The document provides an overview of David Crystal's book "English as a Global Language" which examines how and why English has become a global language. It summarizes Crystal's arguments that a language needs widespread use and recognition across countries to be considered global, and that English attained this status due to the historical spread and power of Britain and other English-speaking countries through colonization and immigration. The document also discusses some of the dangers Crystal raises of a single global language dominating, such as endangering other languages and creating linguistic complacency.

1. Chapter 1
Introduction:
Crystal starts his book “English as a Global Language” by giving an overview of how people felt
about having a global language. “The British Empire may be in full retreat with the handover of
Hong Kong. But from Bengal to Belize and Las Vegas to Lahore, the language of the sceptred
isle is rapidly becoming the first global lingua franca.” (Crystal, 2003, p.1) Crystal gives
examples on why people might believe that English is a global language: it is seen everywhere:
in the news, in the television or in restaurants. It is a media of communication for people whose
native languages are different. He then goes off to question how the English native speaker feel
about their mother tongue spreading so widely around the world; whether you feel pride or
concern. As people start to learn english, in the beginning they will make mistakes, which also
influences the way english is spoken. Crystal states that with more people and countries using
english it is hard to tell which country owns it, if any. But english becoming a global language
does not only influence native speaker. It also has an impact on the languages that are
threatened by english, which might make the people who speak those language threatened.
Crystal explaining how those feelings are only natural and goes on to explain how a language
can become global.
What is a global language?
In the first paragraph Crystal explains that a language reaches their global status when it is
recognized in each country. Even if the language is spoken as a mother tongue in a few
countries it does not give it its global status. It has to be known and spoken around the world
whether it is or not that country's native language. Crystal gives two ways in which this can be
done:
1. A language is made an official language of that country.
2. A language can be used well, prioritized as that country's second language.
What makes a global language?
A number of people that speak a language does not decide on whether it is global or not. It is
more relevant on who speaks the language. Many people argue that for a language to become
global it cannot have difficult grammar. Crystal contradicts this point by stating that Latin or
French were once a widely used language yet their grammar was not easy. The easiness of a
language does not help it become global. A language has usually became international
depending on the power of its people. English was “in the right place at the right time”. (Crystal,
2003, p. 10)

2. Why do we need a global language?
Communicating is an important factor in any relations, whether they are between friends or at
an international, political level. In the beginning people would translate everything from one
language to another. A variety of valid points/words could be lost in translation. People decided
to come up with a different solution. Many companies/organizations have been created that now
use only one language.
What are the dangers of a global language?
Having one language that everyone communicates in could make other languages disappear.
People would get ‘too lazy’ to learn or speak other languages. Crystal points out the threats that
other languages will face:
- Linguistic powers - who will be in the power? Do people who speak english as their
mother tongue will/do have more power?
- Linguistic complacency - what will happen in a few years? Will people not be motivated
anymore to learn a different language than a global language? One of the biggest
stereotypes is when people who use english as their first language go to a different
country and try to communicate only in english without trying to look up some words in
for example French or German.
Could anything stop a global language?
A language could stop being global if another language started dominating in political or
economical influences. Crystal also points out that within the next years electronic
communication could be developed further, where people would speak into a device in their first
language and the machine that the second person is holding would translate it into their first
language and vice versa. “It will be an interesting battle 100 years from now.” (Crystal, 2003, p.
27)
Chapter 2: Why English? The historical context
In this chapter Chrystal gives answer to the question why English is the global language and not
some other by looking at the geo-historical aspects of English.
Origins

3. English was first spoken in England and after the fifth century it began to spread through the
United Kingdom. After 1066 it was also being spoken in Scotland and in the twelfth century even
Ireland began to speak English.
America
Even though the English went to America before, the only settled there at 1607 in the area
called Virginia. Different groups of people with different linguistic backgrounds went to America
what caused a lot of different accents to grow. Even though there was a continuing inflow of
immigrants from different parts of the world, you can still recognise the origin dialects.
Around the eighteenth century many people from Ireland and Scotland moved to America.
When in 1790 there were only living around 4 million people in America, the population grew till
50 million a century later.
England wasn’t the only country to influence the language spoken in America. The Spanish,
French, Dutch and German also had a big part in the development of the countries language
and culture. Even a lot of African people came to America cause of the slave trade.
In the nineteenth and twentieth century there were also massive migrations to America caused
by wars and politics.
Canada
The first time Canada came in contact with the English language was in 1497 through John
Cabot. Even though French was mostly spoken in Canada, cause of the explorations of
Jacques Cartier in 1520, English became more important after the French lost their wars around
the eighteenth century.
After the US Declaration of Independence many loyal Britain supporters left for Canada. What
causes the country to have almost the same kind of accent as people from America have.
The Caribbean
The English language in the Caribbean arose through the slave trade. European ships brought
their African slaves to the Caribbean and the West American coast. The slave-traders didn’t
want the slaves to plot a rebellion so they brought slaves from different areas of Africa together
so they wouldn’t understand each other. But because the sailors and slave-traders spoke
English, the slaves developed their own pidgin English and they brought that language to the
Caribbean.

4. Australia and New Zealand
Because England’s prisons were overcrowded they needed to export their prisoners elsewhere.
So within twenty years since James Cook discovered Australia, they made 130,000 prisoners
go there. Around the nineteenth century the immigration rapidly increased that around 2002
there were over 9 million people living in Australia.
Around 1790 many European whalers and trades settled in New Zealand. New Zealand has in
comparison to Australia been more influenced with the British language and norms and values.
South Africa
Even though the Dutch were in Africa before, the British got involved around 1795. They made
English the official language in 1822. They used English for law, education and most other
aspects of public life. For the South-African population English was seen as a second language.
Their first language was Afrikaans what was influenced by the Dutch. In 1925 Afrikaans was
made the official language and only 3.7 million in a population of 43.5 million spoke English as a
first language in 2002. In 1993 The Constitution names eleven languages as official and English
is one of them.
South Asia
In South Asia there are almost as many speaking English as the population of England and
America combined. This has come due the change of the position of the English language in
Asia. It has grown from only having 3-5% of the people speaking English till almost a third of the
population. That’s almost 330 million people. In the South of Asia there have been developed
varieties of English that are almost 200 years old. This origin of English lies in Britain.
The English first went to the South of Asia around 1600 with the British East India Company.
The influence of the company grew which made English one of the main languages since 1765.
English is now an alternative language in India with Hindi as their official language. English is
still used in the government and higher education. In Pakistan English is one of the main
languages.
Former Colonial Africa
The English began to visit the West Coast of Africa in the fifteenth century which caused this
side of the continent to have multiple English pidgin languages.

5. - Sierra Leone: from 1780 the English brought freed slaves to this bought country. They used
the English pidgin language called Krio and they still speak this language after they got their
independence in 1961. The population has grown over 5.4 million in 2002.
- Ghana: Ghana was declared a Crown Colony in 1874 and got it’s independence in 1957. The
population was over 1.5 million people in 2002 who speak English as a second language.
- Gambia: The English used Gambia for anti-slaver activities. In 1843 the capital became a
Crown Colony and Gambia got its independence in 1970. The population was over 1.4 million
people in 2002 who speak the English pidgin Krio.
- Nigeria: Nigeria became a British colony in 1861 and it got independence in 1960 . The
population was over 126 million people in 2002 with more than 500 identified languages and
about half of those people use the English pidgin or creole English as a second language.
- Cameroon: This country became protectorate by Germany in 1884 and was divided by France
and Britain in 1919. The country became a whole in 1972 with both English and French as the
official language. The population was over 16 million in 2002 with half of the country speaking
pidgin.
-Liberia: Liberia was the homeland for former slaves. In 1847 the settlement became a republic
with adopted constitution based on that of the USA. The population was over 3.2 million people
in 2002 with most of them using an English pidgin as a second language.
In 1850 there became more interest in the East side of Africa by the English through the British
East Africa Company. And after that English has played a major role in those states.
- Botswana: Botswana became under protection of the British in 1885. It received its
independence I 1966. The population was over 1.5 million people in 2002 with English as the
official language.
- Kenya: Kenya has been a colony of Britain since 1920 till 1963. The population was over 31
million people in 2002 with Swahili as their national language and with still an important role for
the English language.
- Lesotho: Lesotho has been a colony of Britain since 1869 till 1960. The population was
over 2.2 million people in 2002 with English as their official language.
- Malawi: Malawi has been a colony of Britain since 1907 till 1964. The population was over
10.5 million people in 2002 with English and Chewa as their official language.
- Namibia: Namibia was a German colony since 1884. It got fully independence in 1966. The
population was over 1.8 million people in 2002with English as their official language.

6. - Tanzania: It became under British protection In 1890 and it got independence in 1961. The
population was over 36 million in 2002 with English and Swahili as their official languages.
- Uganda: It became a colony of Britain between 1893 and 1903 and it got independence in
1962. The population was over 24 million in 2002 with English and Swahili as their official
languages.
- Zambia: It became a colony of Britain in 1923 and it got independence I 1980. The population
was over 11 million people in 2002 with English as their official language.
There was a difference between the English language found in East Africa and West Africa.
South-east Asia and the South Pacific
After the Spanish-American war of 1898 the USA got sovereignty over Puerto Rico, the Island of
Guam, Hawaii and the Philippines. After the USA invasion in the Japanese-held Pacific islands,
USA became responsible over multiple new areas. In 1946 the Philippines became independent
but they still got influenced a lot by the American and English.
The British East India Company got centres established in several locations: Penang (1786),
Singapore(1819) and Malacca (1824). The population in those places grew fast and all those
states together grew to a Crown Colony of England.
The British enlarged their territory by adding the Hong Kong islands in 1842, Kowloon in 1860
and parts of China in 1898. At the end of the nineteenth century many territories of England
became independent but the English language still remained in higher education.
- Singapore: English remained in Singapore through education after they introduced bilingual
education in 1950. And it remained the language of government, the legal system and social
media. The population was over 4.3 million people in 2002 with the pidgin Singlish as most
spoken English.
- Malaysia: Malaysia became independent in 1957 but with English still used as a second
language. The population was over 22 million people in 2002.
- Hong Kong: English wasn’t a very popular language spoken in Hong Kong but over the years it
became more important in the educational provision. The population was over 7 million in 2002.
- Papua New Guinea: Papua New Guinea became a colony of Germany and England in 1884
and was transferred to Australia in 1904. It became independent in 1975 after the second world
war. The population was over 5 million people with half of the people speaking the English
pidgin Tok Pisin.

7. A world view
So due to the English colonial power and the leading economic power of the USA, English
became what it is now. 70% of all the English speakers are American. Braj Kachru explained
this complex situation of the English language in three concrete circles:
Chapter 3: Why English? The cultural foundation
16th
century
- English no real match for Latin at an international level
- The Celtic languages were still strongly present in Britain at the time
18th
century
- French recognized as the language of international diplomacy, but America is
the key to the future success of the English language
1851:
Jakob Grimm (a German philologist): ‘Of all modern languages, not one
has acquired such great strength and vigour as the English.’ & ‘it may be called
justly a language of the world.’
By the end of 19th century:
English had become the language ‘on which the sun never sets’.
Speculations about the future were big – numbers of English speakers by
a certain time period often hugely overestimated (e.g. Isaac Pitman (p. 76)),
mostly because assumptions were based on the fact that empire-building would
continue at the same rate, that British industrial supremacy would be maintained
and that those who spoke minority languages would not fight back.
Political developments
Why English?
Answer of pre-20th-century commentators = powerful and still growing British
Empire! – triumphalist attitude – English as a guarantor, as well as a symbol, of
political unity.
As the British, the colonial power, retreated from countries, leaving them newly
independent, many chose English as their official language, to ensure
communication between multilingual citizens. → the desire for national
linguistic unity.
Access to knowledge
Industrial Revolution with Britain as the world’s leading industrial and trading
nation (being dubbed ‘workshop of the world’) resulted in large ranges of

8. manufactured goods for export from Britain to the rest of the world. This then
caused the new terminology of technological and scientific advance being
English. Who wished to benefit, had to learn English. Similar developments
followed in America, the fastest growing economy by the time.
Access to new knowledge was further helped by progress in transportation
(steamship and railway).
Taken for granted
Why the lack of need in the developed world to discuss the role of English? What
contributed to the use of English being the automatic choice for communication
as no other language came close in reach of use.
Inner Circle Countries (see three-circle model by Kachru (p. 61))
Given the colonial origins of English in the countries of the inner circle, the
language was never given an official status, as it was never questioned in the
first place. However, English was being questioned later on by speakers of a
language supposedly threatened by the more dominant English. If that other
language ends up getting an official status as a protective measure, English got
an official role along the process.
Among countries of the outer circles, English as a second language is
perceived as a ‘neutral’ language connecting people speaking local competing
languages. These countries gave English an official status.
Chapter 4: Why English? The cultural legacy
English and its effects on culture through exposure and lingua franca use.
International relations
For organizational bodies like the UN, the Council of Europe, the EU, NATO and
OPEC English plays a crucial role as the lingua franca.
The media
The media, as being in the centre of everyone’s life, has a big influence on
people’s knowledge, opinions and everyday discussions with each other. It is
thus a very important concept to consider in the study of a language's
development of usage. Media concludes the press with publishing newspapers
on current events, advertising, broadcasting through radio and later television,
cinema and the motion picture industry, chiefly in America, as well as popular
music, dominated by British pop stars.
The press
- UK and the USA as pioneers of the press sector
- Top 5 newspapers written in English (New York Times, Washington Post,
Wall Street Journal, Times, Sunday Times)
Advertising
- Industrial Revolution enabled mass production

9. - Advertising agencies dominantly American
Broadcasting
- English as first language on the radio
- Biggest radio corporations were English-speaking (e.g. BBC)
Cinema
- Most influential film industry in Hollywood, the USA
- European countries held back in creative industries during times of war
Popular Music
- Leading record companies have English language origins
- Beatles and Rolling Stones in the UK
International Travel
In the tourist industry with the leading earner and spenders in the USA English is
the most used language, as on signs in shop windows, on restaurant menus and
within credit card facilities. English is also used when giving safety instructions on
international flights and sailings, explaining emergency procedures in hotels or
when giving directions to major locations.
International Safety
- ‘Sea speak’ on water and communication in air travel
- ‘Police speak’
- to have clear, not-easy-to-get-it-wrong instructions
Education
- Most of world’s knowledge is documented in English, chiefly significant
scientific papers
- Estimated 1.9 Billion English language learners by 2020 (British Council)
Communications
- English has a dominant position on the Internet (~80% of world’s
electronically stored information is in English)
- 64% of all internet hosts are found in the USA (Business Week, 1996)
- Minority and endangered languages however are finding the Net to give them
a louder and cheaper voice
The right place at the right time
Tying together the history of English’s spread through the world and its solid
place in the daily functioning of the globalized world.
Two events may be interpreted to have ensured the global status of English after
its pre-eminence by the 1960s:
- Movement towards political independency → English with special status
in several countries
- Electronic revolution where English was at the right place (USA) at the
right time (the 1970s).

10. Chapter 5: The future of English as a global language
The last but in no way least chapter of David Crystal's "English as a global Language" is an
exploration of the possible future of the english language. Crystal states that there is no 100%
certain vision of the future, since english is the first language to have ever come to this high
level of usage. There are, nevertheless, many factors that could influence global english in the
times to come.
The rejection of English
Since language is a universal symbol of identity, it is possible that more countries decide to
reduce their investments in the english language due to colonial history. There are also
economic reasons that could lead to this result.
The US situation
David Crystal discusses that there have been campaigns in order to give american english a
special status to be the official language of the country in the United States of America. There
are of course many arguments for and against these campaigns in political, socio-economical
and educational contexts. The debate caused an emotional escalation and still has not come to
a conclusion.
"There seems to be something about the intimate relationship between language,
thought, individuality and social identity, which generates strong emotions."
(David Crystal, English as a global language, 2003)
New Englishes
The balance of native and second-language english speakers has changed a lot and will
continue to do so in the future. David Crystal believes there will soon be more non-native
english speakers than native speakers all over the world.
The english language as we know it is being and has been adopted by new communities and
adapted to their culture, surroundings and identity. This leads to many varieties of the english
language, called "New Englishes". They have their own characters and differ in grammar and
vocabulary. In addition some communities use "code switching", where english is mixed with
another foreign language (e.g. Franglais, Singlish...).
In David Crystals opinion we are moving towards a future with increasing multi-dialecticism in
the world of english.

11. In conclusion, the author is very careful with predictions but gives room for speculation. He asks
questions more than answering them, leaving us, the readers, to ponder on them, wondering:
"What will the future of english as a global language really look like?"