EUGÉNIO JOSÉ MASSIZE
THE FUTURE OF ENGLISH
UNIVERSIDADE PEDAGÓGICA
MAPUTO
2024
EUGÉNIO JOSÉ MASSIZE
THE FUTURE OF ENGLISH
English work, carried out for evaluation
purposes to be submitted to the Faculty of
Language, Communication and Art Sciences.
Teacher:
UNIVERSIDADE PEDAGÓGICA
MAPUTO
2024
ÍNDICE
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION................................................................................................1
1.1. Contextualization.............................................................................................................1
1.2. Objectives.........................................................................................................................1
1.2.1. General Objective......................................................................................................1
1.2.2. Specific Objectives....................................................................................................1
1.3. Methodology....................................................................................................................1
CHAPTER II: DEVELOPMENT...............................................................................................3
2.1. The Future Of English......................................................................................................3
2.2. A language in transition...................................................................................................3
2.3. Questioning the future......................................................................................................4
2.4. The Anglophone World Institutions.................................................................................5
2.4.1. What are Anglophone World institutions..................................................................5
2.4.2. What do they do.........................................................................................................6
2.4.3. Which countries are members of Anglophone world Institutions.............................6
2.4.4. The impact of English Language Transforming Cultures.........................................7
CHAPTER III: CONCLUSION.................................................................................................8
4. REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Contextualization
English is widely regarded as having become the global language but will it retain its
pre-eminence in the 21st century? The world in which it is used is in the early stages of major
social, economic and demographic transition. Although English is unlikely to be displaced as
the world’s most important language, the future is more complex and less certain than some
assume.
To more accurately predict how English may continue to evolve as the number of L2
and L3 users further overshadows the proportionally much smaller group of L1 (native
speaker) users, it is helpful to briefly review the major twists and turns in the development of
English, as we know it today.
The English language has adapted greatly from its obscure Germanic roots in southern
5th century Great Britain, to become the closest our human species has ever come to having a
single viable global lingua franca successfully facilitating better communication and
understanding around the world. The rise of initially insignificant English to its current, and
likely future, position of unprecedented global popularity is not due to any intrinsic strength
or linguistic beauty, but the direct result of the following three overlapping historical
phenomena.
1.2. Objectives
1.2.1. General Objective
Dicribe the future of English
1.2.2. Specific Objectives
Generalize the future of English;
Describe the anglophone world Institutions;
Explain what are they;
Identify which contries are members;
Explain the impact anglophone on the world today.
1.3. Methodology
For this work, bibliographic research was taken as a methodology, in which, according
to Gil (1994), bibliographic research presents itself as a research methodology that
theoretically supports all other investigative methodologies, which require exploratory or
descriptive studies. Inserted in the context of qualitative research, bibliographical research, it
is a very important and essential stage of scientific research work, as its purpose is to study
printed texts in which the necessary information is sought to progress in the study of a topic of
interest.
CHAPTER II: DEVELOPMENT
2.1. The Future Of English
No other language has nearly as many speakers, is spoken in so many
countries by such a range of people for such a variety of purposes and in such a
variety of styles, as English. Approximately one quarter of the world’s population
（over 1.5 billion people） speak English to some degree of proficiency, the majority
of which speak it as a second language. Approximately 1.4 billion people live in a
country where English has official governmental status.
Kachru （1990） groups countries into three circles in relation to the status
of English. The inner circle consists of countries where ‘Standard English’ is the
primary native language. The outer circle consists of countries where a ‘non-standard’
variety is being learnt as a native language, usually in combination with other
languages. Finally, the expanding circle consists of countries where English is learnt
as a foreign language.
Depending on which circle a country belongs to, its goals and purposes for
English will vary. In the expanding circle, we can see what is called the
exonormative model, in which the typically American or British ‘native speaker’ is the
model learners strive to emulate.
2.2. A language in transition
As the world is in transition, so the English language is itself taking new forms. This,
of course, has always been true: English has changed substantially in the 1500 years or so of
its use, reflecting patterns of contact with other languages and the changing communication
needs of people. But in many parts of the world, as English is taken into the fabric of social
life, it acquires a momentum and vitality of its own, developing in ways which reflect local
culture and languages, while diverging increasingly from the kind of English spoken in
Britain or North America.
English is also used for more purposes than ever before. Everywhere it is at the leading
edge of technological and scientific development, new thinking in economics and
management, new literatures and entertainment genres. These give rise to new vocabularies,
grammatical forms and ways of speaking and writing. Nowhere is the effect of this expansion
of English into new domains seen more clearly than in communication on the Internet and the
development of ‘net English’.
But the language is, in another way, at a critical moment in its global career: within a decade
or so, the number of people who speak English as a second language will exceed the number
of native speakers.
2.3. Questioning the future
The Future of English? Thus explores a range of topics with a common theme: the
changing world which affects our use of language. Its primary purpose is to stimulate
informed debate about the global future of English and the implications both for British
providers of English language services and the institutions and enterprises with which they
work overseas.
For this reason, the book aims to provide thought-provoking ideas rather than firm
predictions. It points to areas of uncertainty and doubt – where an understanding of local
issues will be as valuable as that of global trends. Many of the issues the book addresses will
be of interest to a wide range of people, both specialists and professionals, but also members
of the general public. These issues raise such questions as:
How many people will speak English in the year 2050?
What role will English play in their lives? Will they enjoy the rich cultural
resources the English language offers or will they simply use English as a vehicular
language like a tool of their trade?
What effects will economic globalisation have on the demand for English?
Will the emergence of ‘world regions’ encourage lingua francas which challenge
the position of English?
How does English help the economic modernisation of newly industrialised
countries?
Is the Internet the electronic ‘flagship’ of global English?
Will the spread of English lead to over half of the world’s languages becoming
extinct?
Is it true that the English language will prove to be a vital resource and benefit to
Britain in the coming century, giving it a key economic advantage over European
competitors?
Commentators vary greatly in attitudes towards, and expectations of, global English.
At one extreme, there is an unproblematic assumption that the world will eventually speak
English and that this will facilitate the cultural and economic dominance of native-speaking
countries. Such a view is challenged, however, by the growing assertiveness of countries
adopting English as a second language that English is now their language, through which
they can express their own values and identities, create their own intellectual property and
export goods and services to other countries.
The spread of English in recent years is, by any criterion, a remarkable phenomenon.
But the closer one examines the historical causes and current trends, the more it becomes
apparent that the future of English will be more complex, more demanding of understanding
and more challenging for the position of native-speaking countries than has hitherto been
supposed.
2.4. The Anglophone World Institutions
2.4.1. What are Anglophone World institutions.
Those institutions at the top of the international ranking generally use English for
teaching and research, have significant levels of research funding and offer a wide range of
programmes in different disciplines. As universities in the Anglophone world attend to
operating on a global stage, linguistic diversity in the sector has intensified. Historically,
higher education has adopted language-as-problem orientations to managing linguistic
diversity, viewing multilingual repertoires largely as an obstacle. An emerging body of work
informed by language-as-resource orientations seeks to counter these deficit views.
However, while timely, it risks treating the multilingual student population as a
homogeneous group. This paper addresses this issue by developing a finer-grained
understanding of student experiences of their multilingual repertoires with two groups of
students from different socioeconomic backgrounds: working-class Black and Minority
Ethnic (BME) undergraduate students and international postgraduate students from more
socially elite families.
By examining students’ experiences of their multilingual repertoires in the institution,
I demonstrate how universities stratify the linguistic diversity in their midst, arguing that this
is resonant with elite-plebeian views of bilingualism. I contend that language-as-resource
informed curriculum and pedagogy needs to attend to institutional practices that stratify
linguistic diversity to avoid reinforcing a situation in which the multilingualism of students
from professional and socially elite groups is reinforced while little is gained when it comes to
the multilingualism of working-class BME students.
2.4.2. What do they do.
World English Institute has one mission with one purpose, works to lead as many
people as possible from every nation under heaven to Christ by using God’s Word as the text
to teach English grammar. The English language is universal. Billions want to learn it. WEI
teaches English free of charge in order to help them communicate effectively and read the
Bible in English, many for the first time.
They need most of all salvation and a relationship with Jesus Christ. World English
Institute (WEI), has designed this unique teaching tool to reach as easily into dark places of
the world, like the world of Islam, as it does the non-English-speaking communities of
America. Every day, hundreds of precious souls log into World English Institute (WEI) to
study one lesson in English grammar and one lesson in the Bible. They thrill at being able to
learn English, but they are amazed when they learn about God and his plan of redemption.
2.4.3. Which countries are members of Anglophone world Institutions.
English is an official language in 41 countries and is partly spoken as a mother tongue
in 18 other countries. The English language has its roots in the Indo-European language
family. With 272.48 million native speakers, English has the highest prevalence in the United
States of America.
Countries Members of Anglophone World Institutions
1. American Samoa 2. Grenada 3. South Africa
4. Anguilla 5. Guam 6. South Pacific Islands
7. Antigua and barbuda 8. Guyana 9. St. Helena
10. Australia 11. Ireland (Republic of) 12. St. Kitts and Nevis
13. Bahamas 14. Ireland (Northern) 15. St. Lucia
16. Barbados 17. Jamaica 18. St. Vincent and the Grenadines
19. Belize 20. Malta 21. Scotland
22. Bermuda 23. Mauritius 24. Trinidad and Tobago
25. Canada 26. Montserrat 27. Turks and Caicos Islands
28. Cayman Islands 29. New Zealand 30. United Kingdom
31. England 32. Nigeria 33. USA
34. Falkland Islands 35. Ryukyu Islands 36. Virgin Islands
37. Fiji 38. Seychelles 39. Wales
40. Gibraltar 41. Singapore
2.4.4. The impact of English Language Transforming Cultures.
English have impacted the job market in a huge way. Many businesses these days
consist of international teams which work remotely. It accelerates performance of companies
and improves overall employability for those with knowledge of this language. This trend is
especially strong among younger generations, due to English being most common language
on the internet. However, this may not be the best side of English being lingua franca.
Nonetheless, this feature is considered by some people to have negative impact in some
areas. As more and more cultures are influenced by Western Society language, native and
diverse cultural heritage may be damaged.
CHAPTER III: CONCLUSION
Looking at the past is an important step towards understanding the future. Any serious
study of English in the 21st century must start by examining how English came to be in its
current state and spoken by those who speak it. The spread of English in recent years is, by
any criterion, a remarkable phenomenon. But the closer one examines the historical causes
and current trends, the more it becomes apparent that the future of English will be more
complex, more demanding of understanding and more challenging for the position of native-
speaking countries than has hitherto been supposed.
4. REFERENCES
Allen. L, L; Solomon, J, S and Liz T. (2005). International comparators of widening
participation in higher education – policy and practice: Higher education in the USA,
student fees, financial aid and access. Action on Access.
Altbach, P, Liz R, and Laura R. (2009). Trends in global higher education: tracking an
academic revolution. Executive Summary.
UNESCO (2009). World Conference on Higher Education. Paris: United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
