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Introduction
English language had long existent before it began to be called by the name “English”. Notably, this language emerged sometimes in the 5th century. The origin of the language is attributable to some Germanic tribes originating from northern Europe, collectively known as the Anglo-Saxons came to Britain (McArthur, 2001). These tribes had several indigenous dialects, which they introduced in Britain on their arrival. In the years following the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, the tribes established roots within Britain, where they spread out across the country. Because of their settlement and interactions with the natives, of Britain at the time, the English language began to develop. However, it was in the 19th century when the language began to be commonly called by its current name. In fact, English never became “English” until expiry of four centuries since its existence . The early history of English language indicates that it was one among several languages spoken in the British mainland. The chronicles of the Anglo-Saxons explain that, “the island of Britain is eight hundred miles long and two hundred broad. There are five languages, English, Brito-Welsh, Scottish, Pictish and Latin . The first inhabitants of this land were Britons.” This clearly implies that initially, English was just a language, which did not have any strong identity and had no particular status. In its initial states of development, it was merely a local language, which was commonly spoken by a single section of the island population, which was on the western coast of the European continent. This paper focuses on addressing the diversity of English language with through history and around the world. The paper will also examine distinct models that have been used to categorize English across the globe
Discussion
English language developed in various stages. Essentially, there are various factors, which accelerated its rapid spread across different parts of the globe. Millennia and half since its development, the language is spoken extensively across the globe . Nowadays, several people in various areas use the language in different forms. In fact, the language is the most common across the globe than any other language. The language, which was in its initial stages of establishment unknown to many and spoken by a small segment of visiting tribes has to this day attained a status that is incomparable to any other language across the globe. Notably, it is clear that English was not indeed the firstly language of its current speakers. The natives of the country of its origin were neither the first people to speak the language. Essentially, immigrants composed of tribes that had the Germanic origin introduced it to the country of its origin. From England, the language began to spread across the globe. What factors were responsible for the spread of the English language? To answer this question, we should first understand the events and activities that prevailed during the time of establishment and spread of the language. Essentially, a number of factors led to extensive spread of the language . Developing from “no English” to national language and to its status as an international and global language, there have been several transitions that have taken place. Essentially, the language spread extensively because of two main sources, namely colonization and global spread of English.
Colonization as a source through which English spread across the globe had there major patterns. The patterns involved the political incorporation, subjugation, and linguistic consequences . Great Britain emerged as a powerful nation after establishment of the English language, so that the country was economically and culturally competent. As a result, it began to seek colonies in different countries across the globe where it could carry out its influence effectively. In its colonies, it established the major language as English and began to train the subjects in the colonies in the English language (Douglas, 1999). It carried out political incorporation in order to ensure that within its political institutions, it had supporters and helpers from the country of the subjects. As such, the British trained the political affiliates in their colony countries to speak their language so that they could act as facilitators in implementing the policies of the British colonizers. Through, this English spread across the colonized countries. For instance, political incorporation was prevalent in Ireland, which led to widespread adoption of the language in the country. I
n India, they employed subjugation in order to ensure the subject learned English. They forced the people to like and learn English so that they could rule them, as they desired. Hence, through subjugation, some Indians began to speak English. In Africa, through subjugation, the British enforced the language so that the colonies became English-speaking nations besides having their local languages. Kenya, Cameroon, and Nigeria are good examples of African countries that were subjugated so that they began to use English as one of the languages spoken in the countries . When spreading English across different places across the world, the people in the colonies and other areas where the British had influence had different attitudes regarding English . This explains why there developed diversity with regard to the manner as well as the kind of English spoken in different places. For instance, in the Caribbean islands, especially in Jamaica, pidgin developed due to the attitude that the people had. Because of the attitude, they combined English words with their original dialects so that they formed new words, which could hardly be identified as English. Still, attitude also led to development of creoles in the Caribbean islands. This was because the people had their distinct cultural attributes, which they really valued. As such, they did not want to leave their cultural identity and identify with a new culture that was uncommon among them.
The attitudes towards English as a foreign language created variations of English language among different people. For instance, in Africa, the accent that the Africans have for the language differs substantially with the British accent despite the fact that they have similar world. In Nigeria, the accent is distinct different from that of Kenyans and the South Africans as well. This is a clear indication that the language has many variations. The Jamaican pidgin and English accent and style are different from the English spoken in the Americas and Australia. This draws from the attitudes that different people had regarding English language during the time of its dissemination across the globe. However, it is evidently clear that the language is still in the process of dissemination as it is introduced in very many places where it has never been spoken (Graddol, 2006). For instance, the Chinese people who are used to the Asian languages are currently learning English. There are distinct reasons which make the non-English speakers seek to learn and understand English. Essentially, as an internal and global language, English has become a common language that nations use when in their economic activities. Most countries across the globe speak English and as such, in order participate in economic activities that occur among different countries across the globe, it is quite important to learn the language as it is the widely and commonly spoken language.
Essentially, the media has been very significant in contributing to the spread of the English language in the past and at present (Braj, 1992). Essentially, the media gives local and international news to the people. Notably, a local language cannot be used to communicate news internationally. For this reason, the media in most countries across the globe use English as a medium in order to ensure that they reach a wider group across the globe. This has resulted to people adopting the use of English language in different places in order for them to be able to participate in international forums and activities. Considering the social media for instance, it is evident that most social media channels use English as the medium of communication. This has necessitated the quest for non-English speaking groups to learn English in order to be able to understand aspects that the social media addresses. The television channels have various programs, which are telecast in English language. Essentially, to grasp the themes that these program address pone has to have a good knowledge of English. In the process of watching and listening to the programs, people from different parts of the globe learn various vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar aspects . This clearly implies that the media is playing quite a significant role in contributing to spread of English.
The press has been significant in enhancing the spread of English language. Different materials including journals books articles and magazine among others are commonly written in English language. As such, in order for people to be able to use these materials, they have to have a good understanding of English language. These materials are also used in teaching the language in many countries across the globe. Readers also get to advance their language levels when they do extensive reading. This clearly implies that the media has been quite significant in enhancing English language so that it has attained its status. The media publishes and gives news regarding the political affairs different countries. This is because such news is of significant importance and interest in society. Technological advancements and improvements have enabled easy spread of the language since media can use the technology to communicate messages in English language to the intended audience.
Notably, English has various circles, which address its origin, development spread, and establishment in different places across the globe. The basic circles include the inner circle, the outer or extended circle, and the expanding circle. The inner circle comprises of the countries of the traditional bases of the English language. In these countries, English is the primary language. The Great Britain Ireland and United States among other countries are in the inner circle . The outer or extended circle comprises the countries in which the spread of the language began in the non-native countries. In these places, the language plays a second language role in multilingual societies. Examples are Singapore, India, and Malawi among others. The expanding circle comprises the countries representing the significance of English as an international language. However, the countries have no histories of colonization. English does not have special administrative status in such countries. The countries include china and Poland among others. Essentially, English is indeed diverse through history and around the world in the sense that different people speak different form of English including the American English the Australian English, the British, pidgin and other forms of English . English is also spoken in several parts across the globe making it a fats expanding international language since its development to this day.
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