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Will English Be Conquered by Other Languages?

David Graddol, the author of English Next, says it is a mistake to assume that the triumph of English as the global language is the end of the story. Global English has entered a more complex phase, changing in ways that the older English-speaking countries cannot control and might not like.

Is English likely to be conquered by other fast-growing languages such as Mandarin, Spanish, or Arabic?

Graddol suggests that English could eventually be supplanted. About 50 years ago, English had more native speakers than any language except Mandarin. Today both Spanish and Hindi-Urdu have as many native speakers as English does and, by 2050, Arabic could also challenge English.

However, a language becomes a world language because of the power of the people who speak it. That was how Latin became the dominant world language 2000 years ago. The British Empire carried English 300 years ago to all those countries on which the sun never set; American economic and cultural clout ensured English's dominance after the British empire had faded. China's rise could see Mandarin becoming the world's language but the Chinese are rushing to learn English.

"It is unlikely we will see English seriously challenged in our lifetime as the world language, especially the language of business," says Steven Moore, Co-Founder and Dean of Global Business English, a private web-based instructional company. "Once a common language is established, it takes a long time to shift. Latin remained the language of church and science for 500 years after the fall of the Roman Empire."

English will likely remain dominant for the foreseeable future. The British Council (www.britishcouncil.org) estimates that there are 1 billion English learners, and the number of English learners will probably peak at around 2 billion by 2016.

People are rushing to learn English because it is now established as the language of global business. Moore, who also teaches at the Queen's School of Business, one of the top-ranked business schools in the world, notes that, "Many international students come to Queen's, and other schools in North America, because they know that the ability to write and speak in English is a prerequisite to business success on a global scale. You can be successful in a local or regional business without English, but you will have difficulty internationally without it."

"In fact," notes Moore, "Some of our international students have a better grasp of proper English grammar and mechanics than our native English-speaking students. And they learn how to improve in English faster because they are familiar with studying a language. That puts our native speakers at a disadvantage that will become more pronounced as the years go by."

So English may not be conquered by other languages, but complacent native English speakers are at risk of being conquered by enthusiastic new English learners.

Steven Moore is Adjunct Professor of Communications and Communications Coach for both undergraduate and graduate programmes at the Queen's School of Business in Kingston, Ontario.

With over 75 publications to his credit, he is a recognized leader in the field of business communications teaching and coaching at both the undergraduate and graduate level.Read more https://englishteacherchina.com/