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English as a global language
According to David Crystal, “a language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is recognized in every country”. He argues that this global status has been attained by English which is the official language in the USA, Canada, Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, several Caribbean countries and other smaller territories. Beyond that, the main feature that distinguishes English from other languages is its presence in the different communities all over the world, more precisely, it is the “second language” in a number of countries and it is the foreign language which is most commonly taught in the educational years (more than 100 countries). According to a 2016 Eurostat survey, within the European Union, English is learnt by 94% of the students in the upper secondary education. Another character that enhance the role of English throughout the world is outlined by David Northrup: the strength of English is its appeal to the young in a way to keep up with the global communication necessities.

The spread of English as a Global Language
There are two reasons that have nourished the role of English in the global context: the colonial power exerted by the British Empire and the establishment of the United States as the economic power of the twentieth century.

Historically, several languages reached a global status before English. For example, Greek became the language of international communication through the Middle East, then the same happened to Latin in Europe. Many other languages over the centuries have experienced a wide expansion, thanks to the military and political power of the leaders of the countries where the language(s) were spoken. Language dominance has always been linked to the influence and the ability of the armies, until the development of world economies on a global scale. Since the beginning of the 19th century, in fact, the English language has been at the centre of an “explosion of international activity”. Great Britain used to be the leading country concerning industry and trade, while the United States represented the largest population in the western civilized world. The evolution and expansion of the American economy went through a phase of extreme growth, spreading the language around the world. As a result, in the 20th century the driving force of global English was economic influence, rather than political power.

The most crucial turn in the evolution of the English language from one of the international languages into the world’s first global language happened probably not so long ago. This so-called "tipping point" for global English "was not the direct result of any single event but the cumulative and often indirect result of a series of separate events and circumstances in different parts of the world". According to Northrup those circumstances can be summarized into four major events: "(1) the rise of the Internet; (2) the fall of the Soviet Bloc; (3) the economic ascendancy of Asia; and (4) the creation of an international educational marketplace".

English is currently not just a useful language to know, but it is seen as a language that provides opportunities for individuals to increase their professionalism and human capital in disciplines, ranging from diplomacy and economics to science, technology, and business. As Northrup puts it, "the rise of the English as a medium of sharing and acquiring knowledge is particularly associated with two phenomena: the growing number of students studying outside their home country as well as new programs and entirely new universities that target upwardly mobile students". Since English became the dominant language in various areas of the human activity, from science, diplomacy, education, technology through business and others, linked to the global reach of this language, Northrup concludes that: "by 2010, English was the global language".

The cultural legacies
Technological developments and the legacies of the colonial era had a strong contribution to how the English language was perceived on the international scale. In the 21st century, English started to have a growing role in different areas of communication.

International Relations
English is the leading official language within most of the international structures and plays an official role in the proceedings in most parts of the world. This does not regard only international political structures, but also a number of environments where English is used by international organizations, such as sport, science and culture. The employment of English at international meetings between the great number of countries and the high use of English in the European Union support the idea of English as a global language and its intermediary (or interlingua) role. English has indeed an impact on international politics and relations, as long as it is the most influential mediating tool.

Advertising
The evolution of economy and mass production, which started in the USA towards the end of the 19th century, and the advancement of a new communicational feature, namely advertising, strongly affected the way products are sold worldwide. The media and the new techniques serving this purpose play an important role in shaping the English language, since advertising often needs short and brief messages, so that they can easily be remembered and replicated. The American products have spread over the whole globe (Macdonaldization), giving English the opportunity to evolve and find new manifestations in the modern globalized world.

Broadcasting
Broadcasting is a technique for transmitting audio and/or video signals from a source to a variety of receivers. Public radio broadcasting started to spread during the early 1920's, but its development followed different patterns. In the UK the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), a monopoly whose revenues come from royalties on a public licence system, was established in 1922. Following the BBC, radio broadcasting was developed in many territories of the British Empire, but also in other European countries.

The diffusion of television broadcasting followed a similar development as well. The huge impact that TV and radio broadcasting have had on the diffusion of English as a global language can be seen for example in the diffusion of programs in English produced, among others, by the BBC or the International Broadcast Station specifically for the audience of other countries.

Kachru's Three Circles of English
See also: World Englishes

Braj Kachru divides the use of English into three concentric circles.

The inner circle is the traditional base of English and includes countries such as the United Kingdom and Ireland and the anglophone populations of the former British colonies of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and various islands of the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean.

In the outer circle are those countries where English has official or historical importance ("special significance"). This includes most of the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations (the former British Empire), including populous countries such as India, Pakistan, and Nigeria; and others, such as the Philippines, under the sphere of influence of English-speaking countries. Here English may serve as a useful lingua franca between ethnic and language groups. Higher education, the legislature and judiciary, national commerce, and so on, may all be carried out predominantly in English.

The expanding circle refers to those countries where English has no official role, but is nonetheless important for certain functions, e.g. international business and tourism. By the twenty-first century, non-native English speakers have come to outnumber native speakers by a factor of three, according to the British Council. Darius Degher, a professor at Malmö University in Sweden, uses the term decentered English to describe this shift, along with attendant changes in what is considered to be important to English users and learners.

Research on English as a lingua franca in the sense of "English in the Expanding Circle" is comparatively recent. Linguists who have been active in this field are Jennifer Jenkins, Barbara Seidlhofer, Christiane Meierkord and Joachim Grzega.