PROJECTENGLISH AROUND THE WORLDTopic: Countries with the most large speakers

“Themistokli Gërmenji” High School

ContentsIntroduction1. Global spread of Englisha) History of Englishb) Global distribution 

2) Countries where English is an official languagea) English in the USA b) English in Great Britain  c) English in Canada  d) English in Australiae) English in Indiaf) English in Pakistang) English in South Africa  

3. English in Sweden ConclusionsBibliography       

IntroductionNowadays English is a commonly used language worldwide. There are millions and millions of speakers : not only native speakers, but also speakers who have English as their second language or maybe have been studying it since an early age. This project is about the countries with the most large speakers: USA, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Sweden as one of the countries where English is frequently used, even though it is not an official language at all. It gives information about the history of English in these countries, as well as the dialects and the actual use.

We’re making this research to learn more about the use of English in these countries, since English is now an important part of our life. Getting to know more about the origin and the development of English in certain countries, as well as the use of it is a way to know more about other cultures. We also want to show how English has affected non-english speaking countries through the globalization and technology.

1.Global spread of English English originated in those dialects of North Sea Germanic that were carried to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of what are now the Netherlands, northwest Germany and Denmark.Old English was later transformed by two waves of invasion. The first was by speakers of the North Germanic language branch. The second was by speakers of the Romance language Old Norman.Modern English, which includes the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Version of the Bible, is generally dated from about 1550, and after the United Kingdom became a colonial power, English served as the lingua franca of the colonies of the British Empire As a result of the growth of the British Empire, English was adopted in North America, India, Africa, Australia and many other regions, a trend extended with the emergence of the United States as a superpower in the mid-20th century.

Approximately 375 million people speak English as their first language. English today is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

The countries with the highest populations of native English speakers are, in descending order: the United States (226 million), the United Kingdom(61 million), Canada (18.2 million), Australia (15.5 million), Nigeria (4 million), Ireland (3.8 million), South Africa (3.7 million), and New Zealand (3.6 million).

2. Countries where English in an official language

In 2012, there were 60 sovereign states and 28 non-sovereign entities where English was an official language.The majority of countries where English is an official language

are former colonies of the British Empire.

a) English in the USA

91.36 % are English speakers, which makes a total of 289,444,149 people. Only 40 million have English as their additional language.

The use of English in the United States is a result of English colonization. The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived inNorth America during the 17th century, followed by further migrations in the 18th and 19th centuries.

English language prevalence in the United States. Darker shades of blue indicate higher concentrations of native English speakers in the corresponding state.

Regional differences Eastern Seabord After the Civil War, the settlement of the western territories by migrants from the Eastern U.S. led to dialect mixing and leveling, so that regional dialects are most strongly differentiated along the Eastern seaboard.

MidwestA distinctive speech pattern also appears near the border between Canada and

the United States, centered on the Great Lakes region (but only on the American side). This is the Inland North Dialect—the "standard

Midwestern" speech that was the basis for General American in the mid-20th century.

Interior

In the interior, the situation is very different. West of

the Appalachian Mountains begins the broad zone of

what is generally called "Midland" speech. This is

divided into two discrete subdivisions, the North

Midland that begins north of the Ohio River valley

area, and the South Midland speech; sometimes the

former is designated simply "Midland" and the latter is

reckoned as "Highland Southern".

American English Dialects

b) English in Great Britain

97.74 % are English speakers, which makes a total of 59,600,000 people.

English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the northern Netherlands.

British English dialects

c) English in Canada Canadian English is the variety of English spoken in Canada. English is the first language, or "mother tongue", of approximately 24 million Canadians (77%), and more than 28 million (86%) are fluent in the language.

Canadian English contains elements of British English and American English in its vocabulary, as well as many distinctive Canadianisms. In many areas, speech is influenced by French.

Canadian English is the product of four waves of immigration and settlement over a period of almost two centuries.

Languages used most often at home

The ability of canadians to speak English and French

d) English in Australia

 97.03 % are English speakers, which makes a total of about 15 million people

Although English has no official status in the Constitution, Australian English is Australia's de facto official language and is the first language of the majority of the population.

Australian English started diverging from British English after the founding of the colony of New South Wales in 1788 and was recognised as being different from British English by 1820 Australian English dialects

e) English in India10.35 are English speakers, which makes a total of 125,226,449 people. Only 226,449 of them have English as their first language.As a result of British colonial rule until Indian independence in 1947, English is an official language of India and is widely used in both spoken and literary contextsThe spread of the English language in India has led it to become adapted to suit the local dialects. However, due to the large diversity in Indian languages and cultures, there can be instances where the same English word can mean different things to different people in different parts of India. 

English is commonly used at universities.

f) English in Pakistani

Pakistani English is the group of English language varieties spoken and written in Pakistan.  It was first so recognised and designated in 1970s and 1980s.English is taught to all school-level Pakistani students, and in most cases the medium of instruction is also in English. At college and university level, all instructions are in English.The language of pleading in all courts of Pakistan is also English. The tutorial language in all universities is English

g) English in South Africa

South African English is the dialects of English spoken by South Africans, with the first language English varieties spoken by Zimbabweans, Zambians and Namibians, being recognised as offshoots.There is some social and regional variation within South African English. Social variation within white South African English has been classified into three groupings: Cultivated, closely approximating Received Pronunciation and associated with upper class; General, a social indicator of the middle class, and Broad, associated with the working class, and closely approximating the second-language Afrikaans-English variety.

3. English in SwedenA majority of Swedes, especially those born after World War II, are able to understand and speak English thanks to trade links, the popularity of overseas travel, a strong Anglo-American influence, especially in regards to arts and culture, and the tradition of subtitling rather than dubbing foreign television shows and films. English, whether in American or British dialects, became a compulsory subject for secondary school students studying natural sciences as early as 1849 and has been a compulsory subject for all Swedish students since the late 1940s. Depending on the local school authorities, English is currently a compulsory subject from third until ninth grade, and all students continuing in secondary school study English for at least another year.

The role of EnglishThere is currently an ongoing debate among linguists whether English should be considered a foreign or second language in Sweden (and the other Scandinavian countries) due to its widespread use in society. This has also triggered opposition: in 2002 the Swedish government proposed an action plan to strengthen the status of Swedish and in 2009 Swedish was announced the official language of the country for the first time in its history.

ConclusionAt the end of this project we can say that : 1.We learned more about the origin and the distribution of English in the world. We also found out some of the factors which lead to this spread. 2.We got to learn more about the development of English in those countries who have English as their official language such as The USA, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa. We also tried to compare English to other local languages in certain countries using maps and graphs. 3.Finding information about English as foreign country in Sweden helped us to understand how English affects non-english speaking countries through trade links and globalization. So all in all, we were glad to work on this project, because the most important thing of all is that we learned about other cultures considering the fact that language is an important part of a culture.

Bibliography

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/BritishCanadianAmerican.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_England http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistani_English

http://www.mapsofindia.com/culture/indian-languages.html http://www.mapsofindia.com/general/india-map-in-different-languanges.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_South_Africa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Sweden http://www.thelocal.se/20131107/swedes-ranked-again-best-world-english