LearnEnglishProfessionals

FUTUREOFENGLISH AUDIOSCRIPT ListentothecontroversialLinguisticsexpertProfessorMcKenzietalkingaboutthefutureoftheEnglish language. Optionalexercise DecidewhetherthesestatementsareTRUEorFALSEaccordingtoProfessorMcKenzie. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. IfyoudonotknowEnglishyoucanbeatadisadvantage. EnglishwillsoonbespokenbyeverybodyintheWorld. By2010halftheWorldspopulationwillspeakEnglish. CompetitorsattheEurovisionSongContestwillneverbeunanimousinchoosingtosinginEnglish. NativeEnglishandMajorityEnglishwillbecomethetwopredominanttypesofEnglish.

(Answersbelow)

FormanyyearsnowwehavebeenreferringtoEnglishasagloballanguage,asthelanguageofcommunication andtechnology.EverybodyseemstobelearningEnglishanditisntuncommontoseeEnglishbeingusedasa meansofcommunicationbetween,letssee,aGermanscientistandanItalianpolitician.Thesedays,ifyou dontknowEnglish,youareindangerofbeingexcludedfromwhatsgoingonineducation,atworkand especiallyintheworldoftechnologicaladvances. VerysoonEnglishwillbethesecondlanguageofallthepeopleintheworld.ThisishappeningwhileIam speakingtoyou.Wecantbecertainofhowlongtheprocesswilltakebutthereisnodoubtthatitwillhappen andmybetisthatitwillhappensoonerratherthanlater. FirstofallEnglishwillbeanobligatorysubjectoneveryschoolcurriculumthroughouttheworld.Bytheyear 2010aroundtwobillionpeoplethatsaboutathirdoftheWorldspopulationwillspeakEnglishastheirsecond language.Thisisntmypredictionbytheway.Thisiswhattheexpertssay. Wecanseeevidenceofthesechangesallthetime.LetstaketheEurovisionSongContestasanexample. Whateverwemightthinkofthecontestitself,onethingthathaschangedrecentlyisthatnowcountriescanopt tosinginEnglish.Inthelastfestivalfourteenofthetwentyfivecompetingcountriesaskedfortherulestobe changedtoallowthemtosinginEnglish.Theyarguedthatsingingintheirownlanguagewouldputthemata disadvantage.IsuspectthatinafewyearstimealltwentyfivecountrieswillbesinginginEnglish. AndwhatexactlydoesallofthismeanfornativespeakersofEnglish?Well,wearealreadyinaminority.Ifthe calculationsarecorrect,thenintenyearstime,majorityspeakersthatisnonnativeEnglishspeakerswill outnumbernativeEnglishspeakersbyfourtoone.ThetwomostimportantEnglisheswontbeBritishEnglish andAmericanEnglish.TheyllbeNativeEnglishandMajorityEnglish.SonativeEnglishspeakerswillbe handicapped.Wewillbetheonlypeopleintheworldwhospeakjustonelanguage.Because,letsfaceit,there wontbemuchofareasonfornativeEnglishspeakerstolearnasecondlanguage.We,andnotthemajority Englishspeakers,willbethedisadvantaged. AsmoreandmorepeoplespeakEnglish,itmakessensethattheywillbecomemorecompetent.Theywillstart tocontrolmoreoftheEnglishresourcesbeingproducedandtohaveasayinwhatshouldorshouldntbe includedindictionariesandlanguagebooks.Thismightseemfarfetchedbutitisalreadystartingtohappen. LetsuseSwedenasanexample.TheirmusicexportspredominantlyEnglishaccountfor morethanthirtyper centoftheirexportincome.ThisexportedEnglishisboundtohaveaneffectonEnglishingeneral.Andthisis justonesmallexample. SoallofyounativeEnglishspeakersoutthere,getreadytothrowawayyourphrasebooks.Whetheryoure planningtovisitEasternEuropeortheHimalayas,onethingyouwonthavetoworryaboutisthelanguage!

Answers: 1.True,2.True,3.False,4.False,5.True

www.britishcouncil.org/professionals.htm
TheBritishCouncil,2007 TheUnitedKingdomsinternationalorganisationforeducationalopportunitiesandculturalrelations. WeareregisteredinEnglandasacharity.