English And Globalization

The idea of the English language today entails globalisation, in other words connecting across borders effectively through a widespread common language. Whether it be when conducting political agendas, sharing knowledge for innovative future projects or express a diverse cul-tural fascination, English is the preferred language to use. However, English is not seen as the perfect global language. As Masani states, “Most of the political hostility to English now comes from extreme regional chauvinists who condemn it as a Trojan horse of globalisation, trampling on local identities.”

This paper argues how the spread of the British Empire during the 19th century and the globalisation during the 20th century has changed English from a language

Instead the focus will be on the global scale and only refer to certain events etc. without going into elaborate details.

Understanding the position English has as a language, Svartvik notes “… we can say that English benefited from three overlapping eras of world history. The first was the era of the imperial expansion…The second is the era of technological revolution… The third is the era of globalization.” As Svartvik’s comments explains the spread of English and globalisation, referring to this passage will occur later on again.

The imperial expansion during the Victorian period was astonishing. The British Empire saw the industrial revolution earlier than other western nations and managed to establish col-onies across Africa and Asia. This naturally meant English reached the distant colonies as well. Over time the English language was able to establish itself across the globe, even if it was solely spoken by native English

While the imperial expansion dur-ing the 19th century enabled a vast spread of English, America created a media in the 20th cen-tury, whose popularity gained a global audience. Furthermore, the 20th century began to glob-alise as a means to prevent global wars and re-build the global economy. Hence, the need for a global language became urgent. A global language would be convenient between communi-cation across boarders such as in air travel and in the political unions. This ultimately led to English being chosen as the global language. Despite the resistance met, English was never-theless more spread out and talked than any other language in comparison. This was the result of imperialism, but also Americanisation. English changed from being a language forced upon others to a language sought out, in the cultural and political sphere. It was also the the lan-guage offering the best opportunities on the global