Global English and

its Functions

Students: Karine Kocharyan

Yelena Jivanshiryan
Supervisor: A. Galstyan
INTRODUCTION
In this paper we concentrate on the purpose of discussing the current spread and status of English
around the world. With the ever-growing levels of interconnectivity and globalization around the world, the
significance of immediate and appropriate modes of communication has been increasing very rapidly in
this modern world. It is an undeniable fact that there is a need for a common language to communicate
with the present growing commerce and trade between companies from all over the world. With the
development of informatization as well as globalization, it is evident that most people all over the world are
communicating with the people of other regions in only one internationally recognized language, that is,
English. English, being the first world language, is said to be the first global lingua franca and it is the
most widely used language in the world in international trade, diplomacy, mass entertainment,
international telecommunications and scientific publications as well as publishing newspapers and other
books.
As English is a lingua franca, most of the native and non-native speakers of English are using English
as their mode of communication in their business matters or business organizations.
Undoubtedly, English occupies a unique place as it is the language that is so extensively used and so
firmly established as a dominant global language in the above mentioned fields and the dominance of
English has become like a snowball that is too big to prevent.
We also concentrate on the facts about the spread of English. Specifically, we try to identify the areas of
life where English already serves as a lingua franca.
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF GLOBAL
ENGLISH
Why is English the global language, and not some other?’ There are two answers to the question: one is
geographical-historical; the other is socio-cultural. The geo-historical answer shows how English reached
a position of pre-eminence. The socio-cultural answer explains why it remains so. The combination of
these two strands has brought into existence a language which consists of many varieties, each
distinctive in its use of sounds, grammar, and vocabulary, and the implications of this.

English is now represented in every continent, and in

islands of the three major oceans – Atlantic (St
Helena), Indian (Seychelles) and Pacific (in many
islands, such as Fiji and Hawaii).
English has always been on the move. As soon as it arrived in England from
northern Europe, in the fifth century, it began to spread around the British Isles.
It entered parts of Wales, Cornwall, Cumbria and southern Scotland,
traditionally the strongholds of the Celtic languages.

After the Norman invasion of 1066, many nobles from England fled north to
Scotland, where they were made welcome, and eventually the language (in a
distinctive Scots variety) spread throughout the Scottish lowlands. From the
twelfth century, Anglo-Norman knights were sent across the Irish Sea, and
Ireland gradually fell under English rule.
 From the seventeenth century onwards, the English began to extend their language over the world. It is
due to so important factors as the power of the British Empire, the importance in the Industrial revolution
taking place in England for the first time or the supremacy of America in all over the world. Moreover, we
all know that English has become a global language in the last fifty years, being the official language of
the international and multinational companies and industries, and the language of Internet.
By 1800, Britain had colonies from India to Canada and exported goods all over the world. Consumer
goods like sugar, tea and coffee became common in Europe. Gold and ivory were shipped from Africa
and traded for Indian cotton, tea, china, silk and spices in Asia. Native Africans were taken prisoner and
traded for British goods on the African West Coast, and then sold as slaves on the other side of the
Atlantic, in the West Indies and America.
Throughout the 19th century, Britain dominated the world and spread the English language to all
corners of the globe. Words from Asian and African languages were
also adopted into English. For example: jazz – from West African
languages, banana – West African, zombie – likely from West
African, manga, anime- from Japanese, chop, chow- from
Chinese,etc.
 There are other areas where English serves largely as a lingua franca in the world. The international
press and international sports are two. People in the business of diffusing international news, or the firms
active in the diffusion process itself, must obtain their information quickly. As a result, they have veered
heavily toward English in data transmission among themselves. In close connection, there is a heavy
concentration of providers of international news in English-speaking countries, including Reuters, the
Associated Press, the BBC, NBC, and the New York Times.
International sports also require a lingua franca for the minimal communication necessary when
competing athletes and an umpire meet on a playing field.
Perhaps the most intriguing area of English as a lingua franca is science and scholarship. There have
been studies of publications in the natural sciences from 1880 to 1996 based on American, French,
German and Russian bibliographies. The results, which are drawn from original work by Tsunoda (1983)
and Ammon (1998), are summarized in Hamel (2007). They show only 36 per cent of publications in
English in 1880, followed by a rise to around 50 per cent in 1940-50 to 75 per cent in 1980 and 91 per
cent in 1996.
 Which refers to the English-speaking world English speakers are commonly divided into three categories:
English as a native language (ENL), English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language
(EFL). Speakers of ENL, also often called native English speakers mainly include the populations of the UK, the
USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, which have been referred to as ‘the traditional cultural and linguistic
bases of English’. ESL speakers come from former British colonies, such as India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and
Singapore. EFL speakers, who are on the rise, come from countries such as China and Japan, where
traditionally English has no internal purposes and they historically learned English to use with native English
speakers.

•there are between 320–380 million people who speak English as a first language;
•there are between 300–500 million people who speak English as a second language;
•there are nearly one billion people who speak English as a foreign language, or as a
lingua franca.
 ENGLISH TODAY. THE SPREAD OF ENGLISH IN DIFFERENT SPHERES
The present-day world status of English is primarily the result of two factors: the expansion of British colonial power, which
peaked towards the end of the nineteenth century, and the emergence of the United States as the leading economic power of
the twentieth century. It is the latter factor which continues to explain the world position of the English language today.
We can think of the spread of English around the world as three concentric circles,
representing different ways in which the language has been acquired and is currently
used. Although not all countries fit neatly into this model, it has been widely regarded as
a helpful approach.
The inner circle refers to the traditional bases of English, where it is the primary
language: it includes the USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The outer or extended circle involves the earlier phases of the spread of English in non-
native settings, where the language has become part of a country’s chief institutions, and
plays an
important ‘second language’ role in a multilingual setting: it includes Singapore, India,
Malawi and over fifty other territories.
The expanding or extending circle involves those nations which recognize the
importance of English as an international language, though they do not have a history of
colonization by
members of the inner circle. It includes China, Japan, Greece, Poland and (as the name of
this circle suggests) a steadily increasing number of other states. In these areas, English is
taught as a foreign language.
Even in the scientific publications, English plays a dominant role.
Moreover, almost all the articles published in natural science in 1996
were in English and 90% of the publications in humanities by 1995 were
also in English. It is a known fact that English plays a predominant role in
the field of education all over the world. It has become a compulsion to
learn English as most of the books of higher education are written in
English. English is the main medium used in the various fields of
education and it is the only language where the information is stored in
the form of books and journals in both printed and electronic form.
Another advantage of learning English is getting
employment as most of the job providers ask for
the language skills, especially, communication
skills in English. This is because most of the
companies are dealing with the international
companies.  
In the modern business world, English is widely
used for all the international business, trade and
commerce. As a global language, English serves
the purposes of the multi-national companies’
needs and it is being used as a tool of
communication between one business organization
and the other. Using the latest technologies in
business, the mode of communication such as
emails, letters, documentations, video, fax,
telephone, etc. are mainly done in English.
 CONCLUSION
In this paper, the importance of English as a global language has been comprehensively discussed and some
statistical data has also been given as evidence to prove that English is the only language that is internationally spoken
and accepted language.
The historical overview of English has shown that the one consistent element of English over time is that it is not a
monolithic entity, but one that adapts and changes according to its surroundings. English has changed dramatically
over the last ten centuries, since its emergence from the Old Norse-influenced Anglo-Saxon languages of the first
millennium.
Furthermore, history has shown other huge influences by later languages, such as Norman French.
The importance of English in the fields of science and technology, education, business, travel and tourism has been
thoroughly discussed.
Even though there are certain fields that are not mentioned, it seems that English plays a dominant in those areas also.
The interesting trend in the twenty-first century is that some of the biggest economies such as China, Japan, Russia,
France and Brazil are focusing on English language after realizing the value of English at global level.
THANK
YOU!