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    Assignment Unit 1 Why Do You Think That English Has Been Adopted As The International Language'?

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    Maria Alejandra Morale
    The British Empire played a major role in establishing English as the international language. It was the most extensive empire in history by the early 20th century, influencing many regions. As the empire expanded through colonization beginning in the 16th century, English became dominant in the colonies. Additional factors like the industrial revolution, US economic and political power, and technology further spread the use of English globally.

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    Assignment Unit 1 Why Do You Think That English Has Been Adopted As The International Language'?

    Uploaded by

    Maria Alejandra Morale
    88 views4 pages
    The British Empire played a major role in establishing English as the international language. It was the most extensive empire in history by the early 20th century, influencing many regions. As the empire expanded through colonization beginning in the 16th century, English became dominant in the colonies. Additional factors like the industrial revolution, US economic and political power, and technology further spread the use of English globally.

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    The British Empire played a major role in establishing English as the international language. It was the most extensive empire in history by the early 20th century, influencing many regions. As the empire expanded through colonization beginning in the 16th century, English became dominant in the colonies. Additional factors like the industrial revolution, US economic and political power, and technology further spread the use of English globally.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    88 views4 pages

    Assignment Unit 1 Why Do You Think That English Has Been Adopted As The International Language'?

    Uploaded by

    Maria Alejandra Morale
    The British Empire played a major role in establishing English as the international language. It was the most extensive empire in history by the early 20th century, influencing many regions. As the empire expanded through colonization beginning in the 16th century, English became dominant in the colonies. Additional factors like the industrial revolution, US economic and political power, and technology further spread the use of English globally.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 4

    Maria Alejandra Morale

    Graduate Diploma in TESOL


    Module 6

    Assignment Unit 1
    Why do you think that English has been adopted as the
    ‘International Language’?

    I think the reason why English has been adopted as the International Language
    is the British Empire. It is considered the most extensive empire in history and
    by 1921 it dominated about one-quarter of the world’s population.
    Now it has developed into the Commonwealth of Nations, but we can see its
    influence nowadays in economic practice, legal and governmental systems,
    sports and the English language.
    The British Empire began with the maritime policies of King Henry VII (1457-
    1509), who wore the crown from 1485 to 1509. He set up the English merchant
    marine system which increased in extend English shipbuilding and seafaring.
    The English Exchequer became solvent because of Henry’s financial reforms,
    so the Public Treasury helped him to finance the development of the Merchant
    Marine.
    The first English dry dock at Portsmouth was built under Henry’s command and
    he made improvements to England’s Royal Navy. Henry also financed the
    travels of the mariner John Cabot in 1496 and 1497, who established England’s
    first overseas colony in Newfoundland although it was not a permanent
    settlement.
    Newfoundland is a large Canadian island and is located at the north-eastern
    corner of North América. At the time of English settlement, the Beothuk
    inhabited the island. They spoke the Beothuk language, also called Beothuk an.
    These indigenous have been extinct since 1829. Today in Newfoundland, the
    most of residents (about 98 %) speak English as a mother tongue.

    The modern English navy was founded by King Henry VIII (1491-1547), who
    reigned from 1509 to 1547 and tripled the number of warships, built new docks
    and a network of beacons and lighthouses. He is known as the ‘father of the
    Royal Navy’. This is an important fact as the British Empire is based in its
    maritime policies.
    During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603, the daughter of King Henry
    VIII), which lasted from 1558 to 1603, Sir Francis Drake landed in northern
    California where he founded a harbour and claimed the territory for the English
    Crown. He named this region as Nova Albion but it was not followed by a
    settlement.
    The first permanent English settlement in the Americas was Jamestown in
    Virginia. It was established in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London and
    located in south-eastern Virginia. The native inhabitants of this region were the
    Powhatan, who spoke and Algonquian language known as Powhatan. This
    language became extinct around the 1790’s when the speakers began to use
    the English language.
    Jamestown was one of the Thirteen Colonies, regions of land in North America
    that were under the political control of the British Empire.
    In order to mention the native inhabitants of the colonies, it is necessary to give
    a brief introduction about family languages:
    Algic languages are one of the largest indigenous language families in North
    America. Algonquian languages are a subfamily that belongs to Algic
    languages and it is divided into three geographic groups: Plains, Central and
    Eastern.
    Algonquian languages are a polysynthetic languages, this means that words are
    formed of many morphemes, long words that actually are sentences.
    Iroquoian languages are one of the important language families of North
    America, are characterized by being a polysynthetic language and have a pitch
    accent, which means that the tonal melody of a word can change the meaning
    of it.
    Siouan languages are an indigenous language family of North America. It is
    the second in importance after Algonquian languages.
    Some facts about Siouan languages: The most important word in this language
    family is the verb. The basic word order is Subject-Object-Verb. Three states of
    USA have names that came from Siouan languages: Dakota (which means
    ‘people’), Minnesota (from ‘Mnisota’ that means ‘cloudy water, milky water’),
    Kansas (variant of ‘Kansa’, native name of Siouan people).

    The thirteen Colonies

    The Southern Colonies were Jamestown in Virginia, which was already


    mentioned, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina, founded
    between 1607 and 1732.
    Georgia: In 1732, George II granted the Colony’s corporate charter to General
    James Oglethorpe. This region was inhabited by the Cherokees, who spoke an
    Iroquoian language that is a language family of indigenous peoples of North
    America and one of its characteristics is the lack of labial consonants.
    Maryland: It began as a proprietary colony of the English Lord Baltimore in
    1632. The natives who lived in this area were the Conoy or Piscataway,
    Assateague and Susquehannock. The Conoy spoke and Algonquian language
    called Piscataway a subfamily of Native American Languages and the
    Assateague spoke the Nanticoke which belongs to the same family of language.
    The Algonquian language had a complex polysynthetic morphology and verb
    system. The Susquehannock spoke an Iroquoian language.
    Carolina Colony: At the beginning was a colony of England in 1629 when Sir
    Robert Heath, who was attorney general of King Charles I of England, was
    granted the Cape Fear region of America. In 1712 it divided in two colonies:
    North and South Carolina. The natives of North Carolina were the Hattera,
    Cherokee and Catawba and the inhabitants of South Carolina were the
    Yamasee, Catawba and Cherokees. The Hattera spoke an Algonquian
    Language, the Catawba a Siouan language and the Susquehannock an
    Iroquoian language.

    The Middle Colonies were Delaware, New Jersey, New York and
    Pennsylvania, founded between 1626 and 1681.
    Delaware: It was colony of England since 1664. The Duke of York gave a deed
    called ‘the Lower Counties on the Delaware’ to William Penn, and English real
    state entrepreneur. The native inhabitants of Delaware were the Lenape who
    spoke languages called Munsee and Unami, these languages belong to the
    Algonquian language family.
    New Jersey: this colony was founded by Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley
    in 1664. The former inhabitants of this regions were the Lenape.
    New York: the region was taken by the British in 1664 and the natives
    inhabitants were Indians who formed the Iroquois Confederation, which
    included the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga and Seneca. These native
    spoke an Iroquoian language.
    Pennsylvania: It was founded in 1681 by William Penn, who was granted with a
    royal charted by King Charles II. Its native inhabitants were the Shawnee,
    Seneca, Iroquois, Lenape, Susquehannocks and Eries. Shawnee and Lenape
    spoke and Algonquian language and Seneca, Susquehannocks and Erie spoke
    and Iroquoian language.

    The New England Colonies were Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, New


    Hampshire and Rhode Island, founded between 1623 and 1636.
    Connecticut: the English took control of this area in 1637. It is believed that the
    founders of this colony were the Governor of the Massachusetts colony and
    Tomas Hooker, a Puritan minister. The native inhabitants of this region were the
    Pequot and Mohegan. They spoke an Algonquian language.
    Massachusetts: The English settlement took place in 1628 and it was founded
    by the owners of the Massachusetts Bay Company. The original inhabitants of
    this land were the Wampanoag, Nauset and Massachuset, they spoke an
    Angoloquian language.
    New Hampshire: A permanent English settlement began in 1622 with land
    grants issued to John Mason and Sir Ferdinand Gorges. Before English
    colonization, this area was populated by the Pennacook and Abenaki. They
    spoke an Algonquian language.
    Rhode Island: It became colony of England in1636 and it was founded by Roger
    Williams. Its native inhabitants were the Narragansett and Nipmuc, who spoke
    an Algonquian language.
    Some of the countries and regions that are or were once ruled by British Empire
    are:
    America: Canada, Bermuda, Florida, Bahamas, Barbados, Trinidad and
    Tobago, British Honduras, Mosquito Coast, British Guiana, Falkland Islands,
    South Georgia and Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory.
    Europe: Ireland, Minorca, Gibraltar, Malta, Ionian Island, Hellgoland, Cyprus.
    Africa: Egypt, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda,
    Kenya, Tanganyika, N. Rhodesia, S. Rhodesia, Basutoland, Swaziland,
    Bechuanaland, Nyasaland, Zanzibar, Sudan, Somaliland.
    Asia: India, Burma, Weihai, Hong Kong, Ceylon, Malaya, Singapore, British
    North Borneo, Sarawak.
    Other regions: New Guinea, New Hebrides, Fiji, Western Samoa, Tonga,
    Australia, New Zealand, Br. Indian Ocean Territory.

    Although I think the main fact of the English language expansion is the British
    Empire, there are other factors that had an influence on become the English
    language as an international language, like Industrial Revolution, which took
    place in Great Britain in the 18th; political, economic and industrial superiority of
    Britain in the 18th century and later the emergence of USA as an economic and
    political superpower, which has the most native speakers of English in the
    world.
    Other factor is the computer revolution due to the American technology in the
    1980s and 1990s, using the English language as a common language and
    besides we have important influences like cinema and music, where English
    language is dominant.
    English language has spread all over the world even in countries which their
    mother tongue is Spanish like mine. English is our second language, we learn it
    at school, it is required for work, we listen to music and watch films in English
    and many of the advertisements in the country are in English.

    This essay about the British Empire and outline referred to some of the large
    number of British colonies all over the world, intends to show why the English
    language is an international language and from my point of view, the most
    spoken and written language in the world.

    Resources:
    www.wikipedia.com
    www.u-s-history.com
    www.britishempire.co.uk

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