Historical background of the expansion of English In-depth understanding of the term “linguistic imperialism” requires the clarification of historical roots of the spread of the English language which led to the formation of the concept. The historical background will unfold the main factors of the expansion by providing an explanation of key concepts. There are many countries in the world, and languages spoken by their inhabitants are even more. So, how do the people of Earth understand each other? As for this purpose we, fortunately, have the international languages, which allows all of us to communicate with each other, regardless of nationality or place of residence.
English is now considered an international language and a lingua franca for many nations. It reached a level of globalization where it became a language that operates as a mean of communication worldwide. Many linguists see that English is the most developed language in the world, as many theories has been developed around the language to analyze its origin and how it achieved its global state. English is not a language for just the United Kingdom of Britain; 1.5 to 2 billion English active speakers exist today and they use English in their professional and personal life. English, nowadays, has become a language for almost everything, so English now has its global identity.
Because of this, Britain, and therefore the English language, had a very extensive influence over a large portion of the world. This led to English being spoken globally, as the colonies of the British Empire developed English as the lingua franca. Now, the British Empire is no more, so why is everyone still speaking English? Well, though the English left the colonies, the English language didn’t. As you are probably aware, English is still spoken today as a first language in Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, and of course, the United States of America, as well as many more.
Communicating is one of the most important aspects of human existence. Effectively communicating allows writers and speakers to transmit knowledge and information to others. Everyone communicates through a selected language of choice. English, which is one of the most widely known and understood languages in the world, is one example of how a specific language is used to pass on knowledge and ideas to others. Even though English is understood universally by millions of people around the world, English spoken in different places is unique to that particular location.
GROWING DEMAND FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD A.V.Rajya Lakshmi, M.A.,M.Phil., H.O.D. of Engish, BCAS, Bapatla Email: rajayalakshmibcas@gmail.com Today’s world considers English as a global language because there has never been a language so widely spread or spoken by so many people as English. It makes news daily in many countries and is adopted by many countries. It has a special role to play in the countries where it has been accepted as the official language and is being used as a medium of communication. It has reached the present day status primarily because of two main factors – the expansion of British Empire in the 19th Century and the emergence of the United States as the leading economic power of the 20th Century.
Language, as a main means of communication, plays a very important role because it helps us communicate and interact with each other. By the use of sounds and conventional symbols, we create language, a communication by word of mouth. A language lives for as long as people use it as a native language. English language is the most important language around the world. It is spoken as a first language in many countries and as an international language all around the world.
In some cases, the speakers of a language or the language itself can be so dynamic that they borrow from every language they come into contact with. A case in point is English. English is such a dynamic language that it has borrowed extensively from the languages of whatever culture it came into contact with to make up its word-stock. This dynamism has led English to borrow more than half of its vocabulary stock from other languages in the world ranging from the most remote to the well-known. In this light, Crystal (1997) describes English as an “insatiable borrower” as about 120 languages serve as sources for the contemporary English vocabulary.
This was known as the first diaspora (16th and 17th century) and for the second diaspora (18th and 19th century), English spread to Asia and Africa through colonisation. The second dispersal of English results in the emergence of World Englishes and crucially, it is also the common tongue for many non-English speakers the world over, and almost a quarter of the globe’s population - maybe 1½-2 billion people - can understand it and have at least some basic competence in its use, whether written or spoken. (Who Speaks
English is an official language in majority countries of the world. Moreover, many people are used English to communicate to each other. Additionally, English is the main language that is used in most higher education institutes and universities all over the world. Majority educational subjects are written in English even for the primary school. You can brighten your future with education, which is a useful tool which will follow you for the entire of your life (Mandela, n.d.).
Notably, the environment and the atmosphere of an English language institution play a major factor in educating the students in the correct usage of the English language. Under these circumstances, there is a strong need to conduct researches in order to devise strategic plans that will aim to address the issues that were discussed