This essay brings different insights on the present English and the world which English develops in. English today is the most widespread world language. Different sources and observation about global English will also be provided.
Current issues of English as the global language concern Rita Raley, scholar at Department of English at University of California. The author follows different opinions and finally concludes that it is a potential for a unification that makes English the global language (Raley). This opinion is not only a speculation. Nations unified under English became in history the leading powers of the world. Firstly, take for instance the naval supremacy of United Kingdom. Country which subdued a great part of the world and set colonies all around the it. Secondly, USA was the leading country in technology economy and art throughout twentieth century.
David Crystal is concerned about historical development of insights on the role of English as a superior language. Crystal remarks, “English was no real match for Latin at the international level […] but within two years, Walter Raleigh´s first expedition to America had set sail, and the situation was about to alter fundamentally” (65). Here we see a link to the second paragraph which supports the significance of Great Britain as supremal country which influenced whole of the world. There were of course other factors but the unification played the most important role, where there is a unity, is power and progress.
Alstair Pennycook deals with the wordliness of English. The author claims that there was a large fail concerning the predominant paradigm of analyzing of the spread of English. Teachers of English have failed to adress the cultural implications of this spread, it was taken as natural and beneficial. English is some kind of threat to other languages (Pennycook 86). Each nation wants to expand and bring about its influence upon other nations and countries. If a nation did not endeavour to expand, it would fall apart, it would be destroyed by more ambitious one. English speaking countries are to strenghten their economic and political interests via the widespread English which is perceived as a gate to wealth and prestige. Country which is not going to accept this, is going to be in a disadvantage (Pennycook 86). This, as Pennycook claims, concludes in the global inequalities. To get along with consequences of such inequalities means to support language-planing policies, when identifying English, we ought not to forget to examine and maintain other languages (Pennycook 86). When we distinguish English from another language, we see differences. These tell us a lot about the particular language and also about English.
Today, people in the world struggle the same way they struggled years ago. The only difference is that the tool for fighting is not a sword or a gun, it is word. Words of English won major part of the world. It would be unwise to deny it and even more unwise to fight English back. Wisdom dwells in cooperation and agreement. Let us not use words for fighting, let us use it for cooperation and unification. Let us find mutual answer to divergent problems.
Bibliography
Crystal, David. English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997. Print
Pennycook, Alstair. “English in the World/World in the English”. Print
Raley, Rita. “What is global English?”
http://www.english.ucsb.edu/faculty/rraley/research/global-english.html. Web.
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