11 - English today and tomorrow

Summary

In the English language today we can see both centrifugal and centripetal tendencies. In countries where English is used as a second language, there has been a trend during the past half-century for local standards to become established, and for the language to develop independently of British or American English. If this trend continues, these local varieties may ultimately diverge widely from Standard World English, and become separate languages, just as the various Romance languages evolved from Latin. It is too early to say how likely this is, but it must be a possibility.

On the other hand, the major forms of English as a first language (in Britain, North America, Australia, New Zealand) do not seem to be diverging from one another any longer, and in some respects even seem to be converging, and it is likely that they will continue to constitute a more-or-less unified language as a major medium of international intercourse. The slowing down of the divergent trend has been due to the great development of communications (aircraft, telegraph, telephone) and the rise of mass media (the popular press, the cinema, radio, television). These things have enabled the different regional varieties of English to influence one another, and so reduce their differences. Such influences have been mutual, but at present the major influence is the language of the United States, and this influence penetrates everywhere that English is spoken as a first language.