THE ROLE OF ENGLISH IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Melvyn A. Hasman

The global spread of English over the last 40 years has been remarkable. It is unparalleled in several ways: by the increasing number of users of the language: by its depth of penetration into societies; by its range of functions.

Worldwide over 1.4 billion people live in countries where English has official status. One out of five of the world's population speaks some English. And at present one in five—over one billion people—are learning English. Over 70 % of the world's scientists read English. About 85 % of the world's mail is written is English. And 90 % of all information in the world's electronic retrieval systems is stored in English. By 2010, the number of people who speak English as a second or foreign language will exceed the number of native speakers. This trend will certainly affect the language.

English is used for more purposes than ever before. Vocabularies, grammatical forms, and ways of speaking and writing have emerged influenced by technological and scientific developments, economics and management, literature and entertainment. What began some 1,500 years ago as a crude language, originally spoken by little known German tribes who invaded England, now covers the globe.

When Mexican pilots land their airplanes in France, they and the ground controllers use English. When German physicists want to alert the international scientific community to new discoveries, they first publish their findings in English. When Japanese executives conduct business with Scandinavian businessmen, they negotiate in English. When pop singers write their songs, they often use English. When demonstrators want to alert the world to their problems, they display signs in English.

Three factors continue to contribute to this spread of English: English usage in science, technology and commerce; the ability to integrate vocabulary from other languages; and the acceptability of various English dialects.

In science, English replaced German after World War II. With this technical and scientific dominance came the beginning of overall dominance by the language, first in Europe and then globally.

Today, the information age has replaced the industrial age and has compressed time and distance. This is transforming world economies from industrial production to information-based goods and services. Ignoring geography and borders, the information revolution is redefining our world. In less than 20 years, information processing, once limited to the printed work, has given way to computers and the Internet. Computer-aided communication is closing the gap between spoken and written English. It encourages more informal conversational language and a tolerance for diversity and individual style.

English, like many languages, uses a phonetic alphabet and fairly basic grammar. But most importantly, it has a large and extensive vocabulary, of which about 80 % is foreign. It has borrowed and continues to borrow words from Spanish and French, Hebrew and Arabic, Hindi-Urdu and Bengali, Malay and Chinese, as well as languages from West Africa and Polynesia. This language characteristic makes it unique in history.

Finally, no English language central authority guards the standards of the language, therefore, many dialects have developed: American, British, Canadian, Indian, and Australian, to name a few. There is no standard pronunciation. But within this diversity is a unity of grammar and one set of core vocabulary. Thus, each country that speaks the language can introduce aspects of its own culture into the usage and vocabulary.

However, the future is unpredictable. There has never been a language so widely spread or spoken by so many people as English. So, there are no examples to help us predict what happens to a language when it achieves genuine world status.

The world is in transition, and the English language will take new forms. The language and how it is used will change, reflecting new patterns of contact with other languages and the changing communication needs of people.

English is ridding itself of its political and cultural associations as more people realize that English is not the property of only a few countries. Instead, it is a vehicle that is used globally. It belongs to whoever uses it for whatever purpose or need.

There is no reason to believe that any one other language will appear within the next 50 years to replace English. However, it is possible that English will not remain unchallenged in the 21st century. Rather, a small number of languages may share in importance—each with a special area of influence. For example, Spanish is rising because of expanding trade and the increase of the Latino population in the United States. This could create a bilingual English-Spanish region.

A language shift, in which individuals change their language loyalties, is another possibility. These shifts are slow and difficult to predict. But within the next 50 years substantial language shifts could occur as economic development affects more countries.

Because of these shifts in loyalties, more languages may disappear. Those remaining will rapidly get more native speakers. This includes English.

Universities using English as the medium of instruction will expand and rapidly create a generation of middle-class professionals. Economic development will only increase the middle class, a group that is more likely to learn and use English in jobs.

While languages such as English, German, and French have been international languages because of their governments' political power, this is less likely to be the case in the 21st century where economics and shifts in population will have more influence on languages.

English has been an international language for only 50 years. If the pattern follows the previous language trends, we still have about 100 years before a new language dominates the world. However, this does not mean that English is replacing or will replace other languages as many fear. Instead, it may supplement or co-exist with languages by allowing strangers to communicate across language boundaries. It may become one tool that opens windows to the world, unlocks doors to opportunities, and expands our minds to new ideas.