Directions: Read the following essay and answer the comprehension questions.
Historical and Cultural Development of the English Language:
Historical and Cultural Influences that Led to the Emergence, Recognition and Acceptance of Global
Varieties of English.
By Phillip J.J. Scheir
English is spoken in more countries than any other language on Earth. It is spoken as an
official language or has special status in 75 countries around the world according to the British
Council.1 With so many people speaking the same language it should be no surprise that there are at
least fifteen recognized varieties of English spoken around the world.2 Among the varieties of English
spoken, most of the people in the world speak American English.3 Some schools around the world
presuppose that teaching American English is better than other varieties of English because they want
to keep up with the growing trend of American English being the most popular variety of English
used.4 Worldwide though there is an acceptance that all varieties of English are to be valued. This
paper will examine what historical and cultural influences led to the emergence, recognition and
acceptance of global varieties of English.
Varieties of English emerged because of colonization. English came originally from England
and was spread to all parts of the globe. At one time British English was thought to hold a special
position above other forms of English that had sprung from its beginnings, but today British English is
thought more as a sibling to the other variations of English, having its own accent and idiosyncrasies. 5
Changes were a result of English being spread to more and more populations all over the world.. "In
the years 1500–1900, England had colonized all of North and South America and Australia, most of
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2
3
4
5
Dieu, Barbara (2010) "English Speaking Countries," The English Department, Retrieved online May 16, 2010
from <http://the_english_dept.tripod.com/esc.html>
Easton, Eva L (April 22, 2010). "English Around the World," Retrieved online May 16, 2010 from
<http://eleaston.com/world-eng.html>
AskOxford.com. (2010). "Global English: Your Questions Answered," Retrieved online May 16, 2010 from
<http://www.askoxford.com/globalenglish/questions/varieties/?view=uk>
Cekic, Ahmet, (2009) "Should We Use American English to Improve Students' Listening Skills?" Novitas Royal:
Research on Youth and Language Novitas-ROYAL, 2009, Vol.: 3(2), 110-116, Retrieved online May 16, 2010
from http://www.novitasroyal.org/Vol_3_2/cekic.html#_edn1
Ask Oxford.com. (2010). "Global English," Oxford Online Dictionary, Retrieved online May 15, 2010 from
<http://www.askoxford.com/globalenglish/worldenglish/?view=uk>
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Africa, and much of Asia by sending settlers to populate the land or by taking control of
governments."6 Before the 17th century English was confined mostly to England, but after the
insurgence of colonialism the spread of English followed quickly.7 Certainly colonialism is the main
reason why any language gains worldwide usage. Rome spread Latin, Spain spread the use of Spanish
to the Americas, and France spread the use of French to North America and Africa. As these
languages spread to different areas they were also changed by the native people previously living in
those areas. As English was spread to every corner of the globe, every area of the globe also changed
and shaped English. Other languages added words, accents and intonations to English. English began
to emerge as reflections of the people using it around the world with accents and variations
representing the people and their unique origins before having English thrust upon them. English is
everywhere, being located in all five continents and spoken as a first or second language by close to 50
percent of the world's population.8
Different groups of English populations recognized that the English they used was different
from each other because they had communication through political and financial dealings with each
other. Etymologists for more than two hundred years have been writing about the differences between
the varieties of English spoken among different countries of native English speakers. The first
dictionary written to detail differences among English languages spoken was John Jamieson's
Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language published in 1808. It examined the difference
between English spoken in Scotland and English spoken in England. The next etymological
dictionary to denote the difference in English spoken among different countries was John Bartlett's
Dictionary of Americanisms published in 1848. It compared the English that had developed in the
USA and the English that was being spoken in England. Perhaps the most comprehensive, if not most
weightiest is the multivolume Oxford English Dictionary written from 1884 until1928 which
6
Encyclopedia Britannica "History & Society: colonialism, Western," Retrieved online May 12, 2010 from
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/126237/colonialism>
7
The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).Volume XIV. The Victorian
Age, Part Two. "The world-wide expansion of the English language". Retrieved online May 12, 2010 from
<http://www.bartleby.com/224/1501.html>
8
Ask Oxford.com. (2010). "Global English," Oxform Online Dictionary, Retrieved Online May 15, 2010 from
<http://www.askoxford.com/globalenglish/worldenglish/?view=uk>
2
compared the diversity of the types of English spoken in England, parts of Great Britain, Australasia,
the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and North America.9 Today there are still dictionaries published for
particular varieties of English such as South African English, American English, New Zealand English,
Australian English, Canadian English, to name a few.10 In addition to the publication of dictionaries
which point out lexical differences among global varieties of English, there are also famous books that
are read around the world and that through their writing display sentence structures from around the
world. One of the best authors to successfully capture the accents of different groups of people was
Samuel L. Clemens, also known by his pen name, Mark Twain. In the preface to his book
"Huckleberry Finn," Clemens writes at length about the various varieties of English all spoken by the
various groups of people in Louisiana.11 Those varieties of spoken English Samuel Clemens writes
about in Louisiana came about because the ways each group of people spoke English was influenced
by their culture and by their language background.
Global acceptance of the varieties of English comes because of two main reasons; colonization
has made English so widespread that the resulting regional differences colonization has produced have
to be expected and accepted; secondly, the political and economic power that most English speaking
countries have, has made any and all varieties of English the accepted global means of international
communication in the world of business, science and politics. With so many people around the world
learning English there has come to be an expectation that people will speak English with an accent
painted with a brush from their first language.12 Cultural influences have also been accepted and slang
dictionaries online such as "urbandictionary.com," are made to inform native speakers of new words in
the English vernacular, many of which though might only be used among select groups like inner-city
jargon.13 Words like "cool," "rad," and "fly" and their idiomatic meanings, have all become accepted
9
Ask Oxford.com. (2010). "Global English," Oxform Online Dictionary, Retrieved Online May 15, 2010 from
< http://www.askoxford.com/globalenglish/worldenglish/?view=uk>
10
Ask Oxford.com. (2010). "World English Dictionaries," Oxform Online Dictionary, Retrieved Online May 15,
2010 from < http://www.askoxford.com/globalenglish/dictionaries/?view=uk>
11
Clemens L, Samuel (1884) "Preface," Huckleberry Finn." Chatto and Windust
12
Helium.com (2002-2010) "How language and culture affect the meanings of words," Retrieved online May 16,
2010 from <http://www.helium.com/items/1005821-how-language-and-culture-affect-the-meanings-ofwords>
13
Urbandictionary.com (1999-2010) "Dictionary of inner-city street vocabulary "Retrieved online May 16, 2010
from <http://www.urbandictionary.com/>
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words in American English, even though they are not part of other varieties of English spoken around
the world.14 The same is true of other English varieties like those in the UK where it has been
accepted through media that in the UK "wicked" is meant to mean "that is great/ very desirable," and
"to fancy" to mean "to want," such as in "Would you fancy having lunch with me tomorrow?"15 In the
USA “wicked” is meant to mean “something evil or very bad,” such as in “The villain in the story is
very wicked for wanting to hurt the hero,” and the word “fancy” is meant to mean “something extra
special,” such as, “My mother bought me a very fancy dress for the party.”
Globally people are aware that different varieties of English abound throughout the world.
This is accepted to the understanding that when any idea or language is spread so far as to reach
different parts of the world, the usage and application is bound to be different among different
populations. Having come from the same source, England, perhaps all these varieties of English all
share a certain fraternity with each other. They are accepted because when a person from the USA
meets a person from South Africa in a country where English is commonly spoken, all differences go
out the window as communication is possible with a fellow brother/sister of the same language.
14
Smith, S.E. (2003-2010). "What is Slang?," Wise Geek.com. Retrieved online May 16, 2010 from
<http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-slang.htm>
15
Duckworth, Ted. (1996-2010). "English Slang and Colloquialisms used in the United Kingdom: A Dictionary of
Slang," Retrieved online May 16, 2010 from <http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/>
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Answer the questions with the information provided in the reading.
1. How many countries around the word have English spoken as an official language or have it as a
special status?
2. Is “American” English better than varieties of English spoken in other countries? Why or why not?
3. From what country did English originate from?
4. How did English spread to other countries?
5. In what ways did native people around the world change English?
6. Approximately what is the percentage of people in the world that speak English?
7. What is the purpose of an “Etymological Dictionary”?
8. What two reasons are there for a global acceptance of the varieties of English?
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9. What does the following statement mean? “People will speak English with an accent painted with a
brush from their first language.”
10, What is “slang” in a language?
11. How does the word “wicked” have a different meaning in the UK and in the USA?
12. How does the word “fancy” have a different meaning in the UK and in the USA?
13. From what the author writes, can people from different countries who speak English understand
each other despite language differences?
Application and critical thinking.
14. Why are you studying English?
15. Currently about half of all people in the world speak English. Do you think that all people in the
world should speak the same language? How might that be good for all people? How might
that be bad for all people?
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