English 491H: World English(es)
Fall, 2009
MW 3:00-4:15 p.m.

Consider this: a Germanic dialect spoken in the fifth century by a small number of people living in an area of a relatively unpopulated island in the North Atlantic now has, by several estimates, a staggering 1.5 billion speakers on six continents—one in every five people on earth speaks English with some level of competence, and over 1 billion people are in the process of learning English worldwide. Over 80% of internet home pages worldwide are in English, between 65% and 80% of emails are written in English, and English is the only official language used for the entire international air traffic control system. Over one-third of the 1.5 billion new books published last year worldwide were in English, English is the medium of 80% of the information stored in the world's computers, and half of the world's technical and scientific periodicals are published in English. How did this happen? With what effects? What are the consequences of the continued spread of English into cultures and societies that speak 6,000 different languages?

This course focuses on English as a global language. We'll briefly trace the history of English, looking not only at its development in England but at its early exportation, largely as a result of colonization, to other parts of the world. Then we'll focus on the current status of English worldwide, examining from a linguistic perspective the varieties of English in Commonwealth and post-colonial nations and analyzing some of the social, political, and economic forces that are continuing to affect the spread and development of English(es) worldwide. Just as we consider some of the advantages of a world language for communication, commerce, and shared understandings, we'll also study and reflect on its dangers: contributions to the extinction of indigenous languages, the economic and cultural imperialism of Anglophone countries (particularly the United States), predictions of the death of non-English-language literature (Mélitz, 1999), and the loss of connections to cultural traditions and histories mediated through native-language texts.

This course is also designed so that students in all English concentrations can explore global English(es) from perspectives that both tap into and extend their expertise. Literature majors can study the tensions arising when a contemporary writer must choose to write in English for wider circulation instead of her native language, or they might research the publication and reception of a classic English-language work in other parts of the world. Journalism majors might study the role of English in, for example, Arabic news writing. Linguistics majors might examine a particular emergent variety of English in an area where it is expanding side-by-side with an existing language. Students in Film Studies might research the role of English-language films in countries that have a strong existing (native-language) film industry, such as India. As the entire class develops common knowledge from readings and discussions, each student will also pursue a particular line of research during the course, sharing new discoveries, perspectives, and understandings with the class along the way..

The current URL to the course Web site is: http://courses.ncsu.edu/eng491/lec/001/