Page ten who speaks English ss book
English speaking Countries
Spread of English Language page 6 ss page 41GLOBAL!A"O#
1st
Through British British colonisation colonisation and Empire Empire building building
2nd
Through American American involvement involvement in the world world afairs
Other actors
Advertising, broadcasting, motion pictures, popular music, international travel, education The spread of English English across the Globe: Social, Political and Cultural factors
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 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. oreover, 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. It is important to have in mind how and why English has spread across the globe the way it has!
a) British Colonialism We all know that long before this expansion of English as a global language, there were other minor spreads of the language, as for instance the spread of English to Scotland because of the military escapades of William the Conqueror !!th century) or to "reland with the #nglo$%orman troops sent by &enry ""' But in global terms, the spread of ( English began in !th century, when the language became a tool of imperial expansion, and end up by gaining a special place in the history of a significant number of countries' *his was what happened in +S#, but also in other colonial areas' ou ha-e here a table in which you can find how( English spread took place in different territories conquered by the English' Place Canada
The Caribbea n
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa
Facts .rench were present in Canada from !/01, and -ied with Britain for domination' .inally, .rench defeated by Britain' .rench and English languages there, b ut .rench$ speakers remained in the East when process of English coloni2ation began' English in contact with nati-e languages, but the former predominated' &owe-er, the .rench of 3uebec remained' *he most spoken language is Spanish, but there are also other European languages complex colonial history)' #frican sla-es in this area, they de-eloped creoles as a means of communicating among themsel-es' "t gained societal status' &owe-er, no creole has gained enough status to be accepted as a national language' %owadays, English and Spanish are the official languages' 4isco-ered by Captain 5ames Cook in !661, it ser-ed as the first penal colony' British prisons were o-ercrowded and con-icts were sent to #ustralia' By !711 it had 8 million inhabitants from British "sles' Contact between indigenous and coloni2ers led to borrowing items' English as the official language' *here has been #merican English influence, and -ocabulary has been affected' %o con-icts in %ew 9ealand, and slow settlement' "t became an official colony in !:81' By !711, it has a quarter of million people' ;eople there are more inclusi-e of the indigenous population and it is one reason why the language contains a large number of
1 onwards, when Englishmen got lands there' English became the official language of the region in !:>> and by the end of !7th c', there were half a million immigrants there, most of them spoken English'
#frikaans$speakers used English as a second language, and nowadays English is one of the !! official languages in South #frica' South #bout 81 million users of English, the 0rd$larger English using area after +S# and Asia ?reat Britain' English de-eloped as a medium of control @administration, education, etc'$ in the period of the British Aa= !6/$!786), creating an English$based subculture in the subcontinent' *he basis for the subculture was the English language @as language is equated with power' Former Bu the !7th c', the increase in trade and acti-ities in opposition to sla-e trade brought Colonial English to the entire West #frican coast, and se-eral English$based pidgins and creoles Africa: de-eloped' English is still taught and used, being an official language there' British West -arieties of English de-elop in particular countries, which ha-e English as an official Africa language Sierra eone, ?hana, *he ?ambia, %igeria, Cameroon and iberia' East Disited by English in the !th century, it was not explored until !:/1s' *he "mperial Africa East #frica Company was founded in !:::, and a series of colonial protectorates was established' *here are main states with a history of British rule that ga-e English official status when they gained their independence enya, *an2ania, +ganda,
b) "ndustrial Ae-olution #s we can imagine, British colonialism was the first step of the expansion of English across the world' But it is also -ery important the "ndustrial Ae-olution in terms of the spread of English' Britain was the leader of the "ndustrial Ae-olution, and large$scale manufacturing and production machinery were =ust some of the ma=or technological ad-ancements being pioneered there' Countries which needed this new industrial knowledge could access it -ia the medium of English, something which made powerful again the language internationally' #nd the de-elopment of technology was side by side with the spread of English' .or instance, English was the language in which the system of telegraph was de-eloped, and English became the international language of all telegraph operators'
c) #merican Economic superiority and ;olitical eadership' #lthough Britain had been the greatest political, economic and industrial power in the world in the !:th century, by the end of the !7th and the early >1th centuries +S# emerged as an economic and political superpower' 4uring this time, the countries if the world began to came together in international organi2ations, and they need to be able to communicate' &owe-er, it was -ery
expensi-e to run multilingual operations, so they decided that English would be the language used in their international interactions'
d) #merican *echnology eadership' #fter the World War "" and particularly in the !7:1s and !771s, the computer re-olution began all o-er the world' "t was due to the #merican technology and the #merican know$how' So, it is logic that the language of the computers is English' *he main reason why it is like this is the fac t that, although it could be designed with languages of one own country, this process it -ery expensi-e'
e) Gther factors' Adertisin! : 4uring the !7th century the use of ad-ertisements in publication increased, especially in more industriali2ed countries, due to the fact that there was more money and also more people interesting on them' "n +S#, howe-er, they reali2ed that if they put ad-ertisements in their maga2ines, they could put lower the price of their maga2ines, something which led them to sell more and more of them' #nd as the international market grew, the media spread to all parts of the world, and became one of the most noticeable global manifestations of English language use' #merican English ruled' -
$ "roadcastin! #s it has been already mentioned, the in-ention and use of telegraph supposed a -ery great impulse to English language' Britain was the pioneer in the use of telegraph, and all communications were made in English, ha-ing being necessary that all telegraph operators spoke English' So, it was one of the most important fact in the spread of English though the world' $ #otion $ictures *he new technologies altered the way of public entertainment, and it also ser-es as a thrust of the English language' *he de-elopment of the cinema was made initially by .rance and England, but the years during the World War " supposed a kind of blockage of cinema, and then #merican began to dominate it'
;resley in +S# or the Beatles and the Aolling Stones in +' %o other single source has spread English around the world so rapidly' $ International trael and safet% : *he medium in transportation and accommodation is English' Equally, English instructions about safety on international flights and sailings and indications about emergency procedures are in English' English then has become the international language' H#irspeakI, the language of international aircraft control, emerged after the Second War World, and it was decided that English would be the international language of a-iation' $ Education "nternationally, areas as science and technology ha-e the medium of English language to spread o-er the world their ideas' "t is the main reason why many countries ha-e adopted English as the chief foreign languages in schools' "t is ob-ious that people all o-er the world ha-e to know English if they are students, as most of the important words in the field of education are written in English'
Date 17 and 18th centuries 18th and 1th centuries th
!ate 1th and earl" #$th c% Second half of #th c%
Facts English spread as a result of British colonialism English spread as the language of ( British leadership in the "ndustrial Ae-olution English spread as the language of ( #merican economic superiority and political leadership' English spread as a consequence of ( #merican technological domination'
