Whose Language?

In a recent Financial Times article titled “Whose Language?” Michael Skapinker discusses the use of English as a global language for business. While it is incumbent on non-native English speakers around the world to learn and speak English, Skapinker notes that it is the native English speakers who will have to adjust and learn to operate in this new global English. His article states:

The issue is: whose English will it be? Non-native speakers now outnumber native English-speakers by three to one. As hundreds of millions more learn the language, that imbalance will grow. Mr Graddol says the majority of encounters in English today take place between non-native speakers. Indeed, he adds, many business meetings held in English appear to run more smoothly when there are no native English-speakers present.

Native speakers are often poor at ensuring that they are understood in international discussions. They tend to think they need to avoid longer words, when comprehension problems are more often caused by their use of colloquial and metaphorical English.

Barbara Seidlhofer, professor of English and applied linguistics at the University of Vienna, says relief at the absence of native speakers is common. “When we talk to people (often professionals) about international communication, this observation is made very often indeed. We haven’t conducted a systematic study of this yet, so what I say is anecdotal for the moment, but there seems to be very widespread agreement about it,” she says. She quotes an Austrian banker as saying: “I always find it easier to do business [in English] with partners from Greece or Russia or Denmark . But when the Irish call, it gets complicated and taxing.”

Skapinker goes on to discuss the “international attitude” native English speakers need to take in order to work successfully operate globally. Skapinker ends the article by reminding readers, “Native English speakers may wince but are an ever-shrinking minority.”

Source: Michael Skapinker, “Whose Language?” FT.Com UK (Financial Times), November 8, 2007

Please read the entire article at FT.com