Prepared by: Najwa Ibrahim
Source: Introduction to the Cultures of English-speaking Countries
Week 1 – Part 1
Outline
On English as a Spoken Language!
English Speakers Native and Non-native Speakers
English as an official Language
Major and Minor Varieties of English
English as a Global Language
Result of Being a Global Language
On English as a Spoken Language!
Over 2 billion people speak English, making
English the LARGEST language by number of
speakers (i.e. Natives and Non-natives
Combined), and the THIRD LARGEST language by
number of native speakers.
Native English-speaking Countries
There are six large countries with a majority of native English speakers
that are sometimes grouped under the term Anglosphere:
-With almost 330 million native speakers, the United States of America is
the largest English speaking country.
Most native speakers of English are Americans.
- 67.5 million native speakers in the United Kingdom (in England,
Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland)
- 37.5 million native speakers in Canada
- 25.3 million native speakers in Australia
- 4.9 million native speakers in the Republic of Ireland
- 4.8 million native speakers in New Zealand
Non- Native English-speaking Countries
1) Jamaica
2) Nigeria also have millions of native speakers of dialect
ranging from English-based creole languages to Standard
English.
In some countries where English is not the most
spoken language, it is an official language:
1) Botswana [South Africa]
2) Eswatini (Swaziland) [South Africa]
3) Lesotho [South Africa]
4) Cameroon [Central Africa] (co-official with French)
5) Liberia [West Africa]
6) Ghana [West Africa]
7) Uganda [ East Africa]
8) Kenya [ East Africa]
9) Fiji [is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific
Ocean]
10) Hong Kong
11) Malta
12) The Philippines
13) India has the largest number of second-language speakers of English
India now claims to be the world's second-largest English-speaking
country.
The most reliable estimate is around 10% of its population or 125 million
people, second only to the US.
David Crystal (2004) [British Linguist 1941- 1976] claims that combining native and non-native
speakers, India has more people who speak or understand English than any other
country in the world.
However, most scholars and research that has been conducted dispute his assertions.
14) Pakistan also has the English language (Pakistani English) as a second official language after
the Urdu language as the result of British rule , making Pakistan the only Islamic country
in which English is
official.
Native Varieties Non-native Varieties
(Major Varieties) (Minor/Sub- Varieties)
Sub-varieties are related to countries
1) American English such as:
2) British English 1) Jamaica
3) Canadian English 2) Nigeria
4) Australian English 3) South Africa
5) Irish English 4) Ghana
6) New Zealand English 5) Uganda
6) The Philippines
7) India
8)Pakistan
Some Facts
Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been
referred to as a "world language", the lingua franca of
the modern era, and while it is not an official
language in most countries.
It is currently the language most often taught
as a foreign language.
UNIONS, INSTITUTIONS, AND ORGANISATIONS:
In the European Union, English is one of 24 official languages
- English is widely used by institutions, and by a majority of the population
as the native language in the United Kingdom and Ireland and as a second
language in other member states of the Union.
English is, by international treaty, the official language for
aeronautical and maritime communications.
English is also one of two co-official languages for astronauts (besides the
Russian language) serving on board the International Space Station.
English is one of the official languages of the United Nations and many
other international organizations, including the International Olympic
Committee.
PRINTING, RESEARCH, AND PUBLISHING:
Books, magazines, and newspapers written in English are
available in many countries around the world.
- English is the most commonly used language in
science magazines; as early as 1997 that 95% of scientific
articles were written in English, even though only half of
them came from authors in English-speaking countries.
In publishing, English literature predominates
considerably with 28 percent of all books published in
the world and 30 percent of web content in 2011.
- This increasing use of the English language
globally has had a large impact on many other
languages, leading to language shift and even
language death, and to claims of linguistic
imperialism.
- English itself has become more open to
language shift as multiple regional varieties feed
back into the language as a whole.
Vocabulary
Creole
Noun
1. a person of mixed European and black descent, especially in the Caribbean.
2. a mother tongue formed from the contact of a European language (especially English, French,
Spanish, or Portuguese) with local languages (especially African languages spoken by slaves in the
West Indies).
Adjective
1. relating to a Creole or Creoles.
Lingua Franca a language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose
native languages are different.
Aeronautical Communications
Adjective
1. relating to the science or practice of building or flying aircraft.
Maritime Communications
Adjective
1. connected with the sea, especially in relation to seaborne trade or naval matters
