LANGUAGE

There are over 850 languages spoken in Papua New Guinea

There are 780 languages spoken in India today

Where is English Distributed?  Look at English as a case study of how language is diffused (2) English is spoken by ½ billion people (2 nd behind Mandarin Chinese). Nearly all Chinese speakers in China but English speakers distributed across the globe English = official language of 42 countries, more than any other language

English Diffusion  Diffusion of English is a result of migration/colonization/imperialism. Every time the English colonized a place, they made English the official language. Modern day English speaking countries is a map of colonialism: To N. America – 17 th C Ireland 17 th C S. Asia mid 18 th C S Pacific late 18 th C S. Africa late 19 th C

Global Dominance of English  Globalization produces a need for a common language of communication. Today that language is English.  Lingua Franca: when people of different languages need to communicate quickly and efficiently they use a lingua franca…a language of international communication. (ex: Russian was the lingua franca of USSR)

English = Global Lingua Franca  Polish airline pilot flying over France speaks English to air traffic control  English = official language in many factories and businesses around the globe  Most info on WWW = in English  Language of pop culture = English  Among EU countries, 83% of high scholars speak English

English = Lingua Franca  Japanese schools require 6 yrs of English and Japanese government has considered making Eng an official 2 nd language  Universities around the globe that teach in English are often most competitive because students feel it’s necessary to enter global economy

 Modern English is very difficult to learn for non-native speakers because of odd spellings, unusual grammar rules, lots of exceptions to the rule (Eng is hodge podge of Celts, Welsh, Normans, Vikings, mixed with Romance languages, etc.)