by Damyanti Ghosh

Created on: April 09, 2009

In the twenty-first century one sees an increasing prevalence of the English language. So much so that it is one of the five languages most spoken in the world: it is present on all the continents either as a native, second or third language. About 500 million to a billion people are estimated English speakers today either as a first or second language. Given the increasing stress by various African and Asian countries on introducing English in schools, about two billion more would be speaking this language within a decade. Most international communication today is in English, but this globalization of one particular language has its own set of pros and cons.

Before examining these pros and cons, it might be useful to examine how English came to be one of the most commonly used languages in the world. Historically, this language came into Britain from northern Europe during the fifth century and moved to the Asian, African and American continents with the expeditions and colonizations that followed in the last three centuries. English was left behind as a legacy in the colonized countries as they became independent nations, and was often made the official language of communication.

With the rise of technology, especially the media in the form of the radio, television and the internet, the dissemination of English became reinforced. Not only the media but trade became truly globalized with the rise of off-shoring and outsourcing made possible with better technology. The rise of multinational companies and corporations, and international organizations like UNESCO enhanced the need of a global language. English was there to readily fill in the gap, with its already existing spread and flexibility.

Since English was already present in various places like India and Africa as a result of former colonization, it was easier for the language to spread further. English has been touted time and again as a language that could successfully eliminate the need for translation during communication in business, political, and cultural contexts. It has a huge vocabulary of more than 80,000 words which makes it very expressive, and the written script is similar to that of many European languages because of a common origin in Latin.

But the increasing use of English in countries with different native languages has an effect of diminishing the status of these indigenous languages. This is even more significant given the history of the English language which was earlier seen as a symbol

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