Jasmin Ibrahimović Group-C

English is the number one global language and it will remain the
unchallenged and unquestioned global language throughout the 21st century.
There are no other languages that seriously compete for this position.
A global language (GL) may be defined as the language which besides having a mother
tongue role in certain countries is widely used and given special status in countries all over the
world. Bearing in mind this narrow definition, a GL is not a language which has most mother
tongue speakers, but it is a language which has to be given special place in communities around
the globe, and this is done either by giving it a status of an official language which is used in
spheres of human life such as law, administration or education, or by making it “the” foreign
language to be taught in schools(Crystal, 1997:3). Throughout the history many influential
languages emerged but none of them achieved a wholly global status, because they were either
favoured in certain domains of human life or spoken within specific geographical regions. Even
during the 20th century a considerable balance between three influential languages existed
(French, Spanish and English) until it was disturbed by the rising popularity and the use of
English in the closing two decades of the century. The purpose of this essay is to comment on
English’s global status and its probable dominance over other languages in the 21st century,
introducing arguments speaking in favour of this statement, while also showing negative
implications this status of English carries with it.
The English language is evidently number one GL and there are numerous examples
upholding this statement. Firstly, the tendency towards English within European Union’s
institutions, whose dominant language ever since its foundation has been French, is more than
obvious. This is primarily due to the expansion of the European Union and the new countries
joining it prefer English as a language of official communication within these institutions.
According to the article “The galling rise of English” in The Economist, 2003, “… over 92% of
secondary- school students in the European Union’s non-English-speaking countries are studying
English, compared with 33% learning French and 13% studying German.”1- which determines
this preference. Another important fact acknowledging English as a GL is the number of its
speakers around the world. According to Crystal(1997:4,5) nearly quarter of the world’s
population is already fluent or competent in English and this figure is steadily growing- in the
late 1990s, that means between 1.2 and 1.5 billion, and no other language can match this growth.
1
“The galling rise of English” The Economist Feb 27th 2003, pg 1,
 Jasmin Ibrahimović Group-C

These figures are not in any way insignificant, and they are not to be attributed to the beauty of
English but to its economic utility, since the knowledge of English opens great business
possibilities. Most of the international business meetings are held in English, and in most cases an
English speaking country is directly or indirectly involved. Besides the large number of its
speakers and English’s business importance, English is also performing special roles in many
countries. Among these many countries are India and Singapore where the special role is
signalled by the official status it was assigned. Such a treatment given to English around the
world, and particularly in these two countries, is both a prerequisite for and recognition of its
global status. In addition to these arguments it also possible to show how English in the process
of globalisation is gaining on popularity and how countries around the world are becoming
acutely conscious of its importance and the opportunities the knowledge of English offers. The
country which came to realise its potential as a GL is certainly Bosnia and Herzegovina. A
questionnaire that was conducted with thirty people of various ages in Tuzla (See Appendix 1 and
2) showed a significant change in attitude towards English within a single decade. Most of the
middle-aged and older interviewees have never learned English, while almost all interviewees
who started their primary education five to seven years before the war that took place in Bosnia
between the years 1992 and 1995, during it and immediately after it have learned English
throughout their primary and secondary education, which shows how drastically nation’s attitude
towards English has changed. It is clear that English is the number one GL and that it will remain
the world’s number one language in the 21st century.
In contrast to the positive aspects and arguments for English as a GL, there are also a lot
of negative implications that its emergence has. First of all it is important to introduce a division
of English speakers in three circles concerning their relation to the language in order to show the
language abuse English is subjected to by its diverse speakers. The first or “the inner circle”
includes countries such as United Kingdom and the United States where English is spoken as a
mother tongue. In the second or “the outer circle” are countries such as India and Singapore
where English is used as a second language or complement to the mother tongue. And finally
there is also the third or “the expanding circle” which comprises countries like China and Russia
where English is taught as a foreign language (Harmer, 2001:8). Speakers in “the outer circle”
use English as a second language, which means that it is almost equally used as their mother
tongue. English in these countries is adapted to their needs, so that new words were introduced as
 Jasmin Ibrahimović Group-C

well as their distinctive pronunciation was developed, which in most cases makes their English
incomprehensible to native speakers. Famous Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe said, “The price a
world language must be prepared to pay is submission to many different kinds of use” (qtd. in
Crystal, 1997:136). Next consequence the GL has is the inequality between native speakers and
those learning it as a foreign language. People having it as a mother tongue will easily
communicate their ideas, express approval or disapproval and advocate in favour of their
viewpoints, while those learning it as a foreign language will be confined to certain learned or
acquired vocabulary range. Furthermore, out of inequality antagonism towards English may be
fostered. The questionnaire (See Appendix 1 and 2) revealed that a lot of people in Tuzla think
that existence of a GL has a bad influence on equality of people in the world and almost the same
number of people believe that it is not any more important or better than other world’s languages,
while they consider it a necessity which contributes to the better understanding between people
coming from different countries. Such results of a questionnaire obviously show that classifying
languages as better or worse, important or unimportant is something people would not allow. A
GL is necessary but it should not replace all existing languages and in this way become the sole
language in the world. In short, these are the most common negative implications of English as a
GL.
In conclusion, the status of English as a GL is pretty stable. On the one hand, there are
more and more people in the world speaking English and its global position is strengthened every
day while on the other there are many negative implications that came with its global status.
These implications are numerous and it will be on the future to resolve whether they will slow
down or hinder English’s march towards its complete dominance.

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