WHY A GLOBAL LANGUAGE?

Why a global language?

The first section of "Why a global language?" starts with an affirmation on the subtitle ‘English is the global language.’  Then the David Crystal explains why it can be stated.  Nowadays the language is widely used in television, advertisements, newspaper, magazines, shops among others, in countries where English is not the native language.  But the author shows that the term "global language" does not mean that all inhabitants of the globe countries speak English or recognize as native language. So it must be clear what it really means to say that English is a global language.Other issues are also raised for discussion. How English has become a globally recognized language and used as a lingua franca? May this situation change one day? David Crystal ends this first section explaining that even if the rise of English may seem that weakens your local language, you can extract benefits of strength of a global language.

What is a global language?

In this section the author seeks to explain what mean a language be considered a global language.  For this to happen, it is necessary that it plays an important role not only in your country but in each, or at least most of the world's countries. The country needs to decide that the language deserves to win more space in their territory. This language may have a more official role, being considered as a first or second language of the territory. Therefore taught in schools and used in the media and government levels. The language may also not have an official status, but be prioritized in the foreign language education in a country. This can be seen with the English language in several countries. These situations have made English the most widely used language in the world, surpassing even the Chinese.

What makes a global language?

Contrary to what the term "global language" might suggest, the number of people who speak a language is not the most important factor to make it a world language. Contrary to what the term "global language" might suggest, the number of people who speak a language is not the most important factor to make it a world language. In this case, the factor that is more important is who speaks the language. The author uses the example of Latin, which became important, not because of the large number of speakers, but because it was the Roman Empire language.

No language becomes strong by itself. Aesthetic features or ease of teaching and learning of the language are also not enough for that. It must be connected to a political, technological and  economic power.The political and military powers emerged as largely responsible for the spread of a language. Either through trade or wars, English was through history spreading around the world.