English Language Around The World
By Sharon White

Geographically, English is the most widespread language on earth. It’s widely spoken on six countries, and is the official language, or one of the official languages, in 55 countries. 400-500 million people speak it as their native language (second only to Mandarin Chinese, which has about 700 million native speakers). In addition, roughly the same number speak English as their second language, or use it in their daily lives for business, study and so on. In other words, one is every 6-7 people on our planet regularly uses some sort of English – and the percentage is growing all the time. Experts predict English language to be widespread greatly in following decades, as it’s already took over up to one billion people all over the world and this number is growing each day. The following are a few of the many reasons why English is so widely spoken.

*English is the official language in many of Britain’s former colonies, such as America, Australia and New Zealand.

* The economic power of Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, and of the US in the 20th century, helped to make English the language of the world trade. Entertainment has helped to spread the use of English, because of the worldwide popularity of English-language films, TV programmes and pop music.

Pennycook in his book gives explanations to such a rapid and remarkable spread of a single language throughout the world.

In January 1988 the British House of Lords held a debate on cultural diplomacy in which Lord St John Fawsley (former Conservative Minister for the Arts) stated: “If I were asked what had been this country’s three greatest contributions to world civilization I should reply unhesitatingly: the common law, parliamentary government, English language and literature. And at the heart of all three lies the idea of liberty. I do not believe that we can export our institutions indiscriminately, but by informing people of how they work and flourish, by imparting thoughts about them, we can enhance the chances for freedom elsewhere.” This quote mirrors claims made in 1935 by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) on the foundation of the British Council: “Our object is to assist the largest number possible to appreciate fully the glories of our literature, our contribution to the arts and sciences, and our pre-eminent contribution to political practice. This can best be achieved by promoting the study of language abroad.”