Should the World Rely on English as a Lingua Franca?

Should the world RELY on English as a lingua franca?

Pierre Frath
CIRLEP, Department of English, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne (France) [e-mail]

ABSTRACT

English has become a global lingua franca, a unique linguistic situation in world history. As there is no discernible coercion, it seems the world has freely chosen English and yet if for example we look at European linguistic policies, the hegemony of one particular language has never been an objective. So what has happened? Is such hegemony a good thing? If not, what credible alternative could be suggested?

Keywords: English as a lingua franca, linguistic policy, multilingualism

Introduction

Europe and the world at large seem to have agreed that English should become their lingua franca. There have been linguae francae before in history but this is the first time that one language has become global, worldwide and across all social classes in most societies. The question we will discuss here is straightforward yet hardly ever touched upon: is such a global hegemony a good thing or a bad one? We shall first examine the situation of other linguae francae in the past and at the present time: Greek, Latin, French, Swahili, and the situation during the colonial era. We shall compare our findings with the contemporary situation and see that the hegemony of English presents both positive and negative aspects. A very positive aspect is the actual existence of a worldwide lingua franca; as for the English language itself, its relative simplicity at the beginner’s level is certainly an advantage; another is that is provides learners with a direct access to probably the richest culture of the present time. The most important disadvantage is the risk of cultural and political domination. We shall suggest that, even though the achievements of English-speaking cultures are impressive, the world needs

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