GLOBISH: How the English Language Became the World's Language, by Robert McCrum (Norton, $26.95). McCrum is bullish on the reign of English as a global lingua franca, sustained as it is by the Internet, mass consumerism and other modern forces.
Today, with English as a global lingua franca, a history of the English-speaking peoples could span the world – while what the peoples of the United States and Britain share most obviously is not a trace of Anglo-Saxon heritage, but a remarkable degree of ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity.
Bill Rivers, executive director of the Joint National Committee for Languages, which promotes language learning in the US, suggested it was a myth that everyone was proficient in English – and that there was no guarantee English would be a global lingua franca forever.
Its constituent countries, as diverse as South Africa and Pakistan, share little apart from use of the English language – increasingly a global lingua franca, rather than just the preserve of ex-British possessions.
They broadcast in English, a global lingua franca, and they take advantage of a global cultural hegemony that amplifies their concerns far more widely than is reasonable.
He sees art less as a means of self-expression and more as a global lingua franca.
English is the first choice of foreign language in most other countries of the world, and it is that status that has given it the position of a global lingua franca.
Q: Turning to the issue of global spread of the English language, notions such as English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) (Jenkins 2000, 2003 ; Seidlhofer 2001 ), English as an International Language (EIL) (McKay 2002 ; Sharifian 2009 ; Smith 1983 ), World Englishes (WEs) (Kachru 1985 , 1986 2003 ; Kachru & Nelson 1996 ) and English as a Global Language (Crystal 2003 ) have been met with mixed reactions.
The global elite has turned to English as a global and common language, but they still think and act according to their original culture, giving the same word different meanings: A common language at the expense of a lingua franca!
"English being the global lingua franca, we felt that it was important to provide a platform with a diversity of voices.
Since English is the global lingua franca, many foreign players already speak it well enough to be comfortable in Britain, whereas Britons are among the world's worst at acquiring a second tongue.
