CHAPTER 1 - Which English Will We Speak?

Reading Comprehension - Check Your Understanding

A. Choose the correct answers for the following questions.

1. England, America, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand are countries where ______.
A) people speak English as a foreign language
B) English is the main language
C) people still use the type of English used in England

2. In China and Brazil, English is widely used ______.
A) in everyday life
B) by the government
C) as a foreign language

3. The ______ group has the most number of English speakers.
A) first
B) second
C) third

4. Which sentence is the writer most likely to agree with?
A) English will stay in its current form for a long time.
B) No one knows if English will remain the international language.
C) Soon there will be more native speakers of English than non-native speakers.

B. Read the following sentences. Choose true (T), false(F), or not given(NG).

C. Discuss the following questions with a partner.

1. Do you think it is important for the world to have an international language? Why, or why not?
   Answer

   Yes, because English is a common language for the Internet, international business, communication, and transportation. No, because people are learning more languages.

2. Do you think another language will replace English as the international language in the future? Why, or why not?
   Answer

   Possibly Mandarin, which is becoming an internationally important language because of China’s significant global economic power.

The first group is made of those countries where English is the primary language. These are countries like England, Canada, the United States, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. There are more than 380 million native1 speakers of English in these countries alone.

There is a second group of countries that have their own varieties of English. Their histories have been directly influenced by one of the early English-speaking societies. They use English in various important ways within their own government and everyday life. India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Kenya are examples of this group. The total number of speakers in this group is in the hundreds of millions.

In a third group of countries, English is widely used as a foreign language. However, citizens use their native language within their own government and in everyday life. Some countries in this group are China, Russia, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Indonesia, and many Western European countries. Some people calculate the number of speakers in this group to be as many as one billion-and it is growing fast.

This changing situation raises many questions. Will another language replace English as the international language? If not, will,people continue to use the English of countries such as England or the United States as models? Will new varieties of English develop in countries such as China or Brazil? Or, in the future, will a new international variety of English develop that doesn't belong to any one country, but to an entire area like Asia or Europe?