development. The first trans- Figure 24 Falling cost of
for document translations of technical manuals, product atlantic telephone cable, laid in 1956, allowed 36 simul- making a transatlantic
specifications, patent applications, regulations governing taneous conversations; the latest undersea fibre-optic link telephone call. Costs shown
trade and so on. Such documents tend to be more predi- is capable of carrying 600,000. Once the infrastructure is are for a three minute call
ctable in content and style than, say, informal conversat- in place, the cost of establishing an international call is London–New York at 1996
ion and hence more amenable to manipulation by very close to zero; the cost of a call between the US and equivalent prices
machines. The current state-of-the-art is one in which Britain could fall, according to some commentators, to (a fall from £486 to 30p)
machines routinely help human translators, allowing the equivalent of present British local rates. And, if lines
increased productivity, accuracy and standardisation. between London and Glasgow are congested, the call
But this close working relationship between humans and might be routed via the US, with no loss of profit to the
machines is beginning to alter the language and the ways operator.
in which texts are organised. In 1997 Britain became the first country to open up
New, simplified forms of English have been construc- its entire international phone traffic; nearly 50 compa-
ted by many global engineering companies, such as nies applied for licences. The result is expected to be
Caterpillar and Boeing, which are claimed to make enormous capacity and falling prices: London is expec-
maintenance manuals more comprehensible to overseas ted to become ‘the switching centre for the world’s telep-
engineers. But the use of ‘controlled English’ is also hone services’ (McRae,1996, p. 19).
intended to make automatic translation easier – opening
up the possibility of humans writing in restricted forms of One-to-one connection
English so that machines can translate documents into Over the last few decades there has been a significant
restricted forms of target languages. The growing use of shift towards direct, point-to-point communications,
English as a ‘relay language’, to permit translation from either person to person, or machine to machine.
any language to any other via English, will produce new Whereas in the early days of the telegraph, a communi-
forms of language contact which may encourage the cation needed to pass through the hands of many media-
convergence of other languages, at least in their control- tors and gatekeepers who were able to control the
led forms, with the semantic and syntactic structures of quantity, speed and content of messages, now it is
English. possible for an individual to contact another directly,
across oceans and continents. This development is seen
The death of distance in both the telephone and the Internet: a PC on the desk
The impact of computers on society and language has of one executive or academic can connect directly to
come about largely because of developments in the rela- another PC on some far-off desk to exchange data.
ted field of telecommunications. This shift towards a communication network rather
Telecommunications technology is surprisingly old. than a hierarchy allows dispersed ‘discourse
By the 1870s, the world was linked by the electric teleg- communities’ to emerge, based on shared interests such
raph, along whose wires the English language flowed. as hobbies, (gardening, exotic fish), criminality (terro-
The Victorian network was almost entirely owned and rism, pornography) or support (ulcerative colitis suffe-
rers, parents of children with Downs Syndrome).
Pre-1780s Pre-industrial society
Diasporic cultural and linguistic groups can share
1780s–1840s Steam power concerns, ideas and decision making as never before.
1840s–1890s Railways Networks potentially change cultural and economic
1890s–1930s Electric power landscapes, condensing distance and overcoming barri-
1930s–1980s Cheap fuel/car/road haulage/air travel ers to communication. And the interconnectedness of
1980s–2030s Information technology (IT) cultural and decision-making systems, facilitated by one-
2030s–2080s Biochemical engineering to-one communication, has produced a ‘complex system’
(including genetic engineering capable of unpredictable cultural and economic shifts.
and nano-engineering) But communication patterns on such networks is largely
Table 12 Seven ages of the technological economy
invisible to traditional statistical monitoring – new trends
may take decision makers unawares.


Globalisation
World economies and cultures are becoming increasingly interconnected and Such shifts of production require in-flows of capital,
interdependent, politically, socially and technologically: ‘complexification’, skills and technology, and are one means by which a
developing economy is helped to ‘come up to speed’ in a
‘cross-border activity’ and ‘process re-engineering’ have been the buzz words shorter timescale than the industrialised countries them-
of the 1990s. Here we examine the impact of economic globalisation on selves required. This process promotes the English
patterns of communication. language, as the box (below) explains.

Growing complexification
Transnational ownership In February 1996, an oil tanker ran aground whilst
Global trade is no longer a matter of bilateral arrange- attempting to enter an oil terminal off the Welsh coast of
200 ments between nation states, or between organisations Britain, leading to a major oil spillage and environmen-
economically rooted in nation states. Such is the tal disaster. As journalists tried to establish ‘who was to
complex structure of business ownership, through joint blame’, they uncovered an extraordinarily complex
150
ventures and holding companies, that establishing any transnational activity.
simple national pattern of ownership of the major enter-
Built in Spain; owned by a Norwegian; registered in Cyprus;
prises is difficult. And many of the world’s largest corpo-
managed from Glasgow; chartered by the French; crewed
rations can hardly even be called multinational; rather
by Russians; flying a Liberian flag; carrying an American
100
they have become transnational. It has been calculated
cargo; and pouring oil on to the Welsh coast (Headline,
that transnational corporations (TNCs) account for as
Independent, 22 February 1996, p. 1)
much as two-thirds of international trade in goods, while
50 50 of the 100 largest economies are said to be not nation One question raised by the tanker disaster was the
states but TNCs. The largest of the world’s TNCs are extent to which key members of the crew could under-
involved in the energy and chemicals industries (oil, stand the English instructions of the local pilot. Later
0 pharmaceuticals) and the communications industry news reported the need to bring in a Chinese tug and the
(airlines, telecommunications, media). The majority are problems of interpretation which resulted. Yet English is
Am

Am
pe

ia
an

As
ro

headquartered in the Big Three trading blocs (Figure supposedly the basis for ‘Seaspeak’ – the special English
Jap
th

tin
Eu

or

La
N

25). And, at the present stage of global economic devel- used by deck officers as an international maritime
opment, the international activities of TNCs are tending communication. Johnson (1994) has noted, however, how
Figure 25 Distribution of the to promote English. changing job requirements have led to an increase in the
500 largest global number of personnel who need English language skills:
corporations by world Global distribution of labour
Scarret (1987) has chronicled the recent trend towards the
region The rise of TNCs has supported a new, global distribu-
demanning of ships and the de-skilling of those crew
tion of labour: large corporations can shift production to
members who remain; Kitchen (1993) has related this trend
countries with a cheaper, less regulated workforce. If
to the incipient disappearance of the RO [radio officer]
production costs in one country become too great,
from deep-sea ships, and goes on to note the opposition of
production can be shifted to another part of the world,
insurance underwriters to such a move. The current trend is
perhaps with tax incentives and subsidies to start up new
towards broad training courses, such as those provided in
enterprises. Although some commentators see this as a
the Netherlands which incorporate deck, engine room and
predatory, ‘slash and burn’ activity on a global scale,
radio office skills, leading to the status of ‘polyvalent mari-
others regard it as an important and benign driver of
time officer’. It may well be that, as crews become less tech-
economic development in third-world countries.
nically skilled in the maintenance of increasingly complex

Why economic development encourages English
1 Although an incoming company may not be headquartered prise itself, but may extend to associated infrastructure
in an English-speaking country, it will typically establish a expansion such as airports, railways and telecommunicat-
joint venture with a local concern. Joint ventures (e.g. Sino- ions. In central China, engineers in local steel factories learn
Swiss and German) tend to adopt English as their lingua English so they can install and maintain plant bought from
franca, which promotes a local need for training in English. Germany and Italy. The predominance of English in techno-
logy transfer reflects the role of TNCs more than the fact
2 Establishment of joint ventures requires legal documents
that much leading-edge technology derives from the US.
and memoranda of understanding. International legal agre-
However, technology transfer to developing economies
Will economic ements are written in English because there exists internat-
tends not to be at a leading edge: keeping new technology
modernisation continue ional consensus about the meaning of terms, obligations and
in Europe, North America and Japan helps the Big Three to
to require English for rights. This activity may create a demand for specialist
maintain a competitive edge despite high costs of labour.
technology and skills English language training for lawyers – the case in China
transfer? where new courses are being established. 5 Establishing joint ventures creates incoming demands from
p. 61 international visitors who require supporting services, such
3 A newly established company will be in most cases involved
as hotels and tourist facilities. The staff of secondary enter-
in international trade – importing raw materials and expor-
prises also require training in English for these visitors.
ting finished goods. This will create a need for back-office
workers, sales and marketing staff with skills in English. 6 Jobs in the new enterprises may be better paid and more
attractive than those in the public sector of a developing
4 Technology transfer is closely associated with English,
economy. English qualifications may become an entry
largely because most transfer is sourced by a TNC who
necessity, or have perceived value in access to jobs – even if
either is English speaking or who uses English for external
the job itself does not require English.
trade. Technology transfer is not restricted to the enter-


Rather than a process which leads to uniformity and
homogeneity, globalisation seems to create new,
hybrid forms of culture, language and political
organisation.

shipboard equipment, they will all need greatly increased
skills in English, if only to be able to ask for help by radio, Japan Japan
and understand the reply! (Johnson, 1994, p. 90)

This illustrates two features of economic globalisation:
the transnational nature of ownership and management Korea Korea
and the increasing demand for ‘flexible labour’.
Complexity of ownership is a necessary, but at first sight
counter-intuitive, consequence of the concentration of Indonesia Indonesia
ownership. As TNCs become larger and their enterprises
English Local language English
global, new ventures involve considerable risk. No single speakers
speaker speaker
corporation can accept the risk, for example, of establis- France
France
hing a global satellite network. Instead, a TNC attempts
to spread the risk of large, single ventures through
cooperation with other large enterprises: they tend to
‘hunt in packs’. Thus globalisation is not, as might be Germany Germany
expected, creating huge global monopolies. Rather, it is
creating global oligopolies: a small number of large
operators who display some of the features of a cartel. US/UK
US/UK
Later, we will argue that world languages may be devel-
oping on similar lines: rather than English acquiring a
‘monopoly’ position as a world lingua franca, there may
emerge an ‘oligopoly’ consisting of a group of major
languages, each with particular spheres of influence. Team member Team member

New working practices
Globalisation has a significant effect on labour practices.
The new global distribution of labour has led to a reduc-
tion of unskilled jobs in richer countries. But there has Team member Team member
also been greater pressure, as we have seen, for more
flexible labour. This derives from the speed of corporate
and technological change – workers must turn their
hands quickly to a wider variety of activities and retrain
regularly. This trend – arising in all economic sectors –
Team member Team member
has led to a decreasing reliance on key communicators
and gatekeepers (in the case of maritime workers, the
radio officer) who possess specialist language skills.
Trends suggest there is a growing need for people in
various jobs to communicate with each other directly,
yet in the transnational activities of world trade, there is
less likelihood that they share the same language. As a Communications Team member Team member Team member Communications
result, more people in a wider variety of jobs require a with members of
within local teams
greater competence in English. Figures 26 and 27 illu- other teams in
in local language
strate changes in patterns of communications now international lingua
franca
arising in many industries. Case studies in section 4 show
how these changes may affect particular groups of
workers. Figure 26 (upper) English as an international Figure 27 (lower) English as an international
The global-local tension lingua franca: traditional import-export model lingua franca: post-modern/globalised model
Globalisation is probably the most significant socio-
economic process affecting the world in the late 20th Traditional international trade is associated with: In a globalised model, English is associated with:
century. Its effects are felt not only in the economy, but
also in politics and culture. It would be wrong, however, q Physical movement of goods; q Services and ‘knowledge-intensive industries’;
to think of globalisation as primarily a ‘neo-colonial’
process – whereby the capital and social values of rich q Interactions with all foreign countries q Working is dispersed – employees do not
conducted in English; need to be in physical proximity;
countries are imposed upon poorer ones. Discussions of
globalisation usually emphasise the importance of local q Key intermediaries (negotiators/ inter- q All (or most) team members need English
contexts, for globalisation creates patterns of interdepen- preters) with English language skills; language skills;
dence and interconnection, where cultures and econo- q Manufacture/business conducted in local q Local interactions may not be in English;
mies influence each other rapidly, but in complex and language;
q Location of workers sensitive to available
often unpredictable ways. q Location of workers based on labour costs; skills/knowledge and communications infra-
Rather than a process which leads to uniformity and structure;
homogeneity, globalisation seems to create new, hybrid q Communications technology used to control
forms of culture, language and political organisation: the and monitor remote operations. q Communications technology used to integra-
te work of dispersed teams.
results of global influences meeting local traditions,
values and social contexts.


The immaterial economy
The world’s output is getting lighter. Within a few decades, many more national level and associated with the movement of
people will be employed in the service industries which characterise tangible goods. Global movements of immaterial goods
and services, particularly involving transfers within
economic globalisation. New forms of global teleworking are emerging and multinational corporations, tend not to be captured by
an increased proportion of the value of goods is produced through language- existing statistics.
related activity. This shift from manufacturing towards services is
visible in the English language itself. The word ‘product’
used to be associated almost exclusively with manufactu-
The immaterial economy red goods. Now it is used with rising frequency in
As a national economy matures, there is usually a trend connection with services. A search through the British
away from the ‘primary’ sector (resources, agriculture) National Corpus of English shows how the trend has
and ‘secondary’ sector (manufacturing and industry) developed. For example, the British trade journal
towards the ‘tertiary’ sector, made up of service indu- Caterer & Hotelkeeper (5 September 1991) demonstrates
stries. It is the tertiary sector which is most language the trend in usage in an article about a new, computeri-
intensive. Yet the developments in these activities are sed booking service for hotels:
WWW under-recorded: many services are internal to large
‘Bravo will distribute “UK Ltd” worldwide, and give the
enterprises and transnational corporations (TNCs),
BRITISH NATIONAL CORPUS travelling public access to the total UK product,’ said
where they remain invisible to standard statistics.
http://info.ox.ac.uk/bnc/ Bravo spokesman John Roussel. ... ‘Essentially it’s an
Manufactured goods, however, are clearly becoming
electronic brochure, but it could be used to promote a
lighter and a higher proportion of the value of goods
branded product, such as a hotel consortium or Agatha
relates to style, branded image or ‘added value’.
Christie weekends.’ (British National Corpus)
The fashionable talk is about the ‘weightless’ or
The use of ‘product’ reflects the extent to which
‘dematerialized’ economy. As production has shifted from
services have become commodified: services are desig-
steel, heavy copper wire and vacuum tubes to microproces-
ned, packaged and marketed in ways similar to standar-
sors, fine fibre-optic cables and transistors, and as services
dised manufactured products. Much of this involves
have increased their share of the total, output has become
discursive activity. Advertising, marketing, promoting,
lighter and less visible. ... The average weight of a real
receiving clients and guests, servicing – all these are acti-
dollar’s worth of American exports is now less than half that
vities reliant on language. The British linguist, Norman
in 1970. (The World Economy Survey, The Economist, 28
Fairclough, has noted the extent to which language itself
September 1996, p. 43)
– the way flight attendants, receptionists or waiters talk
The immaterial economy is bolstered by a major to clients – has become a key part of the ‘product’ offe-
growth in the service sector and this trend is nowhere red to customers (Fairclough, 1994).
clearer than in the US, where nearly 75% of the total
labour force was employed in services by 1995. Until Teleworking
World War I the services and industrial sector grew Teleworking – the ability to work away from a central
together, but afterwards services continued to grow as office using telecommunications – has been hailed for
industry declined (Figure 28). decades as a major shift in working practices. The
According to the Hooke forecasting model, the servi- change seems not to have come about in the direct way
ces sector will, by 2050, account for 75% of Gross World predicted, although an increasing number of people
Product, as opposed to 50% in 1990 (Figure 29). work at least part of the week at home. Jack Nilles, the
‘Services’, however, includes many disparate activities, American who invented the term, anticipates the
from McDonalds to banking, from health to education. number will grow to 200 million by 2016. AT&T now
Much of the economic activity associated with these has a telecommuting workforce of 35,000. However,
trends is difficult to measure or survey. The most comp- Nilles does not consider technology as the major deter-
lete economic statistics tend to be those prepared at a minant, but rather management culture: many people
could work from home with no more technology than a
80
telephone, but some employers remain resistant
(Financial Times, 8 January 1997, p. 6).
70
Services Yet new management trends and organisational
structures are certainly increasing the need for both
60
dispersed and remote workers. Major growth areas have
been telesales and support services. British Telecom, for
50
example, has a dispersed team of directory enquiry
operators working from home, but their work can be
40 Industrial monitored and coordinated by supervisors as easily as if
they were in a central office. Callers, meanwhile, are
30
unaware of an operator’s physical location.
20 The more business takes place over the international phone
lines, the more the common language of business will domi-
Agriculture
10 nate. Of course English is an open standard – anyone can
use it – but this should be some advantage to Anglophone
0 countries. (McRae, Independent, 16 November 1996, p. 19)
1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 1995

Figure 28 US employment by sector


There seems to be developing a new, global
English-speaking market in the knowledge-intensive
industries.

Screen-based labour documents and ‘speech’ are light: they can be shifted
A study of EU workers showed that 20% of working around the world easily. English-speaking countries are
time was spent in handling documents. Since document able to join this global business since many of the jobs
handling now involves word processing, email communi- require a near native-speaker competence: foreign-
cations, database queries and information retrieval, language skills will rarely be sufficient. Those countries
workers everywhere spend more time using computers. in which English is a first or second language have a
One feature of the weightless economy is the extent to clear economic advantage.
which labour has become screen based. And such Will the British
screen-based labour is easily globalised using telecom- Branding ‘brand’ of English play an
munications technology. Branding is one way in which value can be added to important role in the
The trend towards globalised screen-based labour material goods through immaterial means. The 21st century?
began with the sub-contracting of data-entry work from construction of a brand image is primarily a semiotic p. 57
the US to the Caribbean. Pearson and Mitter (1993) activity. Levi’s make jeans, but the value of these
describe a history of routine punching of computer cards garments is much greater than their intrinsic value as
taking place in Jamaica from the 1970s: manufactured cotton goods: the cultural associations of
buying and wearing Levi’s permits them to be sold at
One of the largest and earliest foreign owned companies
premium prices.
operating in the Caribbean is Caribbean Data Services, a
The economic activities of clothing production allows
subsidiary of American Airlines, which operates data-entry
relatively unskilled labour to be employed in third-world
shops in Barbados and the Dominican Republic. ... A major
countries. A worker producing a T-shirt in the
new facility, which came on stream in 1989 is the Jamaican
Philippines, for example, may be paid one-thousandth of
Digiport at Montego Bay, which was established for the
the final retail value of the goods. Companies such as
specific purpose of promoting off-shore teleworking – both
Nike, who have created a global market for their goods,
data entry and other activities. (Pearson and Mitter, 1993)
are well known for their propensity to shift manufacture
Many other, large transnational companies whose from country to country, in search of the cheapest
employees are involved primarily in screen-based labour labour. The added value obtained through marketing,
have distant and dispersed workers. The New York Life however, is the result of activity in languages and places
Insurance Company is credited with establishing the first other than those in which primary manufacture took
‘intelligent office work’ offshore, when it opened an place. Even goods which have weight (like Coca-Cola),
office in County Derry, in Ireland. Some US 0800 telep- when locally produced and sold, possess a brand image
hone numbers, offering telesales and support services, and added value from a globalised activity.
are also routed to Ireland. Some London boroughs have Semiotic activity is more easily globalised than physi-
the administration and issue of parking tickets handled cal activities. Global branding requires centralised cont-
in the north of Scotland. Swiss Air, Lufthansa and rol of an image: technology allows the intellectual
British Airways have back offices in India handling property which is intrinsic to marketing (such as images,
accounting and ticketing queries. British Airways also slogans, video materials) to be moved more rapidly and
exploits timezone differences by switching European cheaply than physical goods. The growth of internatio-
telephone enquiries to their New York office at the end nal franchising in the fast-food industry recognises this
of the British working day. Indian software engineers are fact: a branch of McDonalds may be established anyw-
employed to reprogram US supermarket computers to here in the world using marketing images and reputat-
fix the ‘2000’ bug. British railway companies use an ions manufactured in the US.
Indian back office to process ticketing accounts of the Today, a greater number of goods and products have
kind which allow travel on different sectors to be attribu- become the objects of style and consumer culture.
ted to different service providers. A number of internat- Correspondingly, an increasing proportion of a
ional construction and car companies have design units product’s worth is now semiotic. Whilst there is, as yet,
based in Britain, from where architectural plans, design no means of attributing different quotients of productive
drawings and engineering models are daily transmitted activity to different languages, it does seem that English
to factories and construction sites on the other side of the has become a primary language of design, advertising
world. and marketing. Software has become more important
Work which once had to be located close to clients or than the hardware in the computer industry; film and
other divisions of companies is now distributed across programme production more important than televisions
the world to an extent that is remarkable. The new, and satellites in the entertainment industry. It is a shift
globally wired economy has become so significant that not simply to services, but specifically towards
tax revenues, based on tangible transactions, are threate- knowledge-intensive industries.
ned, provoking serious discussion in recent years of
introducing a European ‘bit’ tax on data flows to recover 80 Services Figure 29 Composition of
lost revenue (Independent, 20 January 1997, p. 5). Goods Gross World Product
But the motive of TNCs in relocating back offices or 1990–2050
Resources
sub-contracting work to other countries is not simply a 60

search for cheaper and less-regulated labour. TNCs now
Percentage share

roam the world in search of skilled labour, especially for
40
work in the growing ‘knowledge-intensive’ industries,
engaged in the production and manipulation of intellec-
tual property. Employers require ever-higher levels of 20
skills and education in workers. There seems to be devel-
oping a new, global English-speaking market in the
knowledge-intensive industries. Intellectual property, 0
1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050


Cultural flows
Language has been regarded since the Renaissance in terms of territory. ces. The increase in people flow relates to other
Statistics about language, culture and economy, collected by international significant changes – rise of world trade, shifts to services
requiring face-to-face contact, wider dispersal of families,
bodies, have been based on nation states, populations of speakers and the emergence of new cultural diasporas, the operations
relative sizes of economies. But chaos theory suggests the concept of flow of transnational companies and the growing internatio-
may be better suited to understanding language in a borderless world. nal trade in higher education.
Tourism is one well-documented form of people flow
which has had a significant impact on the use of English.
A new direction? Tourism is of increasing importance to the world econ-
We earlier suggested that it was possible to view global omy: Figure 30 shows the development of world tourism
English as a complex system. Chaos theory, the mathe- over a 40 year period. Some estimates suggest that over
matical method of modelling the behaviour of complex 10% of the world’s labour force is now employed in
systems, is essentially a model of flow. Already used to travel and tourism-related activities, accounting for
understand the turbulent behaviour of fluid in pipes, or nearly 10% of the world’s economy. These figures are
the aerodynamics of aircraft wings, the idea of flow can set to rise: projections are for 100 million new jobs in the
also be applied to language and culture. industry by 2006 (Sunday Business, 6 October 1996, p. 20).
The concept of globalisation includes the ideas both Tourism has a ripple effect elsewhere in the economy: in
Will the demand for of flow and counter-flow, producing a tension between manufacturing, retailing, services and construction. And
English in the world the global and local. The English language flows into more destinations are being sought – such as China,
continue to rise at its other languages, which adopt English words and phra- South Korea and Indonesia – causing governments to
present rate? ses. English also ‘colonises’ the space of other languages invest in the infrastructure which supports tourist traffic.
p. 60 by taking over certain communicative domains. But International travel has a globalising effect. People
local languages also influence English, giving rise to new are brought together, businesses and institutions form
hybrid language varieties in second-language-speaking relationships of interdependency and closer communica-
areas. If we examine communication patterns as flow we tion. And, more directly than many other kinds of flow,
might widen our focus to include the translation of books international travel brings people from different
or the dubbing of films as they move from one language language backgrounds together, promoting the need to
WWW to another, or of tourists moving from one city to learn a language in common. But there is also a growing
another, telephone calls and Internet data carrying provision for a customer’s own language, as service indu-
WORLD AIR TRAFFIC FORECASTS
information and intellectual property from one part of stries find they must compete on levels of service. Qantas
http://www.atag.org the world to another. airline of Australia, for example, requires proficiency
Although the modelling of culture in terms of flow is levels in ‘priority’ languages from its staff. An indication
TELEGEOGRAPHY INC still a poorly developed discipline, social scientists have of trends in Asia is provided by a study published by the
http://www.telegeography.com become more interested in viewing the world in such Australian government which recently identified
ways rather than relying on static entities such as Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and Thai as
‘cultures’, ‘nations’ and ‘national economies’. Appadurai possessing commercial significance (Australian Language
(1990) identifies five global flows in terms of metaphori- and Literacy Council, 1994).
cal landscapes. These he terms ethnoscapes (people move- While there is little research that allows us to state
ment), technoscapes (technology transfer, technology confidently which languages will be encouraged through
convergence), financescapes (flows of capital and currency), what kinds of contact, we can assume that international
mediascapes (flows of audio-visual product but also the traffic within a single region will encourage the use of a
images and narratives they convey) and ideoscapes (flows regional language, whereas traffic between two or more
of ideas and ideologies). Here we examine some of the world regions may encourage one of the ‘world
more measurable kinds of flow, to see what broad shifts languages’, of which English is the most important.
there might be as globalisation develops. However, while passengers moving between regions such
as the US to Asia may promote English, passengers from
Flows of people Europe travelling to Latin America may expect to use
The ultimate drivers of language are the people who use Portuguese.
it. People move extensively: for business or education, as One means to forecast linguistic flow is to examine
tourists and pilgrims, as migrant workers and immig- projected worldwide destinations and sources of passen-
rants, as refugees and exiles, taking with them languages gers. Figures for international air travel in 2010 between
and cultural values. Desire for physical mobility has key regions suggests that major changes will occur in
created further massive industries in transport and servi- Asia: a region that will by 2010 account for over half the
world’s total international air travel. Some 267 million
Figure 30 Development of 500000 passengers (67% of Asian international arrivals) will be
world tourism 1950–1990 moving within the Asia Pacific region; the majority of this
International tourist arrivals (thousands)

400000
internal traffic will be travelling in a conduit opening
between the north-east and south-east. A major route is
300000
further likely to develop between the ‘hotspots’ of Taipei
and Hong Kong. By 2010 this alone may have traffic
equivalent to that of London and New York in 1993 (Air
200000
Transport Action Group, 1993). The effects on language
are not easily predicted, but it seems likely that the
100000
preponderance of flow between North-east and South-
east Asia – particularly as it relates to business activity –
0
1965 1975 1985 will promote Mandarin as a regional lingua franca.
1960 1970 1980 1990


As communications infrastructures improve and
relative costs fall, more telephone conversations
around the world will be held in languages other
than English.

Communication flows French
English (Others) Figure 31 Languages used in
While sales of communications equipment – switches, English (French) intercontinental telephone
fibre-optic interfaces, modems, or handsets – can be English (Japanese) traffic in 1994 in millions of
measured in millions of units, it is the flow of communi- English (German) MiTTs (minutes of
cation between countries, via Internet or telephone, English (Chinese) international
which is of greater interest in terms of language. English (Spanish) telecommunications traffic)
International telephone calls are counted in minutes and English
are recorded by the outgoing, billing service provider.
Worldwide in 1994 there were 53 billion minutes of
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
international telecommunications traffic (MiTTs) which
is expected to rise to 106 billion minutes by the year
2000. Figure 31 analyses the 48 most heavily used inter- Flows of finance
continental flows in 1994 (as calculated by Tele- Large volumes of money flow daily across the world as
Geography Inc.) according to the likely language of cash, foreign exchange, gold, investment and shares.
communication. It shows English is the dominant Foreign direct investment (FDI) has tended to flow
language of intercontinental communication, if only between members of the Big Three regions: the largest
because of the massive traffic between English-speaking ever flow of FDI from one country to another was
countries and other parts of the world. recorded in 1995 from Britain to the US. But TNCs
The dominance of English in the telephone conversa- have also contributed to a major flow from the Big
tions of the world is unlikely to continue for long. In Three towards Asia and Latin America, helping create
developing economies the communications infrastruc- companies which themselves export: companies from
ture is generally insufficient to meet demand. One figure, Brazil and India are now active worldwide in consumer
often quoted, is ‘teledensity’: the proportion of house- electronics, aircraft and hotel management.
Britain
holds with telephones. While the US has the greatest But perhaps the most significant flow in terms of (national)
density of telephone lines – nearly 95% of households language is the increasing vortex of FDI which is occur- USA
Canada
have a telephone – in China, the penetration is only ring in Asia between Chinese business interests. Australia
3.4% (Wu, 1996). Even with a working telephone in Overseas Chinese in South-east Asia account for a much 15p France
Germany
China, making a call at present is likely to be difficult: larger proportion of business than their numbers suggest: Italy
‘Long distance circuits in south and central China are so Greece 20p
In the Philippines, the overseas Chinese make up only 1%
congested that only 15% of the calls dialled get through. Singapore
of the country’s population but control over half of the stock Austria
The completion rate is only about 60%’ (Wu, 1996, p. Japan Hong Kong
market. In Indonesia the proportions are 4% and 75%
703). Yet remarkable targets exist for China’s massive 30p Venezuela
respectively, in Malaysia 32% and 60%. In Thailand the Mexico
potential market: one telephone per urban household by
overseas Chinese account for at least half of the wealth. Poland
the year 2000; by 2010 a digital network to be in place Malaysia 40p
Now they are pushing into Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia,
and telephone coverage of 25 per 100 people nationally Turkey
Myanmar (Burma) and, yes, mainland China, where they Morocco
(Walker, Financial Times, 3 October 1995, p. 27). Chile
account for about half the foreign direct investment. Russia
Indonesia, likewise, is fast installing satellite capacity 50p India
According to one estimate, the 51m overseas Chinese cont-
alongside mobile-phone systems. Rising incomes, greater Nigeria
rol an economy worth $700 billion – roughly the same size Brazil
demand for internal communications and a government
as the 1.2 billion mainlanders. Their liquid wealth (cash, 60p
that in 1994 opened the industry to foreign investment Zimbabwe
gold, shares) may run to as much as $2.5 trillion. (The Malawi
all promise a new infrastructure over which language Thailand
Economist, 9 March 1996, p. 4)
flows will be generated in the 21st century. Here, howe- Pakistan
Indonesia
ver, it is likely to be Bahasa Indonesia which benefits – a Growing intraregional trade and financial dealings 70p Uruguay
language currently spoken as a first language by less than amongst Chinese-speaking business interests will undou- Saudi Arabia
Uganda
20% of the population but as a second language by btedly strengthen the role of Mandarin or another
Tanzania 80p
around 70%. A high proportion of the increased Chinese language such as Cantonese, shared by inter- Iran
communication flows within Indonesia and between locutors as a first language, as a regional lingua franca. China
Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia is likely to be made 90p Bangladesh
in the national language. Such contact may be one World cities Fiji
Iraq
factor in encouraging language shift towards Despite growing urbanisation worldwide, some cities will 100p
first-language Malay usage in the next generation. be more important nexus points than others for global
Falling telecommunications costs (p. 31) are transfor- cultural, political and economic flows. Indeed, few cities
Antarctic
ming the relative distances between countries. Figure 32 are likely to become ‘world cities’ in this sense. Knox 110p
Chad
illustrates the new ‘telegeography’ by showing relative (1995) suggests three cities are in the first rank of a Myanmar
‘teledistance’ of countries from Britain in 1997: North global, urban hierarchy: London, New York and Tokyo. N Korea
Niger
America is closer than France – which is about the same It is in these cities that key decisions which drive globali- Rwanda
distance from Britain as Australia. This shows how the sation are taken and through which the global elites pass: Vietnam
English-speaking countries have moved into close proxi- 120p
Much of this change has been transacted and mediated
mity. The changing shape of telegeography, brought
through world cities, the nodal points of the multiplicity of
about both by technological developments and falling
linkages and interconnections that sustain the contemporary
costs will continue to reshape patterns of language flow
world economy. (Knox, 1995, p. 234)
around the world. As communications infrastructures
improve and relative costs fall, more telephone conversa- World cities provide headquarters for TNCs; they are
tions around the world will be held in languages other centres of finance, focal points for social and technologi-
than English. cal innovation and key transport points. London and Figure 32 Teledistance of
New York are likely to remain key world ‘hubs’ through selected countries from
which ideas, finance and people flow. Britain in 1997


Global inequalities
As developing economies mature and per capita income rises, so social and elites and masses. It permits better education for a minu-
scule minority. At the same time, it inhibits interaction
economic inequalities also seem to grow: proficiency in English may be one between science and society and it inhibits the creation of
of the mechanisms for dividing those who have access to wealth and appropriate technology. (Pattanayak, 1996, p. 50)
information from those who don’t. The global spread of English may also be
associated with decreased use of endangered languages. Proficiency in English is not merely an instrumental
affair – it is too often used as a gatekeeping mechanism.
The lack of an examination certificate, or signs, even
English and social inequality trivial, that a writer or speaker is not a native or fluent
In many parts of the world, English is regarded as a speaker may be sufficient to bar access to certain jobs. It
language of power, success and prestige: also seems to be used as a screening mechanism for scho-
lars submitting papers to international journals, which
The global language can be seen to open doors, which fuels
are increasingly published in English. The editor of
a ‘demand’ for English. This demand reflects contemporary
Science recently commented:
power balances and the hope that mastery of English will
lead to the prosperity and glamorous hedonism that the If you see people making multiple mistakes in spelling,
privileged in this world have access to and that is projected syntax and semantics, you have to wonder whether when
WWW in Hollywood films, MTV videos, and ads for transnational they did their science they weren’t also making similar
FOUNDATION FOR corporations. (Phillipson, 1996, p. 2) errors of inattention. (Floyd E. Bloom, editor of Science, cited
ENDANGERED LANGUAGES in Gibbs, 1995, p. 80)
If English brings wealth, is it also the case that those
http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/ who have no access to English are rendered poor? In
Philosophy/CTLL/FEL/ many countries English has become implicated in social The role of English-medium education
and economic mechanisms which structure inequality. In post-colonial countries, such as India and Malaysia,
ENDANGERED LANGUAGES
Whereas in the past poverty has been largely a matter of English-medium education provides one of the mecha-
LISTSERV
geography, class, gender and ethnicity, now it may also nisms of distributing social and economic power.
http://carmen.murdoch.edu.au/lists/ depend on access to the lingua franca of a global elite. English-medium education in such countries is often
endangered-languages-l/ Responses to the English 2000 global consultation seen by both parents and children as a means to econo-
ell-websites.html questionnaire suggest that most English language mic success, but it has been argued that where teachers
teaching professionals believe English is essential for are not fully proficient in the English language and
ENDANGERED LANGUAGES FUND
progress but do not think that learning the language where there is little use of English in the community the
http://sapir.ling.yale.edu/~elf/ leads to negative social consequences: aspirant language learner will be condemned to a
index.html second-rate education. English-medium education is
2.11 English is essential for progress as it will provide the
thus accused of undermining attempts to improve educa-
main means of access to high-tech communication and
LANGUAGE DISTRIBUTION
tional provision and encouraging educational mediocrity
http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/ information over the next twenty-five years (95% agreed).
amongst aspirant, non-elite groups.
distribution.html 1.2 Competence in English encourages elitism and increa- Hong Kong provides an example of the dilemma
ses socio-economic inequalities (59% disagreed). (English facing many parents and, indeed, countries. Hong
TERRALINGUA 2000, 1995, pp. 55, 43) Kong’s former status as a British colony established
http://cougar.ucdavis.edu/nas/terralin/h English as the language of the judicial and legislative
ome.html However, some linguists in the developing world do executive. Yet the 1991 census results show that while
connect English with inequality: 29.4% of the population spoke English, only 2.2% did so
as their usual language; 88.7% spoke Cantonese and
English is backed by international groups which treat
another 10.3% spoke other Chinese dialects. Despite
English as an instrument of colonisation and as a commo-
this, English became the official medium of instruction in
dity for trade ... It interprets skill migration as brightening
Hong Kong schools, meaning most of the population
life chances, and it accentuates the divide between (1) rural
had to study from a young age through a second or
and urban, (2) the developing and the developed, and (3)
foreign language. In practice, the language of the class-
Figure 33 About half the room became ‘mixed code’ – a mixture of Cantonese
world’s languages are found in and English.
the rapidly modernising Asia It is widely believed in Hong Kong that this situation
Pacific region (highlighted). helped the development of an elite group while giving a
The majority of these poorer educational experience to the majority. Mixed
languages will be lost in the code meant many children failed to improve their
next century proficiency in English yet compromised their learning of
other subjects. Long before the handover of Hong Kong
to the People’s Republic of China, there was growing
support for the idea of using Chinese as a medium of
instruction, at least at primary level. A government
report explained the dilemma:
It is easier for students to learn through their mother tongue
and to continue their secondary education without a switch
to a second language. However if the aim of the education
system is to produce students with a high level of English
language proficiency, then English medium instruction can
achieve that aim. Chinese medium instruction will not.
(Hong Kong Education Commission, 1995, p. 10)


Whereas in the past poverty has been largely a
matter of geography, class, gender and ethnicity,
now it may also depend on access to the lingua
franca of a global elite.

The local politics of English Europe 3% Figure 34 Geographic
The social consequences of English-medium education Africa 30% distribution of the 6,703
often reflects local political and cultural histories and Asia 33%
living languages recorded by
differing colonial legacies. In India, for example, English Grimes (1996). Over 50% of
has been accused of being associated with a social elite the world’s stock of
wishing to maintain its privileged position. Pattanayak languages are found in the
suggests: Americas 15% Asia Pacific
Pacific 19%
there is a parallel between English as a colonial imposition
supported by a segment of the elite and receiving a stiff
nationalist opposition, and, on the other hand, the current
But it is not only the very small languages which are
elitist imposition acclaimed by a segment of the population
likely to suffer from language shift. In Indonesia, the Nusa Tenggara
aspiring entry into the elitist privileges and opposed by a
larger languages such as Javanese (with around 85 ABUI
larger segment of population. (Pattanayak, 1996, pp. 150–1)
million speakers) are also likely to suffer. As Tickoo ADABE
One of the reasons why English education is such a (1993) argued in connection with Kashmiri – one of the ANAKALANGU
sensitive matter in many countries is because the distri- scheduled languages of India – such sub-national ATONI
bution of English proficiency may affect the ‘balance of languages have ‘to live in the shadow of larger languages
power’ between ethnic groups and for that reason be or, more truly, at the bottom of a hierarchy of Maluku
subject to political management. Pennycook (1994) languages’. There will be, in the 21st century, a major ALUNE
argues that in Malaysia the adoption of Malay as a shake-up of the global language hierarchy. AMAHAI
national language was expected to benefit the dominant English is rarely the main, or direct cause of this AMBELAU
Malay community; when it was realised that continued language loss, but its global high profile and its close APUTAI
multilingual competence amongst the Chinese was cont- association with social and economic changes in develo- ASILULU
ributing to their economic success, attitudes to the use of ping countries are likely to make it a target for those
English in tertiary education relaxed. Now public debate campaigning against the destruction of cultural diversity Sulawesi
suggests a lack of access to English education may disad- which language extinction implies. It would not be ANDIO
vantage young Malays compared to their ethnic Chinese surprising if anti-English movements worldwide begin to ARALLE-TABULAHAN
counterparts. Such interaction of local cultural politics associate language loss with the rise of global English.
with global trends can result in unpredictable political Kalimantan
enthusiasm for English. The new information poor AHE
The growing provision and encouragement of There is yet a further area in which English may be AMPANANG
English-medium education can upset the traditional identified with inequality – that of communications tech- AOHENG
relations of social power in similar ways. A study of the nology. The Internet is not quite the global democratic
gender balance at university in Brunei Darussalam resource it is so often claimed to be. For those in develo- Sumatra
(Jones, 1997) showed that more women than men are ping countries, access to knowledge is a costly, proble- ANDIO
graduating with science degrees and obtaining higher matic business and there is growing concern that ARALLE-TABULAHAN
grades. Men, on the other hand, form the majority for unequal access to information technologies will create
literature courses. This reversal of the general trend in new distinctions between the information poor and the Irian Jaya
gender relations is explained by the fact that science is information rich. For example, the trend for online scho- ABUN
taught through English – a subject in which, from early larly journals, which circulate new research findings AGHU
secondary school, more Brunei girls than boys have faster than traditional paper equivalents, may exacerbate AIRORAN
excelled – whilst literature is taught through the medium the difficulty which researchers in poorer countries have AMBAI
of Malay. This, as Jones points out, could have unpredi- in gaining access to knowledge: ANSUS
ctable long-term consequences, particularly in a Muslim ANUS
‘The huge danger is that the Internet might create a global
country: ‘increasingly, the male dominated government ARANDAI
impoverished class that doesn’t have access to information
and professions in Brunei are having to make a choice ARGUNI
systems’, warns Martin Hall, an archeologist at the
between employing well qualified women or poorly AS
University of Cape Town who often collaborates with rese-
qualified men’ (Jones, 1997). ASMAT, CASUARINA
archers in other parts of Africa. ‘In five years we will be
COAST
English and endangered languages dealing with mostly paperless journals. Right now many
ASMAT, CENTRAL
African researchers depend on charity for their printed jour-
One of the main linguistic issues facing the world in the ASMAT, NORTH
nals; paperless journals will be completely denied to these
21st century is the extinction of a substantial proportion ASMAT, YAOSAKOR
scientists.’ (Gibbs, 1995, p. 83)
of the world’s languages. Krauss (1992, p. 7), for ATOHWAIM
example, thought it plausible that ‘the coming century The pattern of unequal access is partly a colonial AUYE
will see either the death or doom of 90% of mankind’s legacy: information is piped around the globe by AWERA
languages’. Many endangered languages are in a region fibre-optic and co-axial cables along the same routes as AWYI
of rapid economic growth, the Asia Pacific (Figure 33). taken by the Victorian telegraph which linked the British AWYU, MIARO
Figure 34 charts geographical distribution of languages. empire. Although satellite technology is extending infor- AWYU, NOHON
This trend towards reduced linguistic diversity is the mation access, the areas of the world closest to the infor-
outcome of global demographic and economic trends: mation superhighway are those which the telegraph first Table 13 Some Indonesian
the local cultures and lifestyles which supported small reached. Africa is notably poorly serviced, as are all loca- languages beginning with
community languages are disappearing and their spea- tions any distance inland from maritime cables. Many the letter A which have
kers are usually those with least political or cultural African universities have intermittent, fragile connec- small numbers of native
power. Table 13 lists some endangered languages in tions to electronic mail which their budgets scarcely speakers and are likely to
Indonesia, where there is likely to be a substantial shift allow them to maintain. It is one reason why, even as be endangered
towards Bahasa Indonesia – the national language – in African economies develop, many students will have to (based on Grimes, 1996)
the next few decades. study overseas.


Summary

1 Demographic trends 3 Technology
Demographic trends provide a basis for forecasting the likely Technological developments, such as the Internet, are changing
future populations of first-language speakers for all the world’s the way the world’s citizens communicate and the way
major languages. With further research and a better organisations operate. But the demography of the Internet is
understanding of the nature of language shift towards national changing rapidly and the experience of the last 10 years
languages, it would be possible to develop similar forecasts for provides no guide to the future. Languages other than English
second-language speakers. are accounting for an increasing proportion of the traffic and
content of the Internet.
2 A new order for the world economy
There is a marked shift in the balance of economic power in the 4 Global inequality
world which will transform the relative attractiveness to learners It is not just the pattern of wealth which is changing, but also
of different languages. It is not just wealth, but the changing poverty which is being restructured. English plays an indirect
way it is created which will have a profound effect on the need part in the restructuring of inequality around the world as well
for international languages. The transition to a ‘weightless’ as in the loss of smaller languages. The social and political
economy increases the need for communication across national consequences of these processes are unpredictable: together they
borders. More people will need to acquire a higher proficiency present one of the many ‘wild cards’ in long-term forecasting.
in English.

References
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Impacts on English

4
q The workplace Many of the general trends that are shaping our lives
Earlier we described how trends in technology, the global economy can be, as we have seen, identified, monitored and
and demography hold implications for our working lives. Here we assessed using statistical surveys and forecasting
examine the implications of these trends for English language skills
required by the new globalised workforces.
models.
But what of the less direct ways in which economic,
q Education and training
English already shares the languages curriculum in Europe with
demographic and technological trends affect
French, German and Spanish, alongside a variety of other languages peoples’ lives and, in particular, their everyday use of
from Russian to Urdu. Is the same true of schools worldwide? And language? There is virtually no context in human life
what role will English play outside school? English-medium teaching where language does not play an important part.
is permitting rapid internationalisation of higher education and adult
training.
Whether in employment, at home with the family, or
enjoying oneself in leisure periods, language plays an
q The global media intimate role in constructing relationships and
Not so long ago, the media industry was bound by the territorial li- identities as well as enabling people to get things
mits of the nation state. Today, the media is an international industry, done.
competing to reach audiences with disposable incomes in every
world region. Is English required to reach these massive global audi- Establishing the practical consequences of general
ences?
trends is an important part of social forecasting and
q Youth culture also the most problematic. It is a great deal easier to
The ‘baby boom’ in the west gave rise to a demographic hump which play with numbers than to understand how they
had profound consequences in public policy, the economy and cul- might change the world. When we look more closely
ture. Now the baby boomers of the west are replaced by those in at individual cases, we can see how global trends can
the non-western world who may have different cultural orientations
and aspirations.
have many different, and contradictory, local effects.
Development by no means takes a straight line and
q Internet communication the existence of counter-trends and the different
Computer technology has transformed the way people interact ways in which global trends are accommodated and
both locally and globally. Now we are at the edge of a new era of
reshaped by local conditions and cultures, makes
personal and group communications. Will the Internet remain the
flagship of global English? And if so, will it be English as we know it prediction hazardous.
today?
The next section identifies selected contexts where
q Time and place patterns of language are changing and explores the
Discussions of globalisation emphasise the ‘annihilation of time and impact of the general trends identified in section 3.
space’ brought about by new communications technology, but there
are some respects in which both will continue to be significant fac-
tors shaping economic, political and cultural formations in the 21st
century.


The workplace
Earlier we described how trends in technology, the global economy and work out a solution themselves cooperatively.
demography hold implications for people’s working lives. Here we examine Michael Hammer, a current guru of management change is
the implications of these trends for English language skills required by the quoted as claiming ‘Reengineering takes 40% of the labor
new globalised workforces. out of most processes. For middle managers it is even worse;
80% of them either have their jobs eliminated or cannot
adjust to a team-based organisation that requires them to be
more of a coach than a task-master’. (Snyder, 1996, p. 10)
English in a globalised workplace Process re-engineering is itself partly a result of the
One of the significant changes taking place in the organi- shift in economic activity towards services and screen-
sation of the workplace today is a rethinking of the way based labour (p. 35) and of the globalisation of both
in which activities are carried out and the way they are production and markets – with the coordinated activities
managed. The approach now experienced by many of several companies and complex production implied in
people has become known as ‘process re-engineering’. It global operations. Yet process re-engineering is not
is a process that leads to organisational changes such as experienced solely through transnational corporations.
‘down-sizing’, management ‘delayering’ and Small to medium-sized enterprises and even a two-
‘out-sourcing’ of ‘sub-processes’ formerly carried out in- person company are now affected. A small company, for
house. The final result is usually fewer people directly example, engaged in the intellectual property business,
employed by the organisation, a management which is can itself sub-contract work to other suppliers, use new
less hierarchical and operational units that are dispersed, technology to work cooperatively with distant clients
each having greater autonomy to take decisions. Work is and, with a World Wide Web page, develop a global
now frequently arranged around teams who, instead of marketing strategy.
passing a problem ‘upstairs’ to a line manager, must These new forms of corporate organisation and part-

Case Study 1 World Print in Hong Kong
Many books published for English-speaking markets, that there is little overlap in working time. But
particularly those printed in colour, are manufactured in because RB is home based, he has greater flexibility
Hong Kong, where skilled labour is sufficiently cheap to in his hours of work. PC deals with contacts in other
offset the higher cost and time delays incurred in ship- countries – France, Germany and Brazil also through
ping the stock back to the UK, Australia or North the medium of English.
America. One such book was the first in a series on the
4 PC negotiates a contract with a local printer using
English language (Graddol et al., 1996). Here we
Cantonese. The printer does not speak English
examine the process by which this book came to be
fluently but is sufficiently proficient to accept the
printed in Hong Kong, through a print brokers called
written contract in English. (This is necessary
World Print. The very term ‘print broker’ hints at the
because contract law in Hong Kong is based on
complex mediating and negotiating role which is a
English.)
necessary component of any international business.
Printing, although part of the media industry, is in many 5 The printer instructs his shop-floor workers in
ways like a classic import-export business. It involves Cantonese. Few of them speak English.
the bringing together of raw materials and the manufac-
This procedure has, until recently, been typical of many
ture of a finished product. Like other manufacturing
international business deals. Key intermediaries like PC,
enterprises it requires the physical movement of mate-
or interpreters supporting key negotiators, have supp-
rials and all the bureacracy which goes with the interna-
lied the bilingual skills necessary to permit communicat-
tional movement of goods. The chain of initial
ion between organisations which operate in different
negotiation was as follows:
languages. In the whole of this transaction, only one
1 In the UK, all staff concerned with the book’s person required a full bilingual competence.
production (at the Open University and at
Increasingly, PC is placing contracts with printers and
Routledge, the co-publisher) speak English. The
binders in mainland China, because of the rising cost of
development and writing of the book require advan-
labour in Hong Kong. He acts as a key intermediary
ced ‘native-speaker’ skills.
permitting British publishers, without knowledge of
2 Routledge production staff discuss the print contract Cantonese or Mandarin, to buy print services from
with the British representative of World Print (RB). Chinese enterprises. Local enthusiasm for English may
RB is a native speaker who works from home in be (temporarily) waning, as Peter Choy explains:
Reading, using fax and telephone to communicate
The contracts have to be written in English so we
with British publishers and the Hong Kong office.
communicate everything in English, even with the
These detailed negotiations are conducted between
Japanese. But I think things are changing. Years ago,
native speakers.
it was very important – if you couldn’t speak English
3 RB discusses the contract with Peter Choy (PC) – you weren’t able to get a job at all; if you didn’t pass
the Hong Kong Director of World Print. PC is bilin- your English subject, you’d never get a job. But this
gual in English and Cantonese (the latter is his first is changing here because Hong Kong is going back
language). This stage is conducted in English and to China, so more and more Hong Kong people are
largely by fax. The time-zone difference between willing to spend time learning Mandarin rather than
Hong Kong and Britain is 8 hours – which means English.


English must service a range of corporate roles and
identities and must be usable for both team working
and service interactions. Not surprisingly, demands
on an employee’s competence in English are rising.

nership working have led to changes in the structure of used: exchanges between supervisor and factory hand
communication between workers within large enterpri- may be different from those between middle and senior
ses. Work of all kinds require higher levels of direct management, but all may be said to belong to the same
communication – both within work teams and between discourse community.
members of different teams. The change in communicat- The second type of working English relates to
ion pattern was shown schematically in Figures 26 and communication with people who are not members of the
27 (p. 33); below are two case studies, both in the publis- trade or profession themselves. This style of interaction is
hing industry, which show how these patterns actually a consequence both of the growth in service industries
affect the number of people who need English language and the numbers of employees now required to project a
skills. corporate image in their dealings with the public. Many
Will English give Britain
While more workers are expected to become employers indeed insist on particular ways of addressing
a special economic
proficient in English, changes in communication and talking to clients and customers, since this language
advantage?
patterns mean they also need a wider range of linguistic has become an integral part of the ‘service’ offered.
p. 57
abilities. Mercer (1996) distinguishes, for example, Employees today, as a result of new working practi-
between two types of ‘working English’. The first kind is ces, have to adopt a wide variety of language styles. Thus
the communication between other professionals and English must service a range of corporate roles and iden-
workers within the same line of work. These people often tities and must be usable for both team working and
have specialised language needs, including a particular service interactions. Not surprisingly, demands on an
vocabulary. This type of working English is not, as it is employee’s competence in English are rising. Education
sometimes portrayed, a single, monolithic variety like a and training programmes are only just beginning to be
special dialect of English. Rather, such groups of workers tailored to employment trends.
form a community within which a variety of styles and
levels of formality, all distinctive of the occupation, are

Case Study 2 Singapore Straits Times
Australia is acquiring a great deal of English language English and because the Straits Times is a British
business from the growing economies of the Asia English newspaper we felt that the language, spelling
Pacific, particularly in the ‘knowledge-intensive and turns of phrase were not suitable for the Straits
industries’. The country has two immediate advantages; Times.
it is in an adjacent time-zone and has native-speaking
Our computers are linked to Singapore directly in
English workers. The Singapore Straits Times newspaper
real time, we do not do processing offline, our
has established a sub-editing office in Sydney,
computers are on an optical-fibre link to Singapore
connected to Singapore by a leased fibre-optic line.
for every second and all the stories we get up on
From the base in Australia, editors take stories filed by
the system come from Singapore. In other words,
journalists in Singapore for the next day’s paper, sub-
nothing is kept in Sydney. Our computers here are
edit them and prepare page layouts. Despite the
behaving like computers in Singapore. It is like the
physical distance, the sub-editors’ work is as closely
Sydney office is just another section, about 100
integrated as if they were at an office in Singapore.
metres away from the Singapore headquarters. It’s
Their work is online and every key stroke passes
like the guy next door – there is no differentiation to
through the fibre-optic link to Singapore. And when the
the computer.
bromide is printed, from which the printing plate is
made, it emerges from a machine in the Singapore There are advantages and disadvantages to the
office. time-zone difference. Working in Sydney we are
sometimes 2, sometimes 3 hours ahead of
Teng Guan Khoo, the chef de bureau in Sydney,
Singapore. That is a disadvantage if we were doing
explains the process and the rationale behind the move:
the late-night shift, which means we would have to
In late 1994 the Straits Times set up this sub-editing finish at 3.00 a.m. when it is only midnight in
office to provide subbing and layout services for the Singapore. But if we do the early feature pages, it is
Straits Times in Singapore. Now the work we do here is an advantage because it means that when we start
purely for the Singapore Straits Times and our journa- work at 10.00 a.m. it will be 7.00 a.m. in Singapore.
lists edit the stories and design the pages and output At that time the computers are very quiet, the
them in Singapore. response from the system is very fast and we do not
hold anybody up. So the main computer in
The Straits Times was on an expansion move and Singapore is being used very efficiently.
they needed to hire subs for the plant and they
The Straits Times has traditionally hired sub-editors
looked at India, Australia and maybe a bit of the
from Australia to supplement its staff in Singapore,
Philippines, but the company decided to come here,
because Singapore has a shortage of skilled labour
because the company felt that Australia provided
and Australia has a large pool of journalists who are
the people with the language skills and journalistic
native speakers of English. Journalism requires a
experience. India also provided those skills, but I
good command of English because subs have to
think the Indian infrastructure and technology wasn’t
check not only for grammar but also check for libel
that up to date – Australia’s telecommunications
and they are expected to write good headlines to
facilities were much better. In considering the
attract readers.
Philippines we realised that they spoke American


Education and training
English already shares the languages curriculum in Europe with French, foreign language in the world’s schools.
German and Spanish, alongside a variety of other languages from Russian to First there is growing competition from other langua-
ges outside Europe. The Hooke model forecasts, prima-
Urdu. Is the same true of schools worldwide? And what role will English play rily on economic grounds, that by 2010 the languages in
outside school? English-medium teaching is permitting rapid greatest demand by students will be: (1) English, (2)
internationalisation of higher education and adult training. Mandarin, (3) Spanish and (4) Indonesian. And, by
2050, Vietnam is projected to be the fourth largest Asian
economy – outstripping Japan – so it would not be
English in European schools surprising if Vietnamese also emerged as an important
English is currently the most widely studied foreign language for the region’s schools.
language in the European Union (EU): Figure 35 shows Second, the education system in any multilingual
proportions of school students studying English against country must cater for several languages used within that
other languages. It is a dominance unlikely to be challen- country. This may become a more sensitive factor as the
ged in the immediate future. The foreign language most movement towards universal ‘language rights’ – inclu-
taught at primary age is English and, as part of wider ding the right to a mother-tongue education – grows
reforms, teaching of a first foreign language is now around the world. Third, regionalisation may encourage
taking place earlier in a child’s education. In Spain and the use of a non-English lingua franca for trading purpo-
How will the world Italy, compulsory foreign-language teaching is being ses. Greater use of Spanish in South America, for
hierarchy of languages phased in for students aged 8, while Greece and France example, may affect the popularity of English in Brazil,
look in the 21st are experimentally phasing in such teaching at age 9 just as interest in learning English in Hong Kong has
century? (Dickson and Cumming, 1996). recently been affected by the perceived priority of
p. 59 As yet there are no clear rivals to English. The posi- Mandarin. And fourth, a new political spirit of
tion of French may seem secure, but over one-third of ‘neighbourliness’ may encourage the study of languages
pupils studying it as a foreign language are from English- from adjacent countries, rather than those from a diffe-
speaking countries, where only a minority will ever use it rent cultural and economic region.
as an international language. Figure 35 is based on data
from the early 1990s. Since then the national curricula Problems of teacher supply
in many EU countries have been restructured, resulting A key problem preventing the effective take-up of
in a rise in hours of modern-languages teaching and a English in the world’s schools is that of teacher supply. If
broader range of languages offered. The enlargement of a country like Thailand decides to introduce English
the EU itself, with association agreements with Poland, teaching at lower levels at primary age (as it has recently
the Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, Romania done) a massive teacher-training programme is required:
and Bulgaria, has benefited not only English but perhaps there are simply too few primary teachers available with
more particularly German, which is a popular second the necessary language skills and those that do exist are
foreign language in northern and eastern Europe. concentrated in urban areas. But even when teacher
education is effective, schools in developing economies
English in schools worldwide have difficulty in maintaining teaching staff. Teachers
WWW A recent study of foreign-language learning in 25 count- acquiring proficiency in English may gravitate to better-
ries (Dickson and Cumming, 1996) shows English to be paid jobs at secondary level. And secondary teachers
WORLD DATABASE OF DISTANCE
the most popular modern language studied worldwide. with good English proficiency may seek jobs in the
TAUGHT COURSES
In the Russian Federation for example, 60% of tertiary sector. Tertiary teachers, whose salaries lag
http://www-icdl.open.ac.uk/icdl/ secondary school students take English, 25% German behind their fellow graduates in private enterprise, will
ICDLdb.htm and 15% French. English may remain the primary tend to leave their public-sector employment. There is
choice, but there are four factors which might upset the thus a ‘churning’ effect which prevents the achievement
seemingly universal trend towards English as the first of adequate teaching of English at primary level.

Case Study 3 Internationalisation of education in Malaysia
Malaysia is traditionally thought of as a recipient of 2 In 1994, the Malaysian government established a
English language and educational services from Britain Bachelor of Business Management programme in
and other parts of the developed world. It sends many Uzbekistan. The Uzbek students, used to studying in
students abroad for study and Malaysian universities Uzbek or Russian, required an intensive business
have extensive ‘twinning’ agreements with universities English programme to help them follow lectures.
in North America, Britain and Australia which provide (Malaysian Digest, October 1996, p. 7)
accreditation for degree programmes taught on
3 In 1997 a new private university (Universiti
Malaysian campuses. Malaysia intends, however, to use
Telekom) accepted its first intake of 1000 students,
its recent expansion of English-medium education to
including students from South Africa, Malawi,
become a regional exporter of educational goods and
Guinea, Ghana, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and
services. Here are three examples.
Cambodia. Malaysia is encouraging the development
of such private universities, partly to ‘reduce the
1 An early learning kit, designed to help pre-school
expenditure incurred by Malaysians studying
children learn to read in English, has been so
overseas’, but also to help position Malaysia in the
successful that the Malaysian developers have
future as an international source, rather than a reci-
decided to export it to countries like Thailand,
pient, of high-level educational services. (New Straits
Taiwan, Hong Kong and Indonesia. (New Sunday
Times, 27 May 1997, p. 3)
Times, 30 March 1997, p. 41)


The growth of English-medium education has
permitted a rapid internationalisation of education
and allows developing countries to reposition
themselves as exporters of educational services.

English-medium higher education English (60.3%) Figure 35 Proportions of all
One of the most significant educational trends world- school students studying
wide is the teaching of a growing number of courses in modern languages in Europe
universities through the medium of English. The need to
teach some subjects in English, rather than the national
language, is well understood: in the sciences, for
example, up-to-date text books and research articles are
obtainable much more easily in one of the world langua-
ges and most readily of all in English. The move towards
English-medium higher education is having a number of Other (0.6%) French (30.4%)
long-term consequences. First, it accelerates and broa-
Spanish (3.5%)
dens the second-language use of English in both develo-
ped and developing countries, creating a constituency of German (5.2%)
college graduates, many of whom come to use English
more extensively for social communication amongst
themselves and some of whom raise their own children and developing world, alongside the expansion of both
speaking English as a first language. English-medium the private tertiary sector and the entrepreneurial activi-
higher education is thus one of the drivers of language ties of public-sector institutions.
shift, from L2 to L1 English-speaking status (p. 10). These developments will allow a much greater
Second, English-medium education alters the pattern of proportion of students to be educated within their home
social privilege (p. 38) which may trigger wide-ranging countries. Furthermore, some ‘developing’ countries
social change. Third, the growth of English-medium (such as Malaysia) which have expanded their provision
education has permitted a rapid internationalisation of for English-medium higher education (Case Study 3) will
education and allows developing countries to reposition emerge as competitors to developed countries for inter-
themselves as exporters of educational services (Case national students.
Study 3).
An electronic education?
The rise of the adult learner The Hooke model forecasts a rapid rise in off-campus
In the 21st century the service sector of all economies is training in the coming decades by distance education
expected to grow rapidly. Demand is likely to grow in and the growth of English-medium education in many
the tertiary sector and particularly in adult education, parts of the world – effectively opening these markets to
where the English language skills formerly taught to distance providers in native-speaking countries.
university students may no longer be sufficient to meet However, it is likely to be the smaller educational enter-
the needs of new enterprises: widespread reform of prises which benefit most. It is surprisingly difficult to
university curricula in English language can be expected provide for large numbers of students entirely electroni-
in many countries. The ‘non-formal’ sector and busines- cally and without local support. The ‘mega-universities’
ses requiring in-service retraining are already proving to such as the British Open University are more likely to
be a major growth area. McRae (1997) suggests this may proceed through joint ventures with local institutions
be an transitional phenomenon: ‘while the key to the than to attempt large-scale, long-distance programmes.
very long-term future may lie in the nursery schools, the Some of this training may also be conducted through
key to the next decade lies in patching gaps in people’s the ‘virtual universities’ which are now emerging, brin-
education and “retrofitting” us with new skills’. But the ging together universities and corporate clients and ensu-
shift of emphasis from low-skill employment to ring that training is available to employees in the
knowledge-intensive industries means that educated workplace. There is widespread expectation that forms
labour will be in greater demand everywhere, yet the of distance education exploiting new technology will play
required knowledge and skills will need regular upda- an important role in workforce retraining and reskilling
ting, creating a more flexible labour force seeking frequ- programmes in the next few decades. Some industry
ent retraining. analysts have tried to put figures to the trend:

The complexification of higher education Analysts expect that within three years, some 15 per cent of
corporate education and training worldwide will be conduc-
Gus Hooke has argued that when any developing econ-
ted remotely via the more cost- and time-effective use of the
omy achieves a per capita income of about $3000, the
Internet, intranet and other technologies. (Kline, 1997)
demand for higher education outstrips the capacity of
the country to supply. One result is expected to be a Such forms of training will allow institutions in
continuing stream of students from developing countries Europe, the US and Australia to offer training provision
to those in the first world. The Hooke model forecasts to the desktops of executives in other parts of the world,
that the international demand for specialist courses of without the associated costs of travel and subsistence or
English as a second language (ESL) will multiply sixfold loss of productive time. There are, however, several
by 2025 and that most of this will be satisfied by UK, US factors which may make this route unattractive to trai-
and Australian providers. Since much of the demand nees: the issue of inequality of access (p. 38), which for
will come from Asia, Australian providers are expected many countries means technology will be available only
to benefit more than the US and UK. to workforces of larger transnational companies; the fact
However, the higher-education market will become that overseas travel is often regarded as an incentive to
increasingly complex, with growth in arrangements for accept training; and finally, the lack of a part-time trai-
credit transfer, accreditation, hybrid courses (such as ning culture in many countries, where working practices
‘engineering through English’) and new forms of joint- are built around the expectation that staff will study full-
venture enterprise between institutions in the developed time for an agreed period.


The global media
Not so long ago, the media industry was bound by the territorial limits of the As more international channels become available on Indian
television screens, foreign and Indian broadcasters have
nation state. Today, the media is an international industry, competing to begun to target specific audiences. Star TV, the Hong
reach audiences with disposable incomes in every world region. Is English Kong-based satellite network which kicked off the Indian
required to reach these massive global audiences? cable revolution in 1991, was the first to realise that Indians
do not like watching serials in Mandarin, and that the
Chinese reacted equally negatively to South Indian
Malayalam songs. ... Foreign broadcasters targeting India’s
The global presence potential viewership of 500m-plus have realised that there
Until the 1990s, the BBC World Service was one of the is no such thing as a pan-Asian market. (Financial Times, 17
60 few broadcasting institutions with worldwide reach. Its November 1995)
sia
SA

coverage today spans Europe, the Americas, Asia and As the market developed and new channel capacity
the Pacific, Africa, the former USSR and South-west became available, Star TV has promoted local langua-
Asia. In 1996 to 1997 its weekly audience was 143 ges. It has struggled with local regulations to offer
million listeners with the majority in Asia (Figure 36), a Cantonese programming for music, sports and news,
40 presence supported by BBC English, offering teaching while plans exist to develop its Hindi/Indian program-
programmes and materials to many local broadcasters. ming. The company now aims to introduce a new Hindi
The BBC World Service share is, however, a small serial at ‘prime-time’ evening viewing to follow Hindi
part of a massive industry: many national media conglo- news (India Today, 30 November 1996, pp. 96–9).
pe

merations, including British television interests, are now CNN International is also moving into languages
ro

ic

20
cif

active on a global scale. It is a business that has been other than English as it launches a 24-hour Spanish
Eu

Pa

transformed in recent years by the merging of large news service for Latin America alongside plans for a
ia
As

media groups, one of the most notable being News Hindi service (Financial Times, 9 December 1996, p. 19).
Corp, whose media ownership has included Twentieth Similarly, CBS is to develop a Portuguese language news
0 Century Fox, Fox TV network, and two satellite systems, service in Brazil (Independent on Sunday, 2 March 1997, p.
BSkyB and Star TV. US companies, with large domestic 2). Perhaps the most remarkable story in this connection
ia

s

As R/
ica
As

SS

markets which have allowed the amassing of vast is that of MTV – often regarded as the vehicle for
ia
er
W

SWr U
Am

programme libraries, have been particularly prominent. submerging the world’s teenagers with US English music
a/

e
rm
ric

In 1994, for example, just under a quarter of Disney’s culture (Case Study 4).
Fo
Af

$10.1 revenue billions came from outside the US. 1996 The word ‘localisation’ is on the lips of nearly every
returns should reach 30%. By 2006, it aims for 50% of marketing manager in global corporations and the drive
revenue to be made overseas (Guardian, 30 November towards greater diversity in provision comes from the
Figure 36 BBC World Service 1996, p. 2). Recently the company merged with Capital need to increase market penetration. It is well known
coverage in 1996–7 Cities/ABC whose interests include 80% of the cable that advertising, for example, needs to adapt to local
(millions of listeners) channel ESPN. Such global expansion has caused many culture, language and social values. But the means of
people to fear the Disnification of world cultures. achieving localisation has come from technology: digital
systems have expanded transmission capacity so greatly
Localising the global that now multiple streams can be carried at high speed
Fears that satellite TV will help bring about a globally and at low cost. Compression technology allows 10 satel-
uniform audio-visual culture based on US English may lite channels to be carried in place of one analogue chan-
prove unfounded. Satellite television, a technology which nel. With such enormous capacity, most world regions
has the capacity to envelop the world audience with a will be provided with 500 channels or more. For the
homogeneous product, will create greater linguistic and viewer watching their digital TV system, that will mean
cultural diversity and be more supportive of local a greater choice of programming (though not necessarily
languages than previously supposed. When global satel- higher quality), much of it tailored to niche audiences.
lite TV channels were first established, it was necessary
for them to reach an audience spread over a large terri- Linguistic diasporas
tory: economic logic required the use of ‘big’ languages. Europe may be different from other world regions in the
Arte 27.1 And, although the audience would speak many langua- way that satellite TV is encouraging the use of English.
BBC Prime 2.8 ges, it was the middle class with enough disposable While it is virtually impossible to know how many homes
BBC World 3.4 income to make associated advertising ventures worthw- worldwide are watching what programmes in what
CNN Int. 28.1 hile whom the satellite operators targeted – an audience languages, the first market-research data is filtering into
Deutsche Welle 3.4 who could be reached through English. the public domain. Table 14 charts European viewing of
Discovery 10.0 Star TV, based in Hong Kong and owned by News international channels in a 30 day period in 1995. From
Euronews 21.3 Corp, was one of the first of the global operators. a sample of viewers, it emerged that throughout Europe,
EBN 2.8 Launched in 1991 it used a satellite that covered 38 70.2% felt able to understand English well enough to
Eurosport 43.9
nations and capturing a potential audience of 2.7 billion follow TV news or read a newspaper in the language,
MTV Europe 23.5
NBC Super Ch. 11.6 in a wide range of countries including China, Japan, followed by 43.8% in French and 40.2% in German
Travel Channel 4.1 India, Malaysia and Israel. Initially it was aimed at the (EMS Survey, Cable and Satellite Europe, January 1997).
TNT 9.7 top 5% of the audience – well educated, wealthy, profes- Such widespread take-up of English has given rise to an
TV5 10.8 sional, and often English speaking (Frendenburg, 1991, anxiety about the impact on other, smaller languages.
cited in Chan, 1994). One researcher investigating the extent to which
Table 14 Percentage of When Star TV first launched, the majority of its Swedish children watched and understood English-
European viewers programming was in either English or Mandarin – in language satellite programming speculated:
watching satellite TV order to reach the elite audiences from eastern Asia to
channels (30 day period) In one hundred years’ time, will we still speak Swedish? ...
India. But more recently, local programming has been
Or will we, few as we are, have become engulfed by the
introduced:


When there are 500 channels to choose from
... showing the same film but in different languages
– national viewers will no longer have a shared
experience.

‘English empire’ and keep Swedish in the family chest, a consumer of dubbed films for in-flight movies. And Euronews
quaint relic to be dusted off, polished up and displayed on English is emerging as a ‘relay’ language for the marke- English, French, German,
festive occasions. (Findahl, 1989) ting of films: a Hong Kong action movie, for example, Italian, Spanish
may be dubbed into English to show at an international
CNN International
Yet the growth in satellite TV channels also permits festival. It will then be bought and translated into a third
English
diasporic linguistic groups to receive programming in language.
their first languages. Table 15 shows a range of the CNBC
languages available on satellite channels in Britain in Fragmentation of culture English
1996. Furthermore, it is not only English language provi- The global media industry thus has complex effects on AsiaNet
ders who can play the global-alliance game. The Arabic languages and cultural identities with its competing English, Hindi, Gujarati,
language station MBC based in London has agreed to trends towards cultural convergence and diversification. Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu
cooperate with Arab Network of the US in joint produc- Whereas national broadcasting services have played an Worldnet
tions. TV Asia shows Indian and Pakistani films with important role in the creation of a national cultural iden- English
daily news in 5 Asian languages on British satellite chan- tity – through the provision of a shared experience of
nels. And ‘Bollywood’, India’s home film industry, is a representations of the world and significant cultural and NBC Super Channel
ready and successful supplier, turning out 300 Hindi political events – satellite TV may be encouraging a English, Dutch, German
language films a year and exporting many videos and cultural fragmentation. The programming schedules of MTV
films to expatriates in West Asia and Africa. satellite TV are quite unlike those of terrestrial broadcas- English
ting: instead of a mixed output held together by conti-
Dubbing nuity announcements, satellite channels offer Table 15 Languages
One of the oldest forms of media localisation is the mono-thematic, repetitive schedules which encourage available on British satellite
dubbing and sub-titling of films. In Britain, where the channel hopping by the viewer. Programming thus now channels 1996
audio-visual culture and production values require ‘lip results from decisions by the viewer, not the broadcaster.
synch’, sub-titling is preferred to dubbing. But in many When there are 500 channels to choose from – some
countries (notably India) it is normal for locally produced showing the same film but at different starting times,
films to add studio-recorded sound tracks after shooting; others showing the same film but in different languages –
audiences have become used to the lack of lip synchroni- national viewers will no longer have a shared experience.
sation that this produces and are more accepting of films One source of uncertainty about the effects of satel-
dubbed from other languages. Dubbing, apart from allo- lite TV and cultural identity lie in the extent of cable
wing the import of (primarily American) visual and TV. In some countries, cable is the most popular way of
thematic materials, has a linguistic effect. Dubbing of receiving satellite transmissions. For example, cable TV
American TV programmes, for example, is affecting the reached a penetration of 88.6% in Belgium by the early
pragmatics of other languages. Ross (1995) has docu- 1990s (Paliwoda, 1993). It is not a technology limited to
mented the way expressions like ‘hello’ are dubbed into fully developed regions: in India, there are now over 16
Italian. The Italian equivalents, ‘bon giorno’ or ‘ciao’ do million homes with cable and an estimated 40 million Will satellite TV bring
not easily match lip movements or length of the English households to be equipped by 2000. Cable also provides English into every
expression. Hence ‘Salve’ has become popular and a solution to a political as well as a technical problem. home?
Italians have begun to use the expression spontaneously. The transferring of satellite programming to terrestrial p. 60
There have been many such subtle effects on other cable systems brings broadcasts under the regulatory
languages which arise from the dubbing of English control of the state. And cable can offer local services,
language films and television programmes. such as advertisements for local shops or announcements
Dubbing also allows the English language media of local events, blended into a global programming. This
industry to maximise profits by selling to new audiences. mix of the global and local will provide a somewhat
Jurassic Park dubbed into Hindi ran for 25 weeks in unpredictable context in which English language
India, grossing $6 million in 1994 (Financial Times, 11 programming will operate in the 21st century.
July 1996, p. 6). The airline industry too is a major

Case Study 4 MTV
MTV, the music channel which has done more than any other station Taiwan and Singapore is guided by a policy of localisation, as David
to help create a global youth music culture, has in the past few years Flack, Senior Creative Director of MTV Asia, explains:
adopted a policy of localisation – a move which is significant because
Localisation is actually helping build national identity. I’ve made it a
music is widely regarded as being one of three content areas, alongside
personal rule not to commission anything outside of a country for
sports and international news, which can operate globally in English.
that country. If we’re doing a show for Indonesia the title sequence
Music programming does ‘not require advanced linguistic skills on the
and all the rest has to be generated by people from that country
part of the audience’ (Chan, 1994, p. 120).
otherwise it’s not going to be relevant to them. For youth program-
MTV currently has 3 world divisions: in Asia, Europe and the Americas ming we have to mean something to the kids we’re broadcasting to.
reaching 268 million households worldwide (Financial Times Weekend, If we don’t they simply won’t watch us.
16–17 November 1996). The company began localising by establishing
production centres in different world regions to draw on local talents We’re not just a music video channel – we’re a place to go to and
and aim at local audiences: MTV Europe is based in London, MTV Asia we need to keep researching what our audience wants.
in Singapore. Both are now localising production further. The former Broadcasting Mandarin to the Philippines isn’t going to be success-
uses centres in Italy, Germany and London, aiming to provide 59% ful, just as broadcasting an international youth programme to
locally produced programming on 3 separate regional satellite ‘beams’. Indonesia isn’t going to be successful. English is a kind of hip factor
MTV Asia, using regional production centres established in India, but it’s good to be talking in a local language.


Youth culture
The ‘baby boom’ in the west gave rise to a demographic hump which had regions, where, since World War II, English has been
profound consequences in public policy, the economy and culture. Now the the dominant language of youth style.
It is well documented that the teenage years are
baby boomers of the west are replaced by those in the non-western world sensitive ones for adult identity development and are an
who may have different cultural orientations and aspirations. age where language shift occurs, establishing patterns of
use for later years. The future of English as a global
language therefore may depend, in large measure, on
how the language is taken up and used by young adults
The global teenager in Asian countries. The numerical size of the group
Peter Schwartz, in his classic account of scenario build- apart, there is a significant difference in the new generat-
ing, describes the emergence of the ‘global teenager’ as a ions of baby boomers from those that have gone before;
‘new driving force’. As the west’s previous baby boomers identity in the future will be acquired and negotiated in a
have passed through the generations they have required cultural context which has global dimensions.
continual adjustment of public policies and resources Young people with sufficient income are today beco-
relating to education, housing and health policies. In ming the target of a globalised industry in media, consu-
economic terms, they have influenced manufacturing of mer products and fashion: they belong to what might be
clothing, motor vehicles, leisure and employment. And, called the ‘Sony-Benetton’ culture. Young people in
Can anything be done to culturally, they have brought new waves of music, world India, in work rather than school, with income but no
influence the future of outlooks, affiliation networks and political attitudes. family responsibilities, may see themselves as having
English? Clearly, surges in the youth population must figure in more in common with young people in Brazil than with
p. 62 any strategic thinking about public services, higher cultures in their home country. In this way, the sense of
education or provision for foreign-language studies. belonging to a sub-cultural group may not change, but
Today we face a ‘baby boom’ of global proportions with the sense of where the group ‘is’ may undergo a
children who will become tomorrow’s teenage force: profound change. And, of course, the linking of disper-
sed sub-cultures can be quickly achieved. Will ‘hanging
As the baby boom appeared (or should have appeared) as a
out’ on the Internet become as formative as hanging out
factor in every scenario of U.S. behavior in the 1950s,
on the street? ‘Electronic media will become not just a
1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, so the wave of global teenagers
means of communication, but a generator of global style’
will be a factor dwarfing other demographic factors in
(Schwartz, 1996, p. 125).
scenarios starting from 1990, through the next fifty years or
Tim Berners-Lee, the British inventor of the World
so. (Schwartz, 1996, pp. 120–1)
Wide Web, recently imagined the future effect of the
In the non-western world – particularly India, China Internet on a teenage son:
and Brazil – there is an influential generation emerging
The search engine has shown him a random selection of the
equivalent to those that have passed in the west; a boom
643,768 people around the world whose personal reading
that represents a major demographic shift in global
profile is identical to his own. ... For your son, the Web is
W WW youth. The populations of the ‘Big Three’ regions have
the gateway not to diversity but to conformity. To be on the
aged, but those in developing countries are becoming
BENETTON WEB MAGAZINE top of the normal curve, a kid his age has to surf the Web
http://www.benetton.com/ younger.
carefully, always sticking to the popular output of the big
benetton-web/colors.html Tables 16 and 17 show the expected shift between
media companies. It takes a certain sensibility – a cyber-
1995 and 2025 in numbers of teenagers and young
sense of hipness – to select only those places that he can
adults speaking major world languages. These projec-
MTV ONLINE guess the majority of his teen group will be choosing at the
tions, calculated by the engco model, must call into
http://www.mtv.com/ same time. He knows that though he may live in a small
question the extent to which global youth culture will be
town in the Netherlands, he is right in the centre of the
focused on the style and cultural trends of the Big Three
SONY main trend; he feels the strength of being exactly in tune
http://www.sony.com/

Case Study 5 Sign of the times
also promotes Jacky Cheung, Faye Wong, Samuel Tai
In the 1960s Britain became associated with a strong
and Mavis Fan in Asia.
and vibrant youth culture, revisited in the 1970s with
the punk revolution. Now, perhaps once again, there is There is emerging an extraordinary vitality in this hybri-
a new 90s wave of artistic creativity across a range of dity. The music world is now full of ‘cross-over’ genres.
cultural contexts: art, music, fashion and design. Several groups have been influenced by Hindi and
‘Britpop’ is one expression of an expanding and Krishna music and have created new sounds and follo-
influential teenage population and both its stars and wings. There is also a developing knowledge of music
followers are able to enjoy a new global culture; one in diversity in the global music industry: MTV channels (p.
which the semiotics of music and clothing style are 47) have a policy of promoting regional bands that are
crossing national and language boundaries more easily not American or English. In the teenager’s future world,
than ever before. an appreciation of Britpop or American heavy metal
may sit easily alongside other tastes: ‘To be truly hip in
While British lyrics and British bands are highly success-
the world of the global teenager could mean knowing
ful overseas, so too are international stars from the US,
how to recognise indigenous music from Senegal, New
Europe and Asia. In 1995, Polygram, the world’s largest
Zealand, Uruguay and the Yukon’ (Schwartz, p. 132).
music company, reported top selling international acts
of British and American stars in Japan: Bon Jovi, Def
Leppard and Janet Jackson amongst them. Polygram


Young people in India, with income but no family
responsibilities, may see themselves as having more
in common with young people in Brazil than with
cultures in their home country.

with all his seen and unseen colleagues. And he knows he … Have youths been absorbed into a generalized consumer
wears the same sort of clothes and eats exactly what they do. culture? Does the ubiquitous presence of plastic chairs, fuck 1995
(Berners-Lee, 1996, p. 141) off graffiti, and MTV indicate the general homogenization 1 Chinese 201.6
2 Hindi/Urdu 59.8
of culture? The answer is no. Although youths across Europe
A branded consumer may share similar cultural symbols and styles, the
3
4
Spanish
English
58.0
51.7
Just as terrestrial television once provided shared cultural significance of these things is very different in different 5 Arabic 39.5
experiences and helped to construct a sense of national places. (Wallace and Kovocheva, 1996, pp. 190, 211) 6 Portuguese 32.2
identity for many countries, including Britain, now 7 Bengali 25.2
global marketing is helping to establish a recognisable Wallace argues the cultural theorists’ point that even 8 Russian 22.5
youth culture worldwide. It is a culture based around a homogeneous product would give rise to different 9 Japanese 18.2
ownership and use of consumer durables, clothing and effects in different cultures: the uniformity of a cultural 10 German 12.2
11 French 9.7
cultural products. Such marketing provides both the text does not guarantee a uniform reading. This to some 12 Malay 9.5
comfort of a shared experience and, to some extent, a extent explains why youth styles are notoriously difficult
shared meaning to the products with the implied oppor- to predict. Youth culture can be seen as an accommoda-
tunity for building lifestyles and identities around them. tion to the contradictions of the lifestyles and values of Table 16 Estimated millions
English plays a complex function in this global the older generation rather than a simple adoption or of speakers aged 15–24
culture. Historically, English has played a key role in the rejection of them. (engco model)
branding of products. But branding is now commonly Nevertheless, companies like Benetton are trying to
used to communicate not a single product but a set of mobilise a youth ‘agenda’ intended to unite young
values and attitudes. Those values and attitudes, engine- people across the world. This agenda includes an aware-
ered to have a global appeal, may transcend cultural, ness of the global environment, appreciation of diversity The engco model predicts a
religious or linguistic divides. Virgin is one example of and human rights. ‘If the Earth has become a Global shift in the languages spoken
new-style branding; from record sales to air transport, Village, then Benetton is the Village clothing store. And by the world’s young people
cola sales to financial services, the brand identity acts as like every good leading citizen, it feels an obligation to between 1995 (above) and
an umbrella for a lifestyle and set of corporate values. not only succeed in business, but also to improve the 2050 (below)
Benetton is typical of the transnational companies neighbourhood’. Environmental and social issues may
now targeting youth with clothing and related consumer provide a better focus for global youth identity than 2050
products: the company has expanded its global reach to language. The wearers of the ‘united colours of 1 Chinese 166.0
over 7,000 retail outlets in 120 countries – with 50 new Benetton’ may be encouraged to unite in a celebration of 2 Hindi/Urdu 73.7
stores in China. Like other companies selling ‘style’ cultural and biological diversity. 3 Arabic 72.2
products, the World Wide Web and related magazine There is, therefore, alongside the trend towards 4 English 65.0
publishing form an important part of the company’s global homogeneity, a trend towards diversity. It may be 5 Spanish 62.8
strategy in reaching young adults around the world. that the ability to speak languages, even partly, becomes 6 Portuguese 32.5
7 Bengali 31.6
Respondents to a questionnaire published on Benetton’s a distinct style advantage. There may be a greater readi- 8 Russian 14.8
Web pages suggest nearly 80% of their audience are in ness to learn new languages in the streets of cyberspace 9 Japanese 11.3
the 11–30 age group. Their magazine, Colors, runs alre- than in the classroom: Schwartz predicts, ‘In the twelve 10 Malay 10.5
ady to 400,000 copies worldwide, but their communicat- to twenty-two age group worldwide, knowing several 11 German 9.1
ions policy is a multilingual one. The magazines are languages would be commonplace, and world travel 12 French 8.9
bilingual in English and another language: French, would be a constant temptation’ (1996, p. 123).
Italian, Spanish, German or Japanese. Future editions of Table 17 Estimated millions
the magazine will appear in Portuguese, Hindi, Korean Style and varieties of English of speakers aged 15–24
and Mandarin. But significantly, Benetton’s global English, of course, is not a single, unitary language and it (engco model)
advertising campaigns focus on visual images without is unlikely that young people accept or reject English on
text. Colors ‘is a visual magazine’. the basis of its standard form. Young people within
Transnational companies selling style have no parti- native-speaking English countries experiment with parti-
cular loyalty to the English language: they will follow the cular varieties of English in order to present or experi-
market. The logic of globalisation is to sell more widely ence particular social identities: in schools in both
by localising products. New technology allows localisat- England and Australia, for example, children may adopt
ion to be accomplished more rapidly and more cheaply words and characteristics from black American speech.
than ever before. With franchise agreements, licences Black English for many children is associated with
and the general extension of large companies into niche American culture but, perhaps more saliently, with
markets, it may be quite possible that the currency of music and sports cultures which form part of a globalised
English is eroded. speech fashion which extends beyond native speakers.
Or, as the Australian cultural theorist, John Hartley, has
Diversity and fragmentation astutely observed, such usages may appear in advertising
Wallace and Kovocheva (1996) in a study of youth cultu- aimed at youth markets with greater frequency than
res in western and eastern Europe, before and after the their actual use among the young.
fall of communism, argue: Non-native forms of English also may acquire iden-
tity functions for young people. In Europe, for example,
Youth cultures and consumption have been at the forefront
MTV has promoted the use of foreign-language varieties
of spreading new styles across geographical and linguistic
of English as identity markers – a behaviour more
frontiers because they do not rely to any great extent on
usually associated with second-language usage – by
language: music and sub-cultural styles are transnational
employing young presenters with distinctive French,
and travel easily across frontiers. Evidence of this can be
German and Italian English accents, alongside British
drawn from the ubiquity of MTV, a satellite TV channel
presenters with regional accents. Such cultural exploita-
that broadcasts nonstop pop videos and to which television
tion may indicate that standard, native varieties will be
sets are tuned from Stockholm to Sofia, from Lisbon to Lviv.
the least influential for the global teenage culture.


Internet communication
Computer technology has transformed the way people interact both locally But is it true that the Internet will remain a major
and globally. Now we are at the edge of a new era of personal and group driver of English? At present, the language most widely
used is English, but this reflects the fact that 90% of the
communications. Will the Internet remain the flagship of global English? And world’s computers connected to the Internet are based in
if so, will it be English as we know it today? English-speaking countries, as are the computers that
host the publicly accessible World Wide Web sites. In
this light, it is perhaps not surprising that the majority of
both traffic and Web sites are rooted in English: at
The Internet present, users in other countries, working in other
The Internet is regarded by many as the flagship of languages, find that if they are to communicate through
global English. A frequently quoted statistic is that cyberspace, they must do so in English.
English is the medium for 80% of the information stored
in the world’s computers, a figure quoted in McCrum et Internet growth
al. (1986). It is certainly true that growth of computer The overall shift in predicted Internet use is similar to
use – and of the Internet in particular – has been specta- that outlined for the economy: the number of computer
cular in the last few years. Computers have become hosts in Asia eventually will outstrip those in the Big
WWW extensively networked and the networks themselves Three countries. Furthermore, the Internet, from its
NUA INTERNET SURVEYS
linked into the global structure of the Internet. With live origins as a tool for international communication
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi
interaction taking place between users and the store- between a global academic elite, will increasingly serve
and-forward messaging systems of the Internet blurring local, cultural and commercial purposes. And as the
ENGCO WEB MONITOR
distinctions between archived and ephemeral copies of Internet becomes more widely used, it is natural to
texts, the whole notion of ‘storage’ has been given an expect a wider range of languages will be employed.
http://www.english.co.uk/
anachronistic air. Indeed, a major reconsideration of One issue in monitoring Internet growth is knowing
future/web.html
intellectual property rights in connection with electronic what a ‘user’ is. There are many who have access to the
texts has been provoked in part as a result of the way Internet for whom it forms only an infrequent or casual
INTERNET SOCIETY WEB
LANGUAGE SURVEY
information and ideas now circle the world. means of communication. For numbers of those who use
Using the same infrastructure as the telephone, the the system, we might find a guide in the plethora of
http://www.isoc.org:8080/
Internet carries English language services into nearly market surveys – a result of growing commercial exploi-
palmares.html
every country and, with growing private subscriptions, tation of the Internet – which seem to suggest, overall,
into people’s homes. Data traffic, it is claimed, has now that around 50 million people used the Internet at the
overtaken voice traffic in the developed world beginning of 1997, of whom around 20% are in Europe.
(Independent on Sunday, 17 November 1996, p. 3). The Here, the largest Internet community is expected to be
system has its origins in the academic and, in particular, based in Germany, followed by the UK, the Netherlands
scientific community, which is the longest connected and Sweden. Elsewhere, connections to the Internet are
community of all. English is deeply established among rising rapidly: there were an estimated 100,000 users in
scientists as the international lingua franca and, from this China in 1996, a figure that may have already increased
beginning, English appears to have extended its domain markedly due to a growth in private subscriptions.
of use to become the preferred lingua franca for the As access to the Internet expands in any country, so
many new kinds of user who have come online in the the profile of its users changes, as do the functions it
1990s: serves and the range of languages conveyed across it.
Typically, usage focuses initially around the workplace,
The electronic media that bind the world together are
with the academic community often the first wired, but
essentially carriers of language. To work efficiently, they
eventually accounting for a small proportion of users.
need a common standard. ... The English language is now
Surveys tend to suggest most users at present are male,
the operating standard for global communication.’
young and middle class. Hence, in many parts of the
(Geoffrey Nunberg of Stanford University, cited in The
world, the demography of the average Internet user
Economist, 21 December 1996, p. 37)

Case Study 6 Automatic translation
Automatic translation of texts was once a far-fetched Hi. First of all, I apologize for my (bad) English: I am Italian and,
dream but has become a practical reality remarkably as it’s known, nobody is perfect. ... (I’m writing this message
quickly. New software is becoming available for the with the help of a software of automatic translation and there-
major languages which operates on desktop PCs and fore not all the demerits are due to my person. ...)
My name is — . I’m a new affiliate to the list and I absolve the
which can be embedded in email and computer confe- invitation gladly to send a short professional profile.
rencing applications. Thus it may not be necessary for I am concerned with Education & Training from more than 10
an Internet user to be able to write in English in order years. During these years I have taught in classroom, I have
to exchange messages with the English-speaking developed and projected tens of self-trained courses on
community. One such message (right) was submitted to various topics.
a US-based discussion list concerned with adult educat- Currently I conduct plans of formation for firms of big dimensi-
ion by an Italian correspondent. It shows the possibili- ons and I’m particularly taken an interest in the problematic
ties (and linguistic hazards) of routine machine tied up to the Education through the net.
translation. But what would this mean for the popula- You will have a particularly attentive reader in me (I don’t know
if it is a promise or a threat. ...).
rity of English? And what kinds of discourse community Kindly, could anybody give me a judgment on the quality of the
might emerge around such machine-mediated English? software of translation done? (in other terms, is it comprehen-
sible what do I have written?). Thanks in advance.


Browser software will transmit ‘language preference’
information when contacting a remote site. If a page
is available in that language it will be automatically
retrieved in preference to one in English.

differs from the population at large: only 25–30% are This ambiguity and fluidity about the status of
women (12% in Japan) and most users have access to the Internet communication is reflected in ongoing tension
Internet through their work. It may be that as access as to whether it is conceived of as a form of ‘publishing’
becomes easier, the demography of the Internet will look or a ‘conversation’. A consensus is needed, not least for
more like that of the national population, with least legal purposes. As court cases in different parts of the
access by the rural, poor and unemployed. world have shown, the Internet has thrown up proble-
matic issues regarding intellectual property rights and
The growth of local communities libel. But it is clear from research by linguists that new
The growth of the Internet has not followed the geog- genres and forms of English are arising on the Internet.
raphical pattern of spread to which the world has been The system is not simply encouraging the use of English,
accustomed for centuries. It is moving from a widely but transforming it.
dispersed, global network towards one with denser local
‘hubs’, rather than starting from a central point and Languages on the Web
becoming more dispersed. Hence, although the Internet As computer usage spreads, it is predicted that English
is usually thought of primarily as a global communicat- content on the Internet may fall to 40% of the total
ions network, the action on it is likely to be increasingly material. The English Company (UK) Ltd has devised a
local: ‘intranets’ (Internet-like networks within organisat- corpus linguistic method for estimating the proportion of
ions, often ‘fire walled’ against the outside world) are languages on the World Wide Web which suggests the
expected to grow more rapidly over the next few years English language content is now around 8 billion words.
than the Internet itself. These intranets will create The technique will be refined and used to monitor the
employment-based communities which, in the case of Web’s changing linguistic composition. Meanwhile, the
transnational corporations, may extend over national Internet Society has reported preliminary findings
boundaries. This may encourage English, but it may also (Table 18) in a survey of the language of ‘home pages’ What impact will the
permit, say, a Swiss-based company to maintain a using a different methodology. The main conclusion is Internet have on the
German-speaking culture amongst its employees. Action that languages other than English are now being used on global use of English?
will be local also in the sense that most communications the Internet and this trend is likely to be of growing p. 61
and access will become local in nature. Electronic mail importance. In 1996 the Internet Society published new
will be used to contact someone on the other side of protocols for Web browsers which will facilitate the use
town rather than the other side of the world. Databases of Web pages in different languages. In future, browser
and Web sites are also rapidly emerging which serve the software will transmit ‘language preference’ information
local rather than the global community. And as the when contacting a remote site. If a page is available in
number and density of locally based communication that language it will be automatically retrieved in prefe-
groups rises, so will the use of local languages. Yet on the rence to one in English. This means, for example, that
Internet, ‘locality’ will be always a virtual one, allowing the Web will appear to be in Spanish to a Spanish spea-
members of the community, temporarily or permanently ker and in French to a French speaker, provided the Language Estimated %
distanced, to maintain close links. hosts contacted maintain pages in these languages. servers
One of the dislocating features of the Internet is the Software support for automatic language translation 1 English 332,778 84.3
way it provides access to the ‘local’ by people who are is also improving. There is a widespread expectation that 2 German 17,971 4.5
physically remote. Connecting to a local FM RealAudio such aids will become common, according to a recent 3 Japanese 12,348 3.1
radio site in Texas and hearing news of downtown traffic Delphi study of the social impact of technology. 4 French 7,213 1.8
jams, reading the Shetland Times on a Web site and 5 Spanish 4,646 1.2
The Delphi form ... asked about machines for the translat-
discovering the outcome of a neighbourhood dispute, 6 Swedish 4,279 1.1
ion of texts into different languages, voice recognition tech- 7 Italian 3,790 1.0
viewing a street scene through a security camera placed
nology for translation of speech into different languages, 8 Portuguese 2,567 0.7
on the other side of the world – these provide a means of
and interactive software for English as a foreign language 9 Dutch 2,445 0.6
temporarily viewing and listening to the world from a
controlled by the learner. Between 50% and 60% of respon- 10 Norwegian 2,323 0.6
local perspective, as if joining another community. This
dents believe that these will be practicable by 2004.
capability may encourage informal language learning in Table 18 Languages of home
(Technology Foresight, para 4.21)
future amongst young ‘surfers’ by providing access to a pages on the Web
‘live’ local community using the target language. Some of these technologies are, in fact, already avai-
lable. In future, it may not be necessary for providers to
Internet communication create pages in different languages. The Internet, or the
A great deal of communication on the net is not in the user’s own computer, may provide an ‘invisible’ translat-
public domain and therefore difficult to monitor. ion service. Operated by the Internet, this would work
Electronic mail, for example, is expected to be a domi- when a page is retrieved by a user’s computer, automati-
nant activity, even when the Web has matured, for it cally submitted to another Internet site (possibly in a
supports communities much in the way that newsgroups different part of the world) and then translated by a
do. List servers, sending messages out automatically, also powerful mainframe computer, before being passed in
create considerable traffic between members of self- the required language to the user who requested the
selected groups. The software needed to manage and page. Translation software for major languages is already
distribute such messages once required an institution available on PCs and is now used in ordinary communi-
with a large machine permanently attached to the cation on the Internet, as the case study (left) shows. Such
Internet. Now it is possible for an international mailing language technologies, widely available, may
list to be managed via a home computer. This is one of significantly reduce the need for learning English for the
the ‘democratising’ trends on the Internet: the break- casual Internet user, although many linguists remain
down of gatekeeping and the shift of control to ordinary sceptical whether they provide a reliable means of
users, in turn leading to informal, vernacular or in-group communication between speakers of different languages.
language in public places.


Time and place
Discussions of globalisation emphasise the ‘annihilation of time and space’ these situations, but there is a growing perception that
knowledge of these neighbours may be critical in enhancing
brought about by new communications technology, but there are some better cross-cultural understanding, a perception that may
respects in which both will continue to be significant factors shaping have a future effect on policies for language education in
economic, political and cultural formations in the 21st century. Thailand. (Wongsothorn, 1996, pp. 122–3)

This suggests that economic modernisation may be
particularly favourable to English only in its ‘first wave’.
Regionalisation As countries rise in economic status, they themselves
Although GATT and WTO promote international free may become the source of skills and technology for
trade, much of the growth in today’s trade is emerging neighbouring countries. And as labour in such countries
within regional blocs. Some 76 regional trade agre- becomes more expensive and threatens a country’s
ements are listed by WTO, over half of which have been competitive edge in the global economy, they will find
established since 1990 (The Economist, 7 December 1996, themselves well placed to relocate production in less-
p. 27). This rise in regional trade is not simply a conse- developed neighbouring countries. There is evidence
quence of the emergence of trading blocs, such as Nafta that this is already happening in Hong Kong (relocating
or the EU; the likely cause and effect is the other way production to mainland China) and Singapore (involved
around, with economic development brought about, in in joint ventures in China, Philippines and India).
Will a single world part, by the globalised activities of transnational corpora- Another potentially significant example is Mercosur –
standard for English tions stimulating the formation of regional trade. Given a common market established in 1991 between Brazil,
develop? this circumstance, as the economies of Asian countries Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. It seems that the
p. 56 mature, markets in adjacent countries will look more trade agreement may be helping to establish Spanish as
attractive than those far away. Such ‘adjacency’ may in the regional lingua franca and may be giving rise to a
future include ‘cultural neighbourhoods’ as much as political expectation, as in Thailand, that the languages
geographical ones. The likely consequence of economic of neighbouring countries should be more prominently
regionalisation, therefore, is the emergence of regional studied:
lingua francas other than English.
English became Brazil’s second language in the 1970s. Now
There are indications that this phase of globalisation
the challenge is from Spanish. ... Mercosur’s boosters rightly
is beginning. An international report on language educa-
claim that language is its secret weapon: where the
tion (Dickson and Cumming, 1996), shows the popula-
European Union must haggle in a dozen tongues, Mercosur
rity of English in Thailand is increasing, as in many
speaks in just two and they are enough alike to allow the
South-east Asian countries. But the author of the profile
group to dispense with interpreters. ... Mercosur has promp-
for Thailand reports:
ted a belated interest on both sides in learning the
Thailand’s role in Indochina has become increasingly more neighbour’s language. The entire foreign-trade department
important with the democratisation of the political systems of Brazil’s National Industrial Council, the manufacturers’
in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and possibly Mianmar, and lobby, is taking Spanish lessons. Portuguese classes run by
Thai businessmen and academics have been participating in the cultural arm of the Brazilian embassy in Argentina are
the affairs of these neighbouring countries by serving as attracting record numbers. Diego Guelar, Argentina’s
business investors, partners, and advisers. At present, ambassador to Brazil, is encouraging Argentine language
English is used as the medium of communication in most of schools to set up there. Within the next two years, the

WWW
Case Study 7 The UK Open University’s Singapore programme
OUDP PROGRAMME

http://www.sim.ac.sg/infgd/PROGRAM The British Open University has, since 1994, offered an But two factors make close integration of working prac-
2.NSF/Web/Partner/UKOU?Openview undergraduate degree programme in Singapore which tices problematic: one relates to time zone and the
is jointly managed with local partner institutions. In other is cultural. The British working day starts just as
recent years, 2 distance-taught courses in the English the one in South-east Asia closes. It is therefore impos-
language have been collaboratively developed with sible to take coordinated complex decisions quickly – a
authors, administrators and editors based in Singapore. full working day elapses between each response and
The process of project management and exchange of transporting hard copy and discs by courier remains a
draft materials within the UK institution has, in the last more reliable and almost as rapid a method of docu-
few years, become based on a mix of email and ment exchange. These limitations are mitigated only by
electronic document exchange, reducing the depen- a corresponding trend towards more flexible working
dence on face-to-face meetings. This is a process which hours on both sides: the working hours of academic
lends itself to globalisation: members of course teams staff overlap and in both locations authors are able to
who are currently distributed across the campus in send and receive electronic messages from home.
Milton Keynes and who communicate electronically
The second factor is cultural. It is well known that
might just as easily be dispersed across the world.
Asian, British and European business cultures differ in
Messages and draft materials can be exchanged electro-
key areas, such as patterns of negotiation, approaches
nically over such distances as easily as on the campus
to project management, orientation to time and
network. Indeed, it sometimes happens that messages
expectations of working-role relationships. Although
between Singapore and the UK arrive sooner than
some of these ‘cultural’ problems may be institutional
those sent across the campus, such are the vagaries of
rather than national, they form as effective a barrier to
the ‘store- and-forward’ process which messaging
close integration as time-zone differences.
networks employ.


The division of the world into three major time zones
will give rise to new patterns of advantage and
disadvantage for countries, depending on their
geographical location, time zone, language and culture.

Brazilian state of Sao Paulo and the Argentine province of
Buenos Aires – Mercosur’s two largest population centres –
plan to offer the other country’s language as an optional
subject in their school curricula. (The Economist, 9 November
1996, p. 88)
LONDON
What this analysis suggests is that the present phase
of globalisation has favoured the English language, NEW YORK TOKYO
primarily because flows and relationships have been
between Big Three countries and developing economies.
The next phase, however, may favour regional langua-
ges. National language curricula in schools may become
more diversified as the need arises to teach a regional
lingua franca together with the languages of neighbou-
ring countries. English may be simply crowded out from
its present prime position and demand for English may European zone
not rise as fast as might be predicted from the growth in American zone Asian zone
local economies. Russian zone

Time zones 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
The logic of globalisation has led to closer integration of
working practices of dispersed teams (Case Study 7). The Figure 37 The trading days of the three global financial centres span the world. In the coming
same logic has also increased the economic benefits of decades three major zones of economic activity may emerge. Russia will be in a unique position
being located in the same time zone. Technology cannot in spanning two of them
overcome difference in time as easily as distance. A
communication may be transmitted instantly to the We seem to be moving to a three time-zone world, a world
other side of the world, but action may not be taken on it where economic activity is passed from one on to the next,
until the next working day. In the late 20th century, maybe to the next, before being handed back to zone one.
three major ‘business’ zones have emerged, based on the One zone performs the night-shift for the other. We talk of
time zones within which the Big Three trading blocs European countries having a time-zone advantage. London
operate: the United States, Europe and Japan. The can trade with East Asia and North America. (McRae,
zones are presently based on the main financial centres: Independent, 24 September 1996, p. 24)
New York, London and Tokyo.
The ‘centre of gravity’ of these business zones is Thus British Airways is able to switch its European
expected to shift slightly in the coming decades, enquiries desk from north-east England to New York at
reflecting the changing centres of business. As China and the close of business each day (customers are said to be
India become more important in the global economy, ‘flown over’ to New York), avoiding the need for night-
the Asian zone may be expected to shift westwards, shift working. Indeed, the telecommunications link
between time zones 5 and 8. The European zone may between the US and the UK carries more traffic than
shift eastwards, reflecting increase in economic impor- any other international channel. But the dominant effect
tance of eastern European countries. This will place of time zones in a period of globalisation will be to bring
Germany to a more central time location (Figure 37). countries within similar zones into closer integration. In
Each of these major zones may develop its own regio- other words, the economic relationship between north
nal language hierarchy. The Americas, for example, and south will become restructured, with countries in the
might become more prominently Spanish-English bilin- south increasingly providing cheaper labour and back-
gual. In which case, the Spanish-speaking population in office services for those in the north. North America will
the US will become an important economic resource. In develop a closer relation with Latin America, perhaps
Europe, the present hierarchy, which positions English, eventually forming a single trading bloc. Europe, howe-
French and German as the ‘big’ languages, may conti- ver, may find Africa an increasingly important trading
nue, with French gradually being squeezed as the exten- partner and service provider. Asia will, again, be the
sion of the EU favours English and German. In Asia, most complex region. Australia is well placed to pick up
complex patterns of regional difference may arise, with the English language benefits in the Asia Pacific region,
India projecting the use of English on the western side but the role played by Russia is as yet unpredictable.
and the extensive ‘bamboo network’ of Chinese busines-
Russia [...] has a time-zone advantage, in that it runs two
ses promoting Chinese to the east. However, the fact
time-economies: if Europe provides only slow growth, it can
that Mandarin is a second language for many engaged in
benefit from the Asian boom. Only politics can hold it back.
international trade may complicate its position as a
(McRae, Independent, 24 September 1996, p. 24)
regional lingua franca.
Following the death of Deng Xiaoping, China has
Help or hindrance? announced its intention to develop a closer economic
The division of the world into three major time zones relationship with the Russian Federation. The linguistic
will give rise to new patterns of advantage and disadvan- dynamics of any ‘north Asia’ zone which may emerge
tage for countries, depending on their geographical loca- would be different from those in the south east. English
tion, time zone, language and culture. Some global is likely to serve functions in all these regions, but it will
corporations operating in the services sector, for enter into a deeply complicated system of relationships
example, are able to exploit their dispersion across time with other languages.
zones:


Summary

1 New working patterns 3 Localisation
Globalisation affects the ways that organisations are structured One of the most significant trends in both satellite TV and the
and the patterns of communication between members of the marketing departments of large TNCs is the tailoring of
workforce. There is more communication required; more work products and services to suit local markets. Language provides a
is language related and the growth in screen-based labour key strategy in achieving localisation. The visual element of US
allows working groups or teams to be internationally dispersed. TV programmes, for example, may not change but dubbing
Two consequences of such changes are that workers in many permits the programme to reach a local audience. Localisation
sectors require a deeper command of English than hitherto and increases the role of languages other than English in domains
a larger proportion of the workforce need to operate in an formerly associated with English.
international language. These developments in working practice
are likely to represent a major driver towards English-language 4 Youth culture
training in the future. The changing demography of the world, in which most Western
countries are experiencing a decline in numbers of young
2 Internationalisation of education people whilst those in Asia and Latin America are experiencing
Globalisation is also affecting education – particularly higher a ‘baby boom’, suggests that the focus of a global youth-culture
education – and corporate training. Patterns of provision are might shift in the next decade or so from Europe and the US.
becoming so complex that it is difficult to identify purely Although the English language has been associated with a
national interests. English will provide a means for second- global youth-culture, the language does not seem to play as
language countries to internationalise their education systems significant a role as sometimes appears. Clothing and music
and thus become major competitors to native-speaking may be more important. English lends a ‘hip’ factor – it will be
countries in English-medium education. A second significant ‘in the mix’ – but other languages will be increasingly
trend is towards distance education. This may benefit the important to the world’s young, who are encouraged to
institutions of Western countries who will be able to supply celebrate diversity by the advertising strategies of companies
high-value training and accreditation services in-country at such as Coca-Cola and Benetton.
lower cost than traditional residential courses. However, an
explosion in distance education is already visible in developing
countries, driven by the need to educate more people, more
cheaply, with fewer qualified teachers.

References
Berners-Lee, T. (1996) Europe and the info age. Time, Winter, pp. 140–1. Mercer, N. (1996) English at work. In J. Maybin and N. Mercer (eds) Using
Chan, M.J. (1994) National responses and accessibility to Star TV in Asia. English: from conversation to canon. London: Routledge/Open University.
Journal of Communication, vol. 44. pp. 112–31. Paliwoda, S. (1993) International Marketing. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.
Dickson, P. and Cumming, A. (1996) Profiles of Language Education in 25 Countries. Ross, N.J. (1995) Dubbing American in Italy. English Today, vol. 11, pp. 45–8.
Slough: NFER. Schwartz, P. (1996) The Art of the Long View. New York: Doubleday.
Findahl, O. (1989) Language in the age of satellite television. European Journal of Snyder, D. (1996) What’s happening to our jobs? The Futurist, March–April, pp.
Communication, vol. 4, pp. 133-59. 7–13.
Kline, D. (1997) Net predictions for 1997. http://www.upside.com/ Wallace, C. and Kovocheva, S. (1996) Youth cultures and consumption in
McCrum, R., Cran, W. and MacNeil, R. (1986) The Story of English. London: Eastern and Western Europe. Youth and Society, vol. 28, pp. 189–214.
Faber & Faber. Wongsothorn, A. (1996) Thailand. In P. Dickson and A. Cumming (eds) Profiles
McRae, H. (1997) How will Labour deal with real life? Independent, 7 May, p. 17. of Language Education in 25 Countries. Slough: NFER.


English in the future

5
q World English This book has tried to establish a new agenda for
debate, not simply on the future of the English
Will a single world standard for English develop?
language in the 21st century, but also on the role of
Will English give Britain a special economic advantage? its native speakers, their institutions and their global
enterprises.
Will the British ‘brand’ of English play an important role in the world
in the 21st century? This final section brings together some of the
arguments put forward in the book and shows how
q Rival languages
they might help address key questions about the
Which languages may rival English as a world lingua franca in the future of English. The ‘rush’ to English around the
21st century? world may, for example, prove to be a temporary
phenomenon which cannot be sustained indefinitely.
Which languages will benefit from language shift? Which languages
Languages other than English are likely to achieve
will lose speakers?
regional importance whilst changed economic
What gives a language global influence and makes it a ‘world relations between native-speaking English countries
language’? and other parts of the world will alter the rationale
q English as a transitional phenomenon for learning and speaking English.

Will the demand for English in the world continue to rise at its The ELT industry may also find itself vulnerable to
present rate? shifts in public opinion, like other global business
enterprises now experiencing ‘nasty surprises’ in
Will satellite TV channels bring English into every home, creating a
their world markets. An increasing concern for
global audio-visual culture?
social equity rather than excessive benefit for the
Will English continue to be associated with leading-edge technology? few is one expected social value shift which likely to
Will economic modernisation continue to require English for tech- inform both public policy decisions and personal life-
nology and skills transfer? choices and this will have unpredictable
consequences for the popularity of learning English
What impact will the Internet have on the global use of English?
as a foreign language.
q Managing the future
The English language nevertheless seems set to play
Can anything be done to influence the future of English? an ever more important role in world
A ‘Brent Spar’ scenario for English communications, international business, and social
and cultural affairs. But it may not be the native-
The need for an ethical framework for ELT
speaking countries who most benefit.
Ways forward


World English

Will a single world standard for English develop?
One question which arises in any discussion of global communication are closing the gap between spoken and
English is whether a single world standard English will written English which has been constructed laboriously
develop, forming a supranational variety which must be over centuries. And cultural trends encourage the use of
learned by global citizens of the 21st century. Like most informal and more conversational language, a greater
questions raised in this book, this demands a more tolerance of diversity and individual style, and a lesse-
complicated answer than those who ask probably desire. ning deference to authority. These trends, taken
There are, for example, at least two dimensions to together, suggest that a weakening of the institutions and
the question: the first is whether English will fragment practices which maintained national standard languages
into many mutually unintelligible local forms; the second is taking place: that the native-speaking countries are
is whether the current ‘national’ standards of English experiencing a ‘destandardisation’ of English.
(particularly US and British) will continue to compete as The ELT industry, however, may play an important
models of correctness for world usage, or whether some role in maintaining an international standard, as
new world standard will arise which supersedes national Strevens (1992) suggested:
models for the purposes of international communication
There exists an unspoken mechanism, operated through the
and teaching.
global industry of ELT teaching, which has the effect of
The widespread use of English as a language of wider
preserving the unity of English in spite of its great diversity.
communication will continue to exert pressure towards
For throughout the world, regardless of whether the norm is
global uniformity as well as give rise to anxieties about
native-speaker or non-native speaker variety, irrespective of
‘declining’ standards, language change and the loss of
whether English is a foreign or second language, two
geolinguistic diversity. But as English shifts from foreign-
components of English are taught and learned without
language to second-language status for an increasing
variation: these are its grammar and its core vocabulary.
number of people, we can also expect to see English
[...] the grammar and vocabulary of English are taught and
develop a larger number of local varieties.
learned virtually without variation throughout the world.
These contradictory tensions arise because English
(Strevens, 1992, p. 39)
has two main functions in the world: it provides a vehi-
cular language for international communication and it However, second-language countries are likely to
forms the basis for constructing cultural identities. The develop their own curricula, materials and teaching
former function requires mutual intelligibility and resources which they will seek to export to neighbouring
common standards. The latter encourages the develop- countries. In some parts of the world, this may help
ment of local forms and hybrid varieties. As English bring new, non-native models of English – supported by
plays an evermore important role in the first of these dictionaries and pedagogic materials – into competition
functions, it simultaneously finds itself acting as a with the older standard varieties. There is no reason
language of identity for larger numbers of people around why, say, an Asian standard English may not gain
the world. There is no need to fear, however, that trends currency.
towards fragmentation will necessarily threaten the role Smith (1992) carried out an experiment using spea-
of English as a lingua franca. There have, since the first kers of 9 ‘national varieties’ of English – China, India,
records of the language, been major differences between Indonesia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines,
varieties of English. Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States – in
The mechanisms which have helped maintain stan- order to discover whether ‘the spread of English is crea-
dard usage in the past may not, however, continue to ting greater problems of understanding across cultures’
serve this function in the future. Two major technologies (Smith, 1992, p. 88). He concluded that there was no
have helped develop national, standard-language forms. evidence of a breakdown in the functioning of English as
The first was printing, the invention of which provided a an international lingua franca but that, interestingly,
‘fixity’ in communication by means of printed books. ‘native speakers (from Britain and the US) were not
According to scholars such as Anderson (1983), such found to be the most easily understood, nor were they, as
fixity was a necessary requirement for the ‘imagined subjects, found to be the best able to understand the
communities’ of modern nation states. But with increa- different varieties of English’ (Smith, 1992, p. 88).
sing use of electronic communication much of the social Since the ELT publishers from native-speaking
and cultural effect of the stability of print has already countries are likely to follow markets – most of the large
been lost, along with central ‘gatekeeping’ agents such as publishers already provide materials in several standards
editors and publishers who maintain consistent, standar- – it will be non-native speakers who decide whether a
dised forms of language. US model, a British one, or one based on a second-
The second technology has been provided by broad- language variety will be taught, learned and used. At the
casting, which in many ways became more important very least, English textbooks in countries where English
than print in the socially mobile communities of the 20th is spoken as a second language are likely to pay much
century. But trends in global media suggest that broad- more attention to local varieties of English and to loca-
casting will not necessarily play an important role in lise their product by incorporating materials in local
establishing and maintaining a global standard. Indeed, varieties of English.
the patterns of fragmentation and localisation, which are The most likely scenario thus seems to be a continued
significant trends in satellite broadcasting, mean that ‘polycentrism’ for English – that is, a number of stan-
television is no longer able to serve such a function. How dards which compete. It will be worth monitoring the
can there be such a thing as ‘network English’ in a world global ELT market for signs of shifting popularity
in which centralised networks have all but disappeared? between textbooks published in different standards.
Meanwhile, new forms of computer-mediated


The likelihood is that English may be so prevalent in
the world that Britain obtains no special benefit in
possessing native speakers: economic advantage
may shift more clearly towards bilingual countries.

Will English give Britain a special economic advantage?
It has been suggested that the English language will lingual English-speaking area which is peripheral geog-
provide the key to Britain’s economic prosperity in the raphically, politically and economically? Britain’s
future. After all, if much of the world’s business is linguistic advantage in attracting investment from Asia
conducted in English, this surely will be of advantage to may decrease as English becomes more widely used in
native speakers. This book presents arguments which other European countries.
challenge this idea and suggests that in future Britain’s English will no doubt remain an important asset to
monolingualism may become a liability which offsets any Britain in terms of the production and marketing of
economic advantage gained from possessing extensive intellectual property; English language materials will
native-speaker resources in the global language. continue to be important economic resources for native
There are several reasons why monolingualism may speakers. But intellectual property in English will
not be the most advantageous strategy in a world that become more widely produced and marketed in other
increasingly is bilingual and multilingual, and trade is parts of the world.
significant among them. A greater volume of trade will The global ELT market, similarly, is likely to become
occur within Europe in a context where trilingual more complex. As in other global industries, the strategic
competence (in English, French and German), or at least importance of alliances and cooperative ventures will
bilingual competence, is widely regarded as necessary, grow. International networks of language schools may
especially for trade with peripheral countries. As the take an increasing market share. Competitors to Britain
‘core’ of Europe moves eastwards, there is a danger that will arise in Europe, some of whom will employ British
Britain’s peripheral position will be felt more acutely and native speakers on a contract basis, while others will
its monolingual status may become an economic liabi- establish offices in Britain. These trends may make it less
lity. In other regions of the world, regional languages easy to identify distinctively British goods and services.
may become important in business – such as Chinese in There is also a likelihood that new ELT providers
East and South-east Asia, and Spanish in the Americas. based in European and Asian second-language areas
The inability to field staff competent in these languages may prove more attractive to some clients than native-
in addition to English may prove a hindrance as markets speaker institutions. There is a rising demand for cour-
become more competitive. The likelihood is that English ses, materials and teachers which cater for the needs and
may be so prevalent in the world that Britain obtains no experiences of second-language users. Non-native-
special benefit in having so many native speakers: the speaking teachers are not necessarily regarded as ‘second
advantage may shift more clearly towards bilingualism. best’ any more. More people are asking, ‘How can
At present, the English language helps make Britain monolingual British teachers best understand the needs
attractive to Asian companies wishing to invest in facto- of second-language users of English?’
ries with direct access to European markets, since many Such developments make it difficult to argue that
Asian countries use English as their international lingua Britain will have an intrinsic economic advantage based
franca. But if a country such as the Netherlands can on language. If Britain retains an edge with regard to the
provide English, German and Dutch-speaking English language, it will be largely because of wider
employees, why establish an enterprise within a mono- cultural associations and its international ‘brand image’.

Will the British ‘brand’ of English play an important role in the world in the 21st century?
The conventional wisdom is that US English is the most not be so entrenched as writers such as Barber and
influential variety worldwide. Recent American studies Celente fear. But Barber may also be dismissing the posi-
of the cultural consequences of globalisation suggest: tion of British English too readily. Much of the negative
reaction to English in the world is directed towards the
The global culture speaks English – or, better, American. In
US; most territories in which English is spoken as a
McWorld’s terms, the queen’s English is little more today
second language still have an (ambiguous) orientation to
than a high-falutin dialect used by advertisers who want to
British English (Figure 5, p. 11); British publishers have a
reach affected upscale American consumers. American
major share of the global ELT market and there are
English has become the world’s primary transnational
signs that even US companies are using the British vari-
language in culture and the arts as well as science, techno-
ety to gain greater acceptance in some world markets.
logy, commerce, transportation, and banking. ... The war
Microsoft, for example, produces two English versions of
against the hard hegemony of American colonialism, politi-
intellectual property on CD-ROM, such as the Encarta
cal sovereignty, and economic empire is fought in a way
Encyclopedia: a domestic (US English) edition and a
which advances the soft hegemony of American pop culture
‘World English edition’ based on British English.
and the English language. (Barber, 1996, p. 84)
The future of British English in the world will depend
in part on continued, careful management of its ‘brand
By 2000, English was the unchallenged world lingua franca.
image’. Some useful groundwork has already been
... This language monopoly bestowed upon the United
undertaken. The support of ‘British Studies’ courses in
States an incalculable but subtle power: the power to trans-
overseas universities, for example, has helped shift the
form ideas, and therefore lives, and therefore societies, and
focus from cultural heritage to a more balanced under-
therefore the world. (Celente, 1997, p. 298)
standing of Britain’s place in the modern world. There is
It will be clear from the discussion elsewhere in this book also a growing appreciation of the importance of British
that these commentaries already have a slightly old- audio-visual products in projecting an image of Britain
fashioned feel to them. The hegemony of English may as a leader of style and popular culture.


Rival languages

Which languages may rival English as a world lingua franca in the 21st century?
There is no reason to believe that any other language benefited from English in the past may be reluctant to let
will appear within the next 50 years to replace English as their privileged position become threatened. Or it may
the global lingua franca. The position of English has simply be the most common shared language. A second
arisen from a particular history which no other language scenario is that Mandarin becomes regionally more
can, in the changed world of the 21st century, repeat. important, beginning as a lingua franca within Greater
We have argued, however, that no single language China (for communication between the regions of Hong
will occupy the monopolistic position in the 21st century Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Taiwan) and building on
which English has – almost – achieved by the end of the increased business communication between the overseas
20th century. It is more likely that a small number of Chinese in South-east Asia.
world languages will form an ‘oligopoly’, each with parti- The third scenario is that no single language will
cular spheres of influence and regional bases. emerge as a dominant lingua franca in Asia and a grea-
As trade, people movement and communication ter number of regional languages will be learned as
between neighbouring countries in Asia and South foreign languages. If intraregional trade is greatest
America become more important than flows between between adjacent countries, then there is likely to be an
such regions and Europe and North America, so we can increased demand for neighbouring languages. In this
expect languages which serve regional communication to case the pattern of demand for foreign languages will
rise in popularity. But it is actually very difficult to fore- look different in each country.
see more precisely what will occur. The position of Russian in Central and North Asia is
For example, we have noted that economic activity, subject to similar problems of prediction. But it does
telecommunications traffic and air travel between Asian seem clear that the global fortunes of Spanish are rising
countries will greatly increase. But there are at least quite rapidly. Indeed, the trading areas of the south
three possible linguistic scenarios which may develop (Mercosur, Safta) are expected to merge with Nafta in
from this. One is that English will remain the preferred the first decade of the new millennium. This, taken
language of international communication within Asia, together with the expected increase in the Hispanic
since the investment in English may be regarded as too population in the US, may ensure that the Americas
great to throw away, or the social elites who have emerge as a bilingual English-Spanish zone.

Which languages will benefit from language shift? Which languages will lose speakers?
This book has identified language shift – where individu- groups brought about by redevelopment created neigh-
als and whole families change their linguistic allegiances bourhoods in which English became the language of
– as a significant factor in determining the relative posi- inter-ethnic friendship and communication.
tions of world languages in the 21st century. Although Third, economic development is greatly enlarging the
such shifts are relatively slow – often taking several gene- numbers of middle class, professional families in the
rations to fully materialise – they are surprisingly difficult world – those who are most likely to acquire and use
to predict. Most research in this area has focused on English in both work and social forums.
migrant and minority communities who gradually lose Fourth, the growth of English-medium tertiary
their ethnic language and adopt that of the majority education worldwide has created a significant transition
community. Little research has been conducted on point in late adolescence for many second-language
linguistic migration between ‘big’ languages, such as speakers at which English may take over from their first
from Hindi or Mandarin to English. But in the next 50 language as a primary means of social communication.
years or so we can expect substantial language shift to The nature of English bilingualism in many L2 countries
occur as the effects of economic development and globa- thus suggests that for some speakers English may
lisation are felt in more countries. This takes us into new become a first language during the course of their lives,
territory: there has been no comparable period in which which would upset the assumption that such language
can provide an indication of what is to come. shift can only occur between generations. Migration
First, the loss of at least 50% and perhaps as much as towards L1 use of English by middle-class professionals
90% of the world’s languages means that the remaining may thus take place more rapidly than has hitherto been
languages will acquire native speakers at a faster rate thought possible. India and Nigeria may experience
than population increase in their communities. English is substantial increase in numbers of first language speakers
not the direct cause of such language loss, nor is it the of English in this way and it is worth remembering that
direct benefactor. As regional language hierarchies even a small percentage change in these countries would
become more established, there will be a shift towards greatly increase the global number of native English
languages higher in the hierarchy. One of the concomi- speakers.
tant trends will be increased diversity in the beneficiary The languages which might benefit most, in terms of
languages: regional languages will become more diverse larger numbers of native speakers, are Hausa and
and ‘richer’ as they acquire more diverse speakers and Swahili in Africa, Malay, regional languages in India
extend the range of their functions. and Tok Pisin. Russian, Mandarin and Arabic may also
Second, processes of internal migration and urbanisa- profit. English, at the apex of the hierarchy, is certainly
tion may restructure residential and employment implicated in this ‘upgrading’ process and will probably
patterns in multilingual communities on lines of social continue to act as a global engine of change, encoura-
class rather than ethnolinguistic community. Parasher ging users to shift upwards from small community
(1980) showed, for example, how the rehousing of ethnic languages to languages of wider communication.


No single language will occupy the monopolistic
position in the 21st century which English has –
almost – achieved by the end of the 20th century.

What gives a language global influence and makes it a ‘world language’?
No one has satisfactorily answered the question of what Japanese, will grow much more slowly. The relative
makes a language a ‘world’ language. It is clear from positions of the ‘top six’ are likely to change during the
earlier discussions in this book that sheer numbers of coming decades, but it is unlikely that any other
native speakers do not in themselves explain the privile- language will overtake English.
ged position of some languages.
David Crystal suggests that ‘a language becomes an
international language for one chief reason: the political 1 English 100
power of its people – especially their military power’ 2 German 42
(Crystal, 1997, p. 7). Historically that may have been 3 French 33
true: in the future, it will be less clearly military power 4 Japanese 32
which provides the international backing for languages, 5 Spanish 31
because of changes in the nature of national power, in 6 Chinese 22
the way that cultural values are projected and in the 7 Arabic 8
way markets are opened for the circulation of goods and 8 Portuguese 5
services. 9 Malay 4
What we need is some sense of what makes a 10 Russian 3
language attractive to learners, so that we can identify 11 Hindi/Urdu 0.4
languages which newly meet such criteria in the future. 12 Bengali 0.09
This would also allow us to chart and ideally anticipate,
the decline of erstwhile popular languages. Table 19 ‘Global influence’ of major languages according to
In this book we have focused on economic and the engco model. An index score of 100 represents the
demographic factors. Some combination of these might position of English in 1995
usefully form a starting point for an understanding of
what makes a language acquire importance. The engco The changing status of languages will create a new
model provides an illustration of the kind of approach language hierarchy for the world. Figure 38 shows how
that can be taken. The model calculates an index of this might look in the middle of the 21st century, taking
‘global influence’ taking into account various economic into account economic and demographic developments
factors which have been discussed earlier, including as well as potential language shift. In comparison with
Gross Language Product and openness to world trade the present-day hierarchy there are more languages in
(Traded Gross Language Product). The model also the top layer. Chinese, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish and
includes demographic factors, such as the numbers of Arabic may join English. French and other OECD
young speakers and rates of urbanisation. Finally, it languages (German, Japanese) are likely to decline in
takes into account the human development index (HDI) status. But the biggest difference between the present-
for different countries. This is a composite figure produ- day language hierarchies and those of the future will
ced by the UN, which combines measures of quality of result from the loss of several thousand of the world’s
life with those for literacy and educational provision. In languages. Hence there may be a group of languages at
this way, HDI provides an indicator of the proportion the apex, but there will be less linguistic variety at the
of native speakers who are literate and capable of gene- base. The shift from linguistic monopoly to oligopoly
rating intellectual resources in the language. brings pluralism in one sense, but huge loss of diversity
The engco model of global influence thus generates in another. This will be offset only in part by an increa-
a new kind of league table among languages, which sing number of new hybrid language varieties, many
weights languages not only by the number and wealth arising from contact with English.
of their speakers, but also by the likelihood that these
speakers will enter social networks which extend beyond
their locality: they are the people with the wherewithal
The big languages
and ambition to ‘go about’ in the world, influence it CHINESE, HINDI/URDU
and to have others seek to influence them. The calculat- ENGLISH, SPANISH, ARABIC
ions for the mid 1990s for the ‘basket’ of languages we Regional languages
have surveyed in this book are as shown in Table 19. (The languages of major trade blocs)
No strong claims are made for the validity of this ARABIC, ENGLISH, CHINESE, MALAY
index, but it does seem to capture something of the rela- RUSSIAN, SPANISH
tive relations between world languages which other
indices, based crudely on economic factors or numbers
of native speakers, do not convey. It shows that English
National languages
is, on some criteria at least, a long way ahead of all Around 90 languages serve over 220 nation states
other languages, including Chinese.
The advantage of the engco index is the way it can
be used to generate projections. As the model is refined Compare the hierarchy (left)
and the full demographic and economic projections for Local languages with the one for the present
The remainder of the world's 1000 or less languages day. p.13
the countries concerned are taken into account, league
with varying degrees of official recognition
tables will be published for the decades up to 2050. ®
Preliminary results indicate that on this basis Spanish is
one of the languages which will rise most quickly. The
nearest rivals to English – German, French and Figure 38 The world language hierarchy in 2050?


English as a transitional phenomenon

Will the demand for English in the world continue to rise at its present rate?
Although the position of English seems entrenched, it is represent speculative curves for second-language and
possible that the extraordinary interest in the language foreign-language speakers. There is, as yet, no basis for
in recent years will prove to be a temporary phenome- estimating these groups safely – although it is these
non associated with the ‘first-wave’ effects in a period of communities who will in practice determine the future of
global change: the transitional nature of a global econ- global English. Nevertheless, the curves are located
omy, the current state of telecommunications networks, approximately correctly for the present time (the vertical
the immaturity of satellite television markets, and edu- dashed line) and the speculative curves demonstrate
cational curricula which lag behind the needs of workers some ideas developed in this book.
and employers. These pages examine why the current First, L1 speakers of English will soon form a mino-
global wave of English may lose momentum. rity group. Second, at some point the increase in people
Figure 39 shows the projections made by the engco learning English as a foreign language will level out. This
model for speakers of English to 2050. The dotted lines is a demographic necessity, but may be hastened by a
Figure 39 Estimates of ‘leakage’ of EFL speakers to L2 status. The key question
first-language speakers of
EFL speakers is, at what point will the numbers of learners decline?
English from 1950 to 2050 as The dotted line, ‘market share’, indicates a specula-
calculated by the engco
700 tive projection of the global ELT market open to the
model, together with ELT industries of native-speaking countries, who
speculations regarding L2 and currently dominate global ELT provision. The curve
Speakers (millions)

EFL communities
L2 speakers begins with a notional 50% share, which takes account
600
of the present closed nature of many national textbook
L1 speakers markets. The actual share of the market taken by publis-
Market share hers and educational providers from Britain, Ireland,
400 US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand is at present
impossible to estimate – but it is the shape of the curve
which is important. Here it shows a declining market
share, as providers from L2 territories become more
200 active. That British and other native-speaking ELT
providers will find the global market much more compe-
titive, will lose market share and may even experience a
0
decline, is entirely compatible with the idea that more
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 people in the world are learning and using English.

Will satellite TV channels bring English into every home, creating a global audio-visual culture?
Satellite TV has been regarded as a major driver of world, but their programming policies will emphasise
global English. Star TV in Asia, for example, used local languages. CBS, for example, intends to establish a
English and Mandarin in their start-up phases, because news and entertainment channel in Brazil, broadcasting
these are the ‘big’ languages which reach the largest in Portuguese, not English; CNN International is laun-
audiences. MTV is frequently credited with bringing US ching Spanish and Hindi services; Star TV and MTV
English to the world through music and popular culture. are rapidly localising – introducing programming in an
Thus English language programmes reach the middle increasing number of languages (p. 46).
classes in South and South-east Asia in whom the National networks based in other languages will also
companies who pay for advertising are most interested. establish a greater presence in the global audio-visual
But the extensive use of English language material also market. Ray and Jacka (1996), for example, note that
reflects the easy availability of English language product Doordarshan, the Indian state-television company, will
on the world market. However, as satellite operators lease transponders on a new satellite with a footprint
develop, they need to expand their audiences by increa- stretching from South-east Asia to Europe. They
sing their reach in individual countries – this means comment, ‘this signals two major changes: the loosening
going beyond English-speaking audiences. As their grip of Murdoch on global satellite broadcasting and the
income streams develop and as technological innovation entry of Doordarshan into global broadcasting to Indian
(such as digital transmission) make additional channels diasporic audiences. [...] there can be no doubt that
available, operators will be able to finance and operate India will become an even stronger force in world televi-
channels more suited to local and niche audiences. Such sion in the very near future’ (Ray and Jacka, 1996, p.
economic and technological logic explains why English 99). Spanish television networks in Mexico are similarly
programming has been so prominent in the 1990s. establishing a global presence, producing programming
Evident now is the same logic driving an increase in the for Europe as well as for Spanish speakers elsewhere in
number of languages and community interests serviced the Americas.
by satellite and cable TV. English language programmes It is thus clear that two trends will dominate the
will remain, particularly in certain content areas (such as second wave of satellite broadcasting: other major world
sport and news), but they will become one of many offe- languages will increase their global reach and the larger
rings, rather than the dominant programming. providers will localise their services. Both trends indicate
National networks in English-speaking countries will a more crowded and linguistically plural audio-visual
continue to establish operations in other parts of the landscape in the 21st century.


British and other native-speaking ELT providers will
find the global market much more competitive
... and may even experience a decline.

Will English continue to be associated with leading-edge technology?
Leading-edge technology, particularly computers and manuals, help lines, on-screen menu systems and so on,
information technology, has been largely English based appearing first in English.
in several respects. First, its research and development is The close association between English and informat-
focused in the US, though often in close collaboration ion technology may prove a temporary phenomenon. As
with Japanese transnational companies (TNCs). Second, software and technology become more sophisticated,
the literature and conferences in which research findings they support other languages much better. Desktop
are reported and through which researchers keep up to publishing and laser printing are now capable of hand-
date with developments elsewhere, are English based. ling hundreds of lesser used languages and a wide range
Third, communications technology and document- of scripts and writing systems. Computer operating
handling software have developed around the English systems and software are now routinely versioned for
language. Indeed, the notorious history of the ascii many languages. In many cases the user can further
coding set which has plagued the use of computer customise the product, allowing even very small langua-
systems for non-English languages for many years, is one ges, unknown to the manufacturers, to be accommoda-
example. Fourth, the installed user base of new techno- ted. So whereas English speakers used to enjoy the best
logy is primarily located in the US, resulting in support and latest technology, this is no longer so true.

Will economic modernisation continue to require English for technology and skills transfer?
Currently, English is to be found at the leading edge of and Malaysia are looking towards their neighbours,
economic modernisation and industrial development (p. including Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, as future
32). The typical pattern of economic modernisation trading partners. The development of such regional
involves technology and skills transfer from the Big trade, in which no Big Three country is directly invol-
Three regions (North America, Europe and Japan) as a ved, may diminish the primacy of English as the
result of investment by TNCs, often via joint-venture language of technology transfer: the necessary level of
companies: a process associated closely with English. expertise can be obtained closer to home and more
But as countries benefit from such transfer and ‘come cheaply. Sources of management and technology trans-
up to speed’, there develop local networks of small fer in Asia now include Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan,
companies supplying the large TNC enterprises. Since Korea, Malaysia and Thailand. This third-wave techno-
many such suppliers use local employment, this logy transfer – often associated with less than leading-
secondary economic activity does not stimulate English edge technology – may be less reliant on English. But it
to the same degree as primary activity around TNCs. is equally possible that English provides the means for
There is yet a third wave to be expected in economic such countries to extend into regional markets.
development. Just as the Big Three TNCs transfer tech- There is no doubt that it would be extremely helpful
nology, not simply to produce goods more cheaply but to have a better understanding of how the next phases of
also to create new markets, so countries like Thailand globalisation will affect the use of English.

What impact will the Internet have on the global use of English?
The Internet epitomises the information society, allo- developing rapidly in Asia and non-English-speaking
wing the transfer of services, expertise and intellectual countries. And software technology, such as browser and
capital across the world cheaply, rapidly and apparently HTML standards (which govern the HyperText Mark-
without pollution or environmental damage. At present up Language in which Web pages are written), now also
90% of Internet hosts are based in English-speaking supports multilingual browsing (p. 51).
countries. It is not surprising, therefore, that the majority The quantity of Internet materials in languages other
of traffic and the majority of Web sites are based in than English is set to expand dramatically in the next
English and that those users based in other countries and decade. English will remain pre-eminent for some time,
who normally work in other languages, find they have to but it will eventually become one language amongst
communicate with others in the cyberspace community many. It is therefore misleading to suggest English is
through the medium of English. somehow the native language of the Internet. It will be
Many studies, however, have shown how well the used in cyberspace in the same way as it is deployed
Internet supports minority and diasporic affinity groups. elsewhere: in international forums, for the dissemination
Although early studies of ‘nationally oriented’ Internet of scientific and technical knowledge, in advertising, for
newsgroups (containing discussions of national or regio- the promotion of consumer goods and for after-sales
nal culture and language) seemed to indicate a prefe- services.
rence for using English (for example, soc.culture.punjabi) In the meantime, local communication on the
others which have become more recently active (such as Internet is expected to grow significantly. This, and the
soc.culture.vietnamese) extensively use the national increasing use of email for social and family communica-
language. It is not yet clear why some groups use English tion, will encourage the use of a wider variety of langua-
less than others, but an overall trend away from the ges. English is said to have accounted for 80% of
hegemony of English in such groups is visible and often computer-based communication in the 1990s. That
surfaces as an explicit topic of discussion. proportion is expected to fall to around 40% in the next
One reason may be that the Internet user base is decade.


Managing the future

Can anything be done to influence the future of English?
Can anything be done by institutions and decision- Even if the English language cannot, in any compre-
makers to influence the future of English? hensive sense, be managed, there is an argument that
This is a difficult question to answer. There is an complex systems have an unpredictability in their beha-
argument that global processes are too complex, too viour which needs to be taken into account by strategic
overwhelming in their momentum and too obscure in management. The institutions and organisations which
their outcomes to permit the activities of a few people will best survive the potentially traumatic period of
and institutions, even with coherent policies, to make global reconstruction which has only just begun, and
any difference. David Crystal suggests that the English even thrive during it, will be those which have the best
language may have passed beyond the scope of any form understanding of the changing position of English in
of social control: local markets, which can adapt the products and services
they offer most quickly and effectively and which know
It may well be the case ... that the English language has alre-
how to establish appropriate alliances and partnerships.
ady grown to be independent of any form of social control.
But the function of strategic management can extend
There may be a critical number or critical distribution of
beyond ensuring either survival or the exploitation of
speakers (analogous to the notion of critical mass in nuclear
changing conditions in the marketplace. In complex
physics) beyond which it proves impossible for any single
systems, small forces, strategically placed, can lead to
group or alliance to stop its growth, or even influence its
large global effects. There is no way, at present, of
future. If there were to be a major social change in Britain
knowing what nudges placed where will have what
which affected the use of English there, would this have any
consequences. But careful strategic planning, far-sighted
real effect on the world trend? It is unlikely. (Crystal, 1997,
management, thoughtful preparation and focused action
p. 139)
now could indeed help secure a position for British
English language services in the 21st century.

A ‘Brent Spar’ scenario for English

Shell Oil is renowned for its use of scenario planning in who supply English language goods and services. Public
the 1960s, which allowed it to weather the disruptions attitudes towards massive language loss in the next few
following the oil crisis more easily than rival companies decades, for example, is unpredictable. It would be easy
(pp. 22–3). But its corporate scenario planning has had for concerns about this issue to become incorporated
some signal failures in recent years – it failed, for into the wider environmental consciousness which seems
example, to ensure policies were sufficiently robust to be spreading around the world. The spread of English
against the real-life scenario provided by the Brent Spar might come to be regarded in a similar way as exploita-
oil platform. Shell wished to dispose of the redundant tive logging in rainforests: it may be seen as providing a
structure by sinking it in the North Sea. It was aware of short-term economic gain for a few, but involving the
the environmental issues – there is evidence that, in destruction of the ecologies which lesser-used languages
hindsight, the environmental case was on Shell’s side. inhabit, together with consequent loss of global linguistic
But this did not prevent a major public-relations disaster diversity. The Shell experience suggests that a direct link
which, through boycotts of Shell products in the between the spread of English and language loss would
Netherlands and Germany, hit the corporation’s profits not have to be proven. Indeed, counter-evidence could
and brought its reputation under public scrutiny. be brought forward by linguists and yet have little
Shell’s experience is just one of many recent examp- impact on global public opinion.
les of how the international business environment can There are other ideological movements which are
spring ‘nasty surprises’, often resulting from shifts in travelling in a similar direction. There is, for example, a
public opinion. There are two reasons why public attitu- growing demand for linguistic rights, within a human-
des now have a powerful impact on whole industries rights agenda, arguing that educational provision in a
whose profitability and even viability can be destroyed child’s mother tongue should be regarded as a basic
remarkably quickly. human right. Such arguments may be carried to the
First is the increasing complexity of global business: if heart of the political process in countries experiencing
one sector or product line is hit, then it may have a demand for regional autonomy or repositioning them-
much wider and unpredictable impact worldwide. selves as regional hubs for trade and services.
Transnational corporations have discovered that there is These trends suggest a ‘nightmare scenario’ in which
‘no hiding place’. An incident in a small, jointly mana- the world turns against the English language, associating
ged subsidiary in a remote part of the world can have it with industrialisation, the destruction of cultures,
major consequences for the parent company and other infringement of basic human rights, global cultural
related businesses. Second, globalisation affects not just imperialism and widening social inequality.
large business enterprises but also the way public opini- Clinging to the idea that the presently dominant
ons are formed and disseminated: public attitudes and ‘economic rationality’ will continue to direct the future
changing social values now have a much greater effect of English without hindrance during the next century
on the business environment. In this respect, global might be similar to Shell’s failure to anticipate public
media and Internet technologies are helping bring about reaction to Brent Spar. But even if economic rationalism
a new form of ‘people’s democracy’, of which policy lingers, there may come a time when more realistic
makers of all kinds need to take more serious account. assessments are made by governments of the long-term
There are several lessons here for English and those effectiveness of mass English teaching.


The ELT industry will have to respond to changing
international social values ... to ensure that the
reputation of Britain, of the British people and their
language, is enhanced rather than diminished.

The need for an ethical framework for ELT
There is a growing appreciation that the business envi- of large languages, of which English is the largest.
ronment of the next century will require global enterpri- A more sensitive approach will be needed in the
ses to meet three ‘bottom lines’: economic prosperity, future, which recognises that English is not a universal
environmental protection and social equity. Public trust panacea for social, economic and political ills and that
in the institutions and organisations which provide goods teaching methods and materials, and educational poli-
and services may in the future represent a more impor- cies, need to be adapted for local contexts. The world is
tant component of brand image than the quality of the becoming aware of the fate of endangered languages and
product itself. Hence ethical, as well as environmental, more anxious over the long-term impact of English on
values are likely to come under increasing public scru- world cultures, national institutions and local ways of
tiny and significantly influence customer loyalty. life. Perhaps a combination of circumstances – such as
However, one of the problems facing the proponents shifting public values, changed economic priorities and
of an ethical approach to English teaching is that no one regional political expediency – could bring about a seri-
is sure where the moral high ground lies when it comes ous reversal for British ELT providers at some point in
to the export of ELT goods and services. English has for the future. The development of a ‘Brent Spar’ scenario
long been seen as a ‘clean’ and safe export, one without for English might help explore possible chains of events.
some of the complex moral implications associated with Whether such a discussion is held in terms of global
the sale of products such as weapons or military vehicles. ‘brand management’, the need to adapt to a changing
The ELT industry has been portrayed as one which business environment, or a moral requirement to work
benefits both producer and consumer and both export- within an ethical framework, the ELT industry will have
ing and importing countries. It has been a major compo- to respond to changing international social values. This
nent in overseas aid as well as a commercial enterprise. would bring a major exporting activity into the same
How then, can the teaching of English be brought framework which is now expected to regulate trading
within a more ethical framework? What social responsi- relations with other countries and would help to ensure
bilities are associated with the promotion and teaching of that the reputation of Britain, of the British people and
English? There is a growing concern about endangered their language, is enhanced rather than diminished in
languages but very little debate about the management the coming century.

Ways forward
This book has aimed to establish a new agenda for coordinated. The ‘Brent Spar’ scenario is only one
debate, not simply on the future of the English language possibility. Others relate to the future language use
in the 21st century, but also on the role of its native and loyalties of the global teenager and the impact of
speakers, their institutions and their global enterprises. the growing middle and professional classes in Asia.
For this reason the book identifies some of the key
questions and has drawn attention to a number of areas q Brand management. One way of managing the complex
which will repay further investigation and development. attitudes and responses to English by the world
public to the benefit of Britain is through more care-
q Supporting a debate on the future of English. Many of the ful ‘brand management’. A debate would be timely
topics raised briefly in this book would repay further on how Britain’s ELT providers can cooperatively
discussion and consultation with experts in the prepare for the need to build and maintain the
various areas of concern (such as economists, techno- British brand and how the promotion of English
logists, cultural theorists, business managers). This language goods and services relates to the wider
can be taken forward in a variety of ways: seminars, image of Britain as a leading-edge provider of cultu-
further publications or Internet discussion groups. ral and knowledge-based products. The way English
is promoted and marketed may play a key role in
q Building better forecasting models. The forecasting models positioning Britain as one of the 21st century’s
upon which this book draws (such as the engco forward-thinking nations.
model) show the value of modelling for certain
purposes. There is more that can be done in this The indications are that English will enjoy a special
direction to understand better the patterns of position in the multilingual society of the 21st century: it
language shift and to model the future populations of will be the only language to appear in the language mix
second-language speakers. in every part of the world. This, however, does not call
for an unproblematic celebration by native speakers of
q Scenario building. It is suggested that building scenarios English. Yesterday it was the world’s poor who were
for English in different parts of the world would help multilingual; tomorrow it will also be the global elite. So
to explore further the impact on the English we must not be hypnotised by the fact that this elite will
language of the complex interaction of global econo- speak English: the more significant fact may be that,
mic and technological trends. This is not a project to unlike the majority of present-day native English spea-
be undertaken lightly, but it is likely to repay the kers, they will also speak at least one other language –
investment by providing a structure within which probably more fluently and with greater cultural loyalty.
local knowledge and experience can be centrally


Tables page
1 Major world languages according to the engco model 8 14 Young native speakers of English and Malay, 1950–2050 21
2 Major international domains of English 8 15 Forecast of social value shifts amongst ‘trend setters’ 23
3 Disciplines in which German academics claim English as their 16 Forecasting, scenario planning and hope 23
working language 9 17 World population growth 26
4 Native speakers of English 10 18 Demographic estimates of first-language speakers 26
5 Second-language speakers of English 11 19 The ethnic composition of the US population 26
6 Countries in transition from EFL to L2 status 11 20 Length of time taken to double per capita income 28
7 Native-speaker numbers for major world languages in 2050 27 21 Proportions of world wealth in 1990 29
8 The 10 largest cities in the year 2000 27 22 Estimated shares of world wealth in 2050 29
9 Estimated economic strength of languages 29 23 Language-engineering products available for major languages 30
10 Estimates of Gross Language Product of major languages 29 24 Falling cost of making a transatlantic telephone call 31
11 Major languages by Traded GLP 29 25 Distribution of the 500 largest global corporations 32
12 Seven ages of the technological economy 31 26 Traditional import-export model of English 33
13 Indonesian languages likely to be endangered 39 27 Post-modern/globalised model of English 33
14 Percentage of European viewers watching satellite TV 46 28 US employment by sector 34
15 Languages available on British satellite channels 1996 47 29 Composition of Gross World Product 1990–2050 35
16 Estimated millions of speakers aged 15–24 1995 49 30 Development of world tourism 1950–1990 36
17 Estimated millions of speakers aged 15–24 2050 49 31 Languages used in intercontinental telephone traffic 37
18 Languages of home pages on the Web 51 32 Teledistance of selected countries from Britain in 1997 37
19 ‘Global influence’ of major languages 59 33 Half of the world’s languages in the Asia Pacific region 38
34 Geographic distribution of the 6,703 living languages 39
Figures page 35 Proportions of all school students studying modern languages 45
1 Will English remain the world’s language? 2 36 BBC World Service coverage in 1996–7 46
2 The proportion of the world’s books annually published 9 37 The trading days of the three global financial centres 53
3 The three circles of English according to Kachru 10 38 The world language hierarchy in 2050? 59
4 Showing the three circles of English as overlapping 10 39 Estimates of first-language speakers of English to 2050 60
5 The branches of world English 11
6 A language hierarchy for India 12 Case studies page
7 A language hierarchy for the European Union 13 1 World Print in Hong Kong 42
8 The world language hierarchy 13 2 Singapore Straits Times 43
9 Lexical diffusion of a sound change 18 3 Internationalisation of education in Malaysia 44
10 Singular verbs used with collective noun subjects 18 4 MTV 47
11 Projected increase in Internet users 19 5 Sign of the times 48
12 Cyclical patterns in student enrolments 19 6 Automatic translation 50
13 Monthly electricity consumption 20 7 The UK Open University’s Singapore programme 52

References (section 5) The engco model
Anderson, B. (1983) Imagined Communities. London: Verso. The engco forecasting model has been designed by The English
Barber, B.R. (1996) Jihad vs. McWorld. New York: Ballantine Books. Company (UK) Ltd as a means of examining the relative status of
Celente, G. (1997) Trends 2000: how to prepare for and profit from the changes of the 21st world languages and making forecasts of the numbers of speakers of
century. New York: Warner Books. different languages based on demographic, human development and
Crystal, D. (1997) English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University
economic data. The figures reported in this document are based on
demographic projections from World Population Prospects 1950–2050
Press.
(1996 Revision) and Sex and Age Quinquennial 1950–2050 (1996 Revision) in
Parasher, S.N. (1980) Mother-tongue English diglossia: a case study of educated machine-readable data sets made available by the United Nations in
English bilinguals’ language use. Anthropological Linguistics vol. 22, pp. 151–68. 1997, on economic data for 1994 from the World Bank, and from esti-
Ray, M. and Jacka, E. (1996) Indian television: an emerging regional force. In J. mates of proportions of national populations speaking different langua-
Sinclair, E. Jacka and S. Cunningham (eds) New Patterns in Global Television: ges taken from national census data and a variety of reference sources.
peripheral vision. Oxford: Oxford University Press. The main purpose of the model is to explore the potential impact of
Smith, L.E. (1992) Spread of English and matters of intelligibility. In B.B. urbanisation and economic development on the global linguistic lands-
Kachru (ed) The Other Tongue: English across cultures. Urbana: University of cape of the 21st century. Further explanations of the assumptions made
Illinois Press. by the engco model, together with any other reports and revised
Strevens, P. (1992) English as an international language: directions in the 1990s.
projections, can be found from time to time on The English Company
(UK) Ltd’s Internet site (http://www.english.co.uk).
In B.B. Kachru (ed) The Other Tongue: English across cultures. Urbana: University
of Illinois Press.


Sources The English Company (UK) Ltd
Overview The Future of English?
Figure 1 based on data from the British Council English 2000 Global Consultation
has been produced for
the British Council by
Report. The report highlights the results of a questionnaire completed by 2000
The English Company (UK) Ltd.
English language teaching specialists in all parts of the world; the British
Council press release was issued at the launch of the English 2000 project in
March 1995. Production team
The English Company (UK) Ltd
Section 1 David Graddol
Figure 2 based on data in Unesco statistical yearbook (1995); Figure 3 based on Margaret Keeton
Kachru (1985) with figures from Crystal (1997); Figure 5 after Strevens (1992);
Table 1 data from the engco model of The English Company (UK) Ltd, Design consultant
compared with data from the online edition of Grimes (1996); Table 3 after
Carlton Larode
Skudlik’s work presented in Viereck (1996); Tables 4 and 5 based on figures Editing consultant
given by Crystal (1997). Table 6 based on McArthur (1996); IRC data, Christine Considine
collected for a paper given to the International Pragmatics Association, English 2000
Mexico, July 1996 by Simeon Yates and David Graddol. Caroline Moore
Section 2 Tony O’Brien
Ian Seaton
Figure 9 based on Chambers and Trudgill (1980) p. 179; Figure 10 based on
Bauer (1994) p. 63; Figure 11 loosely based on survey data reported by NUA
Internet Surveys showing total world users in 1996 as 35 million and
projections of 250 million in 2000, with most rapid growth in Asia Pacific;
World Wide Web
Figure 12 loosely based on quarterly International Passenger Survey data for Further information about
1984 and 1990 reported in English 2000 (1995), showing 615,000 English English 2000 is available on the
language course visitors in 1990; Figure 13 drawn from Al-Zayer and Al- British Council’s Internet site:
Ibrahim (1996); Figure 14 from the engco model of The English Company http://www.britishcouncil.org
(UK) Ltd; Figure 15 based on Wilson (1982); Figure 16 drawn from Van der
Updated information related to
Heijden (1996). The Future of English? can be
Descriptions of the Hooke model are based on notes of interviews made by found at the Web site of
David Graddol in January 1996 with Gus Hooke, then Director of Tertiary The English Company (UK) Ltd:
Studies at the Australian Academy, Sydney, during a visit supported in part by
http://www.english.co.uk
the British Council and a later unpublished manuscript (Hooke, 1996). Some of
this material is available in an audio-cassette recording made by the BBC for an
Open University course, U210 The English Language: past, present and future.
Email newsletter
Section 3
Figure 17 data from the online Population Information Network (Popin) of the The Global English Newsletter (GEN)
UN Population Division; Figure 18 from the engco model of The English
offers a means of keeping up to date with
developments in English as a global language.
Company (UK) Ltd; Figure 19 data from the US Commerce Department
To start receiving the newsletter send a
Census Bureau, cited in McRae (1994); Figures 20, 21 and 22 drawn from the blank email message with the
Hooke forecasting model; Figure 23 data from Hearn and Button (1994); SUBJECT line: SIGNON GEN
Figure 24 based on Financial Times, 23 December 1996; Figure 25 based on to maillist@english.co.uk
information from Fortune; Figures 26 and 27 based on information prepared for
the British Council by David Graddol, June 1996; Figure 28 based on The
Acknowledgements
Economist, 28 September 1996; Figure 29 from the Hooke forecasting model;
Figure 30 data from the World Tourism Organisation (1992) Compendium of This book has benefited from many interviews and discussions with
Tourism Statistics; Figure 31 based on data on traffic flows from TeleGeography
colleagues in Britain and overseas during the period of its research and
production. In particular, the author would like to thank the following
Inc; Figure 32 based on an analysis of prevailing rates of independent UK
for sharing their experiences and ideas:
carriers; Figure 33 drawn from Grimes (1996).
Table 7 from the engco model of The English Company (UK) Ltd; Table 8 Australia: Gus Hooke, Australian Academy. Brunei Darussalam: Gary
information based on Girardet (1996); Table 9 based on Ammon (1995); Jones, UBD. China: John Hilton, British Council. Denmark: Robert
Tables 10 and 11 from the engco model of The English Company (UK) Ltd;
Phillipson, University of Roskilde. Hong Kong: Peter Choy, World
Print; Rod Pryde, British Council. Malaysia: Tony Crocker, British
Table 13 based on information from Grimes (1996).
Council. Singapore: David Flack, MTV Asia; Joe Foley, NUS. UK:
Section 4 Julian Amey, Canning House; Roger Bowers, World of Language;
Figure 35 based on data from Eurydice, the education information network in Anne Diack, BBC/OUPC; Paula Kahn, Phaedon Press; Tom
the European Community (1992); Figure 36 data from the BBC Annual
McArthur, English Today. Perri 6, Demos.
Report (1996–97).
We are grateful for comments on draft materials from the following:
Table 14 data from Cable and Satellite Europe, January 1997, p. 36; Table 15
compiled from the Blue Book of British Broadcasting, 22nd edition, 1996; Tables 16 Professor Jenny Cheshire, Queen Mary and Westfield College,
and 17 from the engco model of The English Company (UK) Ltd. University of London; Professor David Crystal; Professor Nic
Coupland, University of Cardiff; Dr Anthea Fraser Gupta, University
Section 5 of Leeds; Professor Theo van Leeuwen, London College of Printing;
Figure 39 from the engco model. Table 19 from the engco model. Dr Tom McArthur, English Today; Professor Ulrike Meinhof,
University of Bradford; Dr Robert Phillipson, University of Roskilde.

The Future of English?
David Graddol

Contents English 2000
The Future of English? has been commissioned by
English 2000 to facilitate informed debate about the
future use and learning of the English language
Introduction...............................................1 worldwide.

Overview...................................................2 English 2000 is an initiative led by the British Council
Book highlights.......................................................................4 which seeks to forecast future uses of English
worldwide and to help develop new means of
1 English today..........................................5 teaching and learning of English. The project team
The legacy of history..........................................................6 works to position British English language teaching
English in the 20th century.............................................8 goods and services to the mutual benefit of Britain
Who speaks English?........................................................10 and the countries with which it works.
Language hierarchies ......................................................12
Summary and references..............................................14

2 Forecasting ..........................................15 British Council
Futurology..............................................................................16 The British Council promotes Britain internationally. It
Making sense of trends ..................................................18 provides access to British ideas, talents and experience
Predictability or chaos?...................................................20
Scenario planning ..............................................................22
through education and training, books and
Summary and references..............................................24 information, the English language, the arts, science and
technology.
3 Global trends ......................................25 The British Council is represented in 228 towns and
Demography ........................................................................26 cities in 109 countries. It provides an unrivalled
The world economy........................................................28
The role of technology ..................................................30 network of contacts with government departments,
Globalisation.........................................................................32 universities, embassies, professional bodies, arts
The immaterial economy..............................................34 organisations, and business and industry in Britain and
Cultural flows ......................................................................36 overseas.
Global inequalities.............................................................38
Summary and references..............................................40 For further information contact:
English 2000
4 Impacts on English...............................41 10 Spring Gardens
The workplace ..................................................................42 London SW1A 2BN
Education and training....................................................44 Telephone: 0171 930 8466
The global media...............................................................46 Fax 0171 839 6347
Youth culture........................................................................48
Internet communication................................................50
Time and place ...................................................................52 The British Council is an independent, non-political organisation. The
Summary and references..............................................54 British Council is registered in England as a charity no. 209131

5 English in the future.............................55
World English ......................................................................56
Rival languages ...................................................................58
English as a transitional phenomenon ...................60
Managing the future.........................................................62

Tables, figures, case studies...........................................64
Sources ...................................................inside back cover

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