The Global Spread of English: A Story of Influence

The Global Spread of English: A Story of Influence

The Global Spread of English: A Story of Influence. In the 21st century, being able to speak English fluently is one of the most important skills. In the present world, English has become an official or national language in 67 countries. Doesn’t the question arise in all our minds how English spread all over the world?

Today we will know how and when English language takes the form from a common language to an international language.

Colonial Influence

If we look a little at history, we can see that more than one-third of the world was ruled by the British. Around 458 million people were under British rule in 1922. 25% of the earth’s land, where British rule prevailed, English was considered a high standard language. From job seekers to businessmen, everyone knew English was an essential subject, since English was the language of the British. For this reason, English became known as a ‘Language of Elite’ among the general public.

However, by the 1950s, the British colonies began to see their end. And although India gained independence in 1947, English remained the official language in several British colonies. There are various reasons for this in different countries; When India or Pakistan at that time was writing their constitution again, there was a lot of dispute about this. When writing the constitution of India, many demanded that ‘Hindustani’ (a combination of Hindi-Urdu) should be recognized as the official language in India. But many scholars opposed it. According to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, if only Hindi was recognized as the official language, the minority population of India would be less important than others.

He cites, for example, that if Sanskrit Hindi is made the official language, then Brahmins will benefit more, since they have more control over Sanskrit. He also argues that since people in different parts of India speak different languages, making English the official language will not degrade anyone’s language. In addition to him, South Indian leaders were also very concerned about this, because if Hindi or Hindustani is given the status of official language, then North Indians will claim higher status, since Hindi is more used in North India. So everyone came to the decision that English will remain the official language of India.

However, although there was no such special practice in the case of Pakistan, English was made the official language in Pakistan for this reason.

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We know that America is one of the English-speaking countries in the world, but many other languages were spoken in America in the eighteenth century. When America gained independence from the British in 1783, they also felt that the whole of America should have a certain identity – which would unite all the states of America. And naturally, there is no bigger identity than language; That language was English for America. Although other languages were spoken in America at that time, English was given the most importance to unite the states of America. So much so that by the beginning of the twentieth century many states banned teaching in other languages. However, in 1923, the US Supreme Court declared this ban illegal.

Impact of World War

The question may arise in everyone’s mind, how did English spread in countries that were not under British colonies? The answer lies in World War II, where the Allied countries (Britain, America and the then Soviet Union) won against the enemy countries (Italy, Germany and Japan).

Naturally, the culture and language of the group or alliance that wins the war spreads more influence in the world than other countries. So, since Britain and the United States won the World War, their language (English) spread throughout the world. Also, America becoming a superpower after World War II is one of the reasons behind the spread of English all over the world.

Where all other countries had suffered huge losses in World War II, America suffered no such losses in the same war. They earned huge money by supplying weapons in the war. That is why when many countries were facing famine in the post-war period, America’s economic situation improved.

After World War II, US business establishments began to spread around the world with the help of capitalism, and English became a business language. At the same time, American pop stars and music bands started writing their songs in English and organized concerts around the world. The same thing can be seen in Hollywood as well. American songs, pictures and movies became a global sensation.

World War II played a very important role in giving English the status of an international language, as many believe that if Hitler’s forces had won the war, German might have spread all over the world instead of English.

Internet

It sounds strange but it is true that the internet has also made an immense contribution to the dominance of English around the world. The birthplace of the Internet is America, and all Internet-related institutions are also established in America. Besides, the first keyboard and typewriter were also invented by Americans. So naturally the keyboards and typewriters of that time were all made in English. Along with this, computers and mobiles have English language. According to ‘w3tech.com’, 58.6% of the entire Internet content in the present world is in English language.

The story behind the spread of English language is somewhat coincidental. Many things happened one after another which made English one of the most widely used languages in the world. But many people say that all this was pre-planned! Is that really so? That discussion was left for another day…