English as a Global Language (review)

This book, first published in 1997, was written to document the recent and dramatic changes in the rise of English as a global language. In the second edition, Crystal has expanded the references, updated demographic information, and added a chapter on structural aspects of the various World Englishes based on recent descriptive studies.

C explores three major questions: Why English? How did English become a global language? and Will it remain so? In the first chapter, C looks at beliefs of nonlinguists, both English and non-English speakers, concerning the rise of English. He discusses several concerns expressed by nonnative speakers: (i) that there will be an imbalance of power in favor of English speakers, (ii) that less-widely spoken languages may be given up by their speakers in favor of English, (iii) that the learning of other second languages other than English will be threatened, and the most extreme apprehension, (iv) that all other languages will eventually be supplanted by English.

In the next two chapters, C looks at the historical and cultural factors that have contributed to the rise of English as a world language. He begins with its spread through colonization and continues with its use by emerging ex-colonial states and other nations for which English has taken on some sort of official status. He also reflects on how US economic power has affected its spread and how both increases in industrialization and technology have contributed to it.

Ch. 4 is a good read on the worldwide use of English for groups of people who do not even claim English as a native language (for business and international organizations of all sorts). An interesting section here is on the use of English for commercial aviation and the problems associated with having just one language for that purpose. Finally, C provides some very intriguing statistics on who is using English and for what.

In the final chapter, C presents a convincing argument for a future English language family, for which many of the speakers will approximate a variety he calls World Standard Spoken English, while at the same time maintaining a local English variety when there is no need for global mutual intelligibility. He cites well-known authors from Africa and Asia who assert that English is already a local language in many places and has varying norms of grammar (outlined in the chapter) and all of the other aspects of language as well. C maintains that English will most likely not go the way of Latin because of the constant leveling pressure provided by worldwide media and education along with the desire for speakers to participate in the global community. Being bi-dialectal is hardly unusual now, and it is an option that C believes many speakers will exercise in the future.

In sum, the book is quite suitable for introductory classes as well as being appealing reading for linguists and others interested in the globalization of English.