Global English – pros and cons

To start with, what is Global English anyway? According to United Language Group
(https://unitedlanguagegroup.com/blog/what-is-global-english/ ): “Global English is a style of writing
that makes written English more easily understood by non-native speakers.” But what does it really
mean? Is it just a simplification of a language that has already found its way in every country in the
world and has already earned a status of a ‘lingua franca’?

Growing up in the 21st century, one might have a feeling that English has always been around
and is here to stay forever. However, that hasn’t always been the case. Just a few centuries ago,
French, German and Spanish often exchanged places in their importance as a spoken language
between foreigners, after dethroning Latin after more than 15 centuries of its sovereign
predominance as an official language in many institutions in Europe, and as a language of educated
people. English has, of course, earned its status due to many expeditions of the English Crown all
over the world and its physical spreading. But how are we to know that English will retain its status in
the years to come, and even so, how important is to preserve the already established grammar that
millions of people all over the world base their learning of English on?

Global English has its pros, obviously. Most academics agree that it is more important to send
out the message than to be perfectly clear and correct, in spelling for example. Standard English
bursts with complicated terms and structures that are sometimes impossible or very hard to
translate in other languages, which is highly important in the Global Village phenomenon that our
world has become. Since one of many features of Global English are short sentences, predictable
word order and avoidance of metaphors (everything is literal and logical), United Language Group
indicate that it makes communication clearer, faster and more effective.

On the other hand, plenty of academics argue that rules are there for a reason.
Simplification of a widely used language could open the doors for creating many versions of English
that could lead to English losing its status as a most common language in communication. Moreover,
there has been evidence in people losing their part of their personality and integrity when losing
their language, which could happen to native speakers. The more complicated a language is, the
more it indicated the diversity of the culture of its speakers.

To sum up, in this time of the 21 st century, when people live fast and technology develops
fast, English should only broaden in its use and meaning, not decrease. Style of Global English should
be acceptable in the use of primary learners, but not for advanced learners. And since English is
already broadly used, perhaps it would be absurd to simplify something that is already highly in use.

Josipa Grgurić