The Fate of English: A Grammar Lesson You Can’t Miss

Do you know what will happen to the English language in the future? Will it become a single international language or will it split into many different varieties? Will it be easy to learn and teach or will it be too complex and expensive? Will it survive as a second language in many countries or will it be replaced by native languages? These are some of the questions that we will explore in this grammar lesson. We will also learn about some of the linguistic features of English that make it unique and diverse.

Predictions about the future of English

Predictions - often gloomy - have been made about the future of English. It is worth considering the bases for such predictions with respect to the various uses of English.

A single international language has long been thought to be the ideal for international communication. Artificially-constructed languages have never acquired sufficiently large numbers of adherents, although in principle such languages have the obvious advantage that they put all learners on the same footing (all are nonnative speakers), thereby not giving an advantage to speakers of any particular language. During the last few decades English has come closest to being the single international language, having achieved a greater world spread than any other language in recorded history. Yet in recent years doubts have arisen whether it will ever reach the ideal of the single international language or, indeed, whether its use as an international language will continue at the present level.

The diversity and unity of English

One reason for the doubts has been the fear that national varieties of English are rapidly growing further apart and will finally separate into mutually incomprehensible languages. Fears have also been expressed that justifiable sensitivity to the child’s right to use his native dialect (regional, socioeconomic, or ethnic) within a national variety might lead to the abandonment of a national standard dialect and hence to the further disintegration of English. The diversity in English is greatest in countries where English is a second language and therefore has to be taught. Since in those countries stddents are usually taught by teachers who are themselves not native speakers of English and who have inevitably acquired the language to varying degrees of adequacy, It is not eurprising that the standards of achievement are variable and subject to change. Some express concern about the excessive internal variability and the ill-acquired control of the language in such situations. Some fear the divisive effect of the emerging institutionalised varieties, which no longer look to native varieties for standards of acceptability.

While fears for the disintegration of English cannot be dismissed summarily, powerful forces are operating to preserve the unity of the language. Despite considerable dialectal differences within each national variety, the education systems have preserved the essential similarity of the national standards. The traditional spelling system generally ignores both the changes in pronunciation over time and the variations in pronunciation through space; despite its notorious vagaries, it is a unifying force in world English. Many factors are conducive to makihg differences in national varieties familiar and comprehensible: there is the influence of newspapers, magazines, and books on the written medium and of radio, television, and film on the spoken medium. Teachers and students can be made sensitive to, and tolerant of, language variation, and national examination systems can be made flexible enough to take account of variation. Despite a growing tolerance of nonstandard variation in speech, standard forms remain the norm for written English.

The practicability and viability of English as a second language

The future of English as an international language has also been said to rest on the practicability of teaching the language, especially on a mass scale, to the level required for international usefulness, given the enormous expenditures required for the purpose. It is possible that as developing countries become richer they will be able to increase their expenditure on the teaching of English and raise the levels of teacher and student proficiency. At all events, programmes have been devised to restrict the goals of language learning, thereby allowing a more realistic deployment of educational resources, as in the Teaching of English for Specific Purposes, for example for business or scientific communication. Following earlier attempts (such as ‘Basic English’) that were largely lexical, a proposal has also recently been made for constructing a simplified form of English (termed ‘Nuclear English’) that would contain a subset of the features of natural English; for example, modal auxiliaries such as can and may would be replaced by such paraphrases as be able to and be allowed to. The simplified form would be intelligible to speakers of any major national variety and could be expanded for specific purposes, for example for international maritime communication.

The long-range continuance of English as a second language is also questionable in some countries. The eagerness for rapid technological advancement conflicts with the demands for the establishment of authentic links with past native traditions: objections to an official status for English and calls for its replacement by native languages are expressions of national pride and independence. Since a good command of English is usually restricted to an elite, we may expect political resentment against a minority second language that brings benefits to those proficient in it. English is likely to be retained as an official language as long as no specific native language is politically acceptable to all, but we can expect that in at least some countries indigenous languages will become sufficiently dominant to acquire sole official status and eventually to displace English. In such cases, English will gradually become recognised as a foreign language. However, irrespective of the degree of world influence exercised by the English-speaking countries themselves, English is likely to be retained generally as the medium for higher education as long as the major English-speaking countries retain their economic and political status.

Conclusion

In this grammar lesson, we have learnt about some of the predictions and challenges that face the future of English. We have seen that English is a diverse and dynamic language that has many uses and varieties around the world. We have also seen that there are some factors that promote its unity and stability as well as some factors that threaten its role and status as an international or second language. We have learnt about some ways that people try to simplify or adapt English for specific purposes or contexts. We have also learnt about some linguistic features that make English unique and interesting.

What do you think about these issues? Do you agree or disagree with any of these predictions or arguments? How do you use or learn English in your own situation? What do you like or dislike about this language? Share your thoughts and opinions with your classmates or teacher.

Remember: The future of English depends on you!