The Future of English

In our highly technological, modern and above all fast paced world, instant communication
is not only an auxiliary but also a necessity. To be successful and to compete in a global
economy, one has to be seen and heard by as many different parties as possible, as quickly
as possible. However, in in a worldwide context, the content is not the only thing that is
important. What causes more difficulty is the question of understanding. It is very likely that
the addresser and the addressee do not come from the same country or even the same
continent. In order to enable communication despite the language barrier, there has to be a
language that can serve as a medium of connection between two parties. This language
nowadays is English, spoken all over the world by almost 1 Billion people, 600 Million of
which are non-native, or second language, speakers. (Lewis et al. 2016) Even though it may
not be the ‘biggest’ language in the world when it comes to the total number of speakers,
Mandarin Chinese heads the table with 1.1Billion speakers, there are other aspects that
make English the ‘biggest’ language globally (Graddol 2010). Lu (2008) identifies some of
them as ease of learning and use, broad acceptance of culture that the language represents,
widely scattered users and the possibility to avail of audio-visual and literary publications in
order to use the language actively.

The history of English as a global language is a relatively recent one. Crystal (1997) identifies
two main reasons for the status and widespread use of English nowadays. The first one is
the expansion of the British Empire and of British colonial power. Britain did not only bring
people to the colonies but also the language itself and the use of the language. This way the
English language has become a valuable good that can be sold at a high price. Today still, in
many countries of the Commonwealth, English is an official language next to the native
tongue. What is more is that it is usually an indicator of power and wealth, for example in
Hong Kong and India. Better or private education is often carried out in English and more
expensive. Well payed, prestigious jobs such as lawyer and doctor can only be obtained
after going through private schools and universities with an emphasis on English. The
language is also used to test a worker’s “worldly” status, especially the fact how accent free
they can speak. In the United States, that is even reflected in the salaries of English language
teachers: natives earn more than non-native speakers do, a study by Bojas found in 1994.
(Han and Singh 2008)

The second reason according to Crystal is the emergence of the United States as the leading
economic power of the 20th century. It still is one of the biggest economies in the world,
and with its goods, the English language is being exported. Huge companies like Apple,
Windows, or Facebook are known and used all over the world. The same goes for
Hollywood, which dominates the film industry in many parts of the world. Through movies
and TV series, English is easily accessible for learners and users of the language. Literature
plays a big role in that as well, best sellers like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones have their
origin in an English speaking country. Even though movies have been dubbed and books
translated into numerous other languages, the English original is usually available as well.

The English language is also an official and working language in both the United Nations
Organisation and the European Union. It is estimated that English is the source language for
the translation and distribution of documents in the EU 80% of the time. (European
Commission 2010) This is a sign that even in an institution that values and protects
multilingualism and different languages, there is sometimes the need to be able to
understand each other as quickly and easily as possible. Even with the possibility of the
Brexit this summer, and therefore the loss of the biggest English-speaking country of the
Union, the shift to another language in the near future is very unlikely as learning a new
language takes time and effort. Additionally, it has happened before in history: the language
use continues for a long time after the downfall or disintegration of a dominating nation.
After the Austro-Hungarian Empire, German was still spoken a long time in Eastern Europe,
as was,or still is in some cases, Russian in the former Soviet republics. De Swaan (2001) calls
this “linguistic inertia”. This is because once a language is learned; it is not as easily
forgotten. Additionally, when people are already used to speaking that language on a
regular or even daily basis, it is hard for them to give it up suddenly. The transition to
another language takes a few generations, until the majority of the people have got used to
the “new” language.

Another factor that makes English an important and influential language in our world is that
it is relatively easy to learn, at least in the beginning. The basics that enable simple
communication and understanding are not that tough. That does not mean that English can
be mastered with no problem, quite the opposite. What makes English tricky is that with an
easy beginning, learners do not expect it to get more difficult. It definitely does, though.
Other languages are more “fair” in this regard, they are difficult from the very beginning and
therefore learners know about the challenges they will have to face from the start. This can
be highly unmotivational, however, and is another reason why English is so popular as a
foreign language - it seems easy at first, and therefore more people are willing to try to
learn it. These non-native speakers are especially important in a global context as it means
that people from different language backgrounds can communicate with each other.

A dominance of one language like this of course also has its dark side. McColl Millar (2005)
addresses this by showing that even though in theory, all languages and language varieties
are equal; we still associate different languages with more or less power or even value, thus
making them unequal. It is hard for people to see the need to learn a language with very
little speakers such as Icelandic, even though theoretically, it is just as valuable as Spanish
for example, linguistically speaking at least.

English as we know it today might be different in the future. It is widely used nowadays by
people who are not natives and therefore use structures that a native English speaker might
not. This does not mean that it is “wrong”, it just means that with every person that speaks
English as a non-native speaker, many influences from their own language and cultural
background come into the English language. It therefore becomes richer and more varied.
Graddol (2010) also believes that depending on the region of the world, English may (have
to) share its supranational status with another language, be it Chinese, Spanish, or
Portuguese. This way there would be not a single language taking over English but the
development of different regional patterns of English-knowing bilingualism.

EVOLUTION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE

There are many species of life that are more than able to communicate, but humans have a
unique form of communication. We are the only species capable of using language as a form
of communication. Think about the first people and how difficult it would have been for
them to communicate without language. From never having a single word to over hundreds
of thousands of words in modern times, all the words that were created in order for people
to communicate are a part of a complex system. It is a difficult concept to understand
because we’ve been using language for most of our lives and all of these words have been in
place for thousands of years. Language is something that is constantly changing, it’s not an
every day change, but it is gradually evolving. For the most part, language is passed down
through generations so parents and children are able to communicate with one another.
Changes in language have occurred throughout centuries over a short period of time and
have evolved through different degrees of English such as old English, middle English, and
modern English.

However, old English wasn’t the first form of English created, but it’s the foundation of our
modern day English. It has come down from many variations of other languages but it’s
roots came from the West-Germanic language. The old English language had many
variations occur from the fifth century to the mid twelfth century. This was due to all the
wars in Europe over land and the struggle for power. The language spoken was, for the most
part, a result of whoever had power. Generally, a society would speak the language of the
king since these earlier eras believed in the divine right of the king. Most people in modern
day America would not be able to understand the language and writings of this time. As a
matter a fact they, wouldn’t be able to recognize some of the letters. Beowulf was one
novel written in the old English language during the year 1066 and is just one example of
the complex forms of old English. Written towards the end of old English and the start of
middle English, there were many centuries before and after Beowulf where the old English
language was still evolving; however, it was the first writing recorded in history that used
the old English language. Many of the characters and spelling are far from similar to modern
day. It is obvious that the English language has come a long way when taking a look at an
example from Beowulf, “Hwæt. We Gardena in geardagum, þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena/ þreatum.” To the majority of
English speakers this writing makes no sense at all, but when it is translated into modern
English like so “LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings, of spear-armed Danes, in days
long sped, we have heard, and what honor the athelings won! Oft Scyld the Scefing from
squadroned foes.” It is much easier to comprehend.

In addition, middle English has evolved a great deal since the beginning of its time into
forming the language we speak today. Middle English started around the twelfth century
and evolved into modern English at the beginning of the sixteenth century. In the beginning
of this era, language was used as a barrier to define one’s social class. Generally the wealthy
would speak French and people of a lower socioeconomic class would speak a little more
advanced form of old English. Then in the fourteenth century the English language became
more dominant again, but this time some of the French language was added into the mix.
During this time period the first dictionary was written. This would supply the English
language with more structure. Now there was a correct and incorrect spelling of a word and
now the word had it’s absolute meaning. To get a better understanding of how much
language has changed from middle English to modern English, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is
an ideal example. “Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote. The droghte of Marche hath
perced to the roote. And bathed every veyne in swich licour. Of which vertu engendred is
the flour.” This frame tale is extremely difficult for modern day English speakers to
understand due to it’s awkward sentence structure and spelling. After being translated into
present day English it would be, “When April with its showers sweet. Has pierced the
drought of March to the root. And bathed every vein in that liquid. By whose power is
produced the flower.” This frame tale becomes much easier to understand. People that
originally migrated to America would have spoken middle English which was the same as
other cultures of Europe, but in modern times our much of our English language has
changed just recently. When comparing the United States to the United Kingdom there are
a few minor changes. Both English speaking countries pronounce words similarly, but have
different accents and spelling. In the United States words spelled with -or, -er, -se, or -ction,
are generally spelled differently in the United Kingdom like -our, -re, -ce, -or -xion. It’s
interesting to see that we had exactly the same language at one point in time and as soon as
America separated itself from the British, both cultures began to have their own distinct
differences implement their language.

Similarly, modern English has made many advancements in changing our modern day
language. Modern English started in the early sixteenth century, but this language breaks
down into two groups, early modern English and late modern English. Early modern English
lasted three centuries and only had small scale changes to the English language. The largest
change was the Great Vowel Shift, which caused vowels pronunciation to get shorter and
shorter. The beginning of the printing press started in this time period and mass publishing
resulted in catching on to new words and phrases.

Consequently, the late modern English era was created. Late modern English started in the
nineteenth century and goes all the way up to present day. The biggest boom in language
reform has occurred just recently. The main factor behind this is the new improvements in
technology. Within the last few years technological advancements have exploded. One of
the easiest ways to communicate with people in modern times is to send a quick text.
Generally speaking, a person will change the spelling of words, drop vowels or a repeated
letter, replace words with numbers, and even use made up acronyms while texting to make
things quick and simple. This poor use of grammar, spelling, and punctuation creates bad
habits for the youth. Another form of language change involved with advancements of
technology would be the use of computers. Social networking sites such as Myspace,
Facebook, and Twitter have slowly reshaped the way people talk with one another.

Language is always evolving and the English language might have gone through the quickest
phase of evolution which can be seen through examples of old English, middle English, and
modern English. These changes may be subtle or drastic as verbal and written methods of
communication change with cultures and societies. Language reform has occurred for
centuries now and as long as societies and cultures evolve, language will continue to change
to meet the needs of communication.

The English language has been an important medium of the press for nearly 400 years. As early as
the first decades of the seventeenth century, several European countries were publishing
rudimentary newspapers, but censorship, taxation, wars, and other constraints allowed little
growth.4 Progress was much greater in Britain, though even in that country periods of censorship
greatly limited newspaper content until towards the end of the century. The Weekley Newes began
to appear (irregularly) from 1622; the London Gazette in 1666; and Lloyd’s News in 1696, providing
general news as well as information about shipping. American developments, beginning somewhat
later, included the Boston News-Letter (1704), The New-York Gazette (1725), and the New York City
Daily Advertiser (1785). The beginning of the eighteenth century in Britain saw the rise and fall of
The Tatler (1709) and The Spectator (1711), while the end brought the arrival of The Times (1788)
and The Observer (1791). The nineteenth century was the period of greatest progress, thanks to the
introduction of new printing technology

The number of people who speak English has gradually increased all over the world since
the mid-16th century. This huge increase in the number of English speakers in the world is
the result of the expansion of the English language from the British Isles to different areas
and continents in the world. As a result, English became the most dominant and most
powerful language in the world that motivated many linguists and language researchers.
The British colonial activity, in addition for spreading the English language all over the globe,
has resulted in the creation of new varieties of English which were influenced by the
aboriginal languages of the colonised countries.’

Since the Industrial Revolution, technology has become an integral part of our everyday
lives. In fact, a life without technology seems almost impossible to imagine. Almost
everyone around the globe has access to technology in one form or another. Consequently,
this type of technology has become ingrained into our culture. The Internet has radically
changed the manner in which we communicate and how we communicate with one
another. With the sudden surge of email, blogs, and instant messaging that occurred within
the last couple of decades, the impact that technology has on our linguistics has become
more pronounced. Technology has helped to bridge the gap between people by allowing us
to communicate as easily as we breathe. On this note, one would think that the dawn of the
Era of Technology would give birth to a renaissance of the English language but, instead, the
converse is taking place. With such widespread prevalence of technology such as
smartphones and computers, the degradation of the English language is a problem now
more than ever.