The Fate of English in the XXI Century

The world is in transition, and the English language will take new forms. The language and how it is used will change, reflecting patterns of contacts with other languag­es and the changing communication needs of people.

English is divesting itself of its political and cultural connotations as more people realize that English is not the property of only a few countries. Instead, it is a vehicle that is used globally and will lead to more opportunities. It belongs to whoever uses it for whatever purpose or need.

The widespread use of English as a language of wider communication will continue to exert pressure toward global uniformity. This could result in declining standards, lan­guage changes, and the loss of geolinguistic diversity.

On the other hand, because English is the vehicle for international communication and because it forms the basis for constructing cultural identities, many local varieties could instead develop. This trend may lead to fragmentation of the language and threaten the role of English as a lingua franca. However, there have always been major differences between varieties of English.

There is no reason to believe that any other lan­guage will appear within the next fifty years to replace English. However, it is possible that English will not keep its monopoly in the XXI century. Rather, a small number of languages may form an oligopoly - each with a special area of influence. For example, Spanish is rising because of expanding trade and the increase of the Latino popu­lation in the United States. This could create a bilingual English-Spanish region.

A language shift, in which individuals change their linguistic allegiances, is another possibility. These shifts are slow and difficult to predict. But within the next fifty years, substantial language shifts could occur as economic development affects more countries. Because of these shifts in allegiance, more languages may disappear. Those remaining will rapidly get more native speakers. This in­cludes English.

Internal migration and urbanization may restructure areas, thereby creating communities where English be­comes the language of interethnic communication - a neutral language.

While languages such as English, German, and French have become international languages because of their governments' political powers, this is less likely to be the case in the XXI century where economics and demograph­ics will have more influence on languages.

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