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[Book Review] David Crystal (2003). English as a global

language. (2nd ed. First ed., 1997), Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

Article  in  Sociolinguistic Studies · June 2007

DOI: 10.1558/sols.v5i2.389

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Nagore, F. et al. (1999). Luengas Menazatas y Normalización. Actes du

XVIIIe Congrès Association Internationale pour la Défense des
Langues et Cultures Menacées. Uesca: Consello d’a Fabla Aragonesa.

S
David Crystal (2003). English as a global language. (2nd ed. First ed.,
1997), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. xv + 212 pp., ISBN Hb 0
521 82347 1, Pb 0 521 53032 6.

TAE-YOUNG KIM
OISE/University of Toronto
taekim@oise.utoronto.ca

David Crystal’s English as a global language (2nd ed.) contains state-of-

the-art information about the discourse of English as a lingua franca. Indeed,
compared to when its first edition was published in 1997, we are now
witnessing rapid advances in the Internet and Information Technologies, all of
which have tremendously affected and re-shaped the discourse of
globalization. Given this, it is timely that the author revised the previous
edition, including the Web resources. Since the first edition’s great success,
there followed related publications by other scholars who held different views
of the spread of English on a global scale. As Crystal acknowledges in the
Preface of the second edition (pp. x-xi), he frequently refers to and criticizes
two leading academics’ works throughout this new edition: David Graddol’s
(1998) The future of English and Tom McArthur’s (1998) The English
languages. The former predicts that, as a result of the rise of other competing
candidates for lingua franca (i.e., Chinese or Spanish), the status of English
will not persist, whereas the latter largely equates the destiny of English with
that of Latin: it will eventually develop into a family of English languages
which will not be mutually understandable much as the vernacular Latins
such as French, Italian, and Spanish are not in the current era. In this edition,

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maintaining the same structural formats of the first edition, Crystal responds
to Graddol’s and McArthur’s arguments by counter-arguing that the power
which English, as a global language, holds will be consolidated in the 21st
century.
In Chapter 1, Crystal convincingly advocates the need to adopt English
as a global language for communication emphasizing the importance of local
languages as representative of indigenous identity. As Crystal puts it, English
is becoming the world’s global language “for one chief reason: the power of
its people” (p. 9). The power of the people who use English mostly as their
first language is described in subsequent chapters. The author provides ample
historical background information about the spread of English in Chapter 2.
After a brief summary of cultural foundations related to English speakers
(mainly British and American people) in Chapter 3, he expounds the
phenomenal influences of English in international relations, the media,
international travel, international safety in transport operations, and
education. In Chapter 5, Crystal cautiously diagnoses the future of this
powerful medium of mutual intelligibility. Since English is spoken in the
U.S.A., one of the leading nations in virtually all domains, he allots
considerable pages to the debates surrounding ‘the official language
movement’ in the U.S.A. In addition, vis-à-vis the first edition, the author
newly incorporates linguistic features of New English observed in many
regions categorized as the outer circle (Kachru, 1988). Finally he proposes a
new form of English, World Standard Spoken English (WSSE). Even though
he acknowledges that WSSE is “still in its infancy” and “is hardly yet been
born” (p. 186), he is optimistic about the future of WSSE. According to him,
“for global purposes, WSSE will suffice” (p. 189) whereas regional varieties
such as British or American English will represent identity at a local level.
Undoubtedly, it remains to be seen whether Crystal’s concept of WSSE will
be realized.
In another well-known work, The dialogic imagination: Four essays by
M.M. Bakhtin, Russian semiotician and literary critic, Mikhail M. Bakhtin
(1981) contends that any language has two contradictory forces: centripetal
and centrifugal forces. He maintains that “every utterance participants in the
‘unitary language’ (in its centripetal forces and tendencies) and at the same
time partakes of social and historical heteroglossia (the centrifugal,
stratifying forces)” (Bakhtin, 1981: 272). In his revised edition, however,
Crystal seems to focus on the centripetal forces (e.g., see p. 178). According
to his view, English has already attained a special status as the medium of

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international communication, which can be understood as the centripetal

function of a language. By taking this stance, Crystal does not seem to value
the another Bakhtinian concept, centrifugal forces, since ever-increasing
communications on an international level will safeguard homogeneous
linguistic traits in English. However, at the same time, the author appreciates
the value of local languages. They function as ‘identity patrol’. Crystal’s
dualistic position is well represented by the following sentence: “Local
languages continue to perform an important set of functions (chiefly, the
expression of local identity) and English is seen as the primary means of
achieving a global presence” (p. 24). Since the two languages function on two
different planes, he asserts that the obsolescence of endangered languages is
not by and large related to the discourse of a global English language (p. 21).
For him, it might not be an impossible scenario for two languages, with
different historical origins and functions, having differentiated sociocultural
roles in a given community, to co-exist.
Simply put, Crystal’s position might be that: it is a natural consequence
for English to become a global language even though it is unfortunate for
endangered minority languages to become extinct. He furthermore posits
English should not be blamed for usurping the vitality of minority languages.
Although not referred to in this edition, a similar attitude can be found in
British sociobiologist, Richard Dawkins’ book, The selfish gene, written
almost three decades ago. Dawkins (1976) supported natural selection or “the
survival of the fittest” position, which was heavily criticized by American
paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. Gould (1996) warned us of the dangers
inherent in the hard sciences by exemplifying maladaptations of the
“objective” hard sciences (e.g., eugenics) in his book, The mismeasure of
man. For Gould, scientists both in natural and in social inquiries should
consider the consequences or axiological aspects of their works.
In my view, Gould’s concern seems to be equally applicable to Crystal’s
book. Even though Crystal tries to make objective and reasonable arguments
for the need to adopt English as a global language, applying the concept of
lingua franca will be inevitably related to the atrophy of many local
languages. Citing the cases of language rights movements of Maori in New
Zealand and of the native languages in Canada, he argues that the movement
“slowed and occasionally (as in the case of Welsh) halted” the decline of a
language (p. 21). However, it is not clear why Crystal uses the word,
“occasionally”. Does it mean that, in many cases, the death of endangered
languages is an unavoidable fate and it is the locals’ responsibility to protect

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their own language? Moreover, I would like to pose other intriguing

questions: what should be an ideal situation for the (many endangered) local
languages? Should local non-native English speakers be content with the
inevitable extinction of their language instead of taking action to nourish and
develop it? And hasn’t the power of a dominant language and that of people
who inadvertently use the language negatively and, in many cases, forcefully,
contributed to the loss of these local voices? On July 28, 2003, the weekly
magazine, Time (Canadian edition) presented a feature on past institutional
abuse of aboriginal children. Virtually all First Nations’ descendants had been
affected by Canada’s, now defunct, unilateral assimilation policies such as the
mandatory residential-school system, which aimed to “civilize” the
aboriginal population. Phil Lane Jr., a hereditary chief of the Yankton Dakota
and Chickasaw tribes in Alberta, Canada, mentions that: “the damage to
identity –which is connected to language, kinship relations, spiritual and
cultural relationships– is every bit as important as the physical and sexual
abuse” (p. 38). As the vignette illustrates, forcing a population to adopt a new
language, in this case English, almost always results in debilitative
consequences. In this regard, it might be a wrong speculation that “to attack
English in any way (…) is to attack the wrong target” (Lysandrou &
Lysandrou, 2003: 230). In my view, to place all the blame on English is to
attack a related target, if not the right target.
In addition, Philipson’s (1992) and Pennycook’s (1994) works should
have been analyzed in more detail in this book. Crystal, however, strongly
disregards their work mentioning that “anachronistic views of linguistic
imperialism… are hopelessly inadequate as an explanation of linguistic
realities” (pp. 23-24). Interestingly, the author seems to condemn both
Philipson and Pennycook for their different views (see footnote 23, p. 24),
which can be summarized, in a general sense, as a critical language pedagogy
position. It is understandable for the author to have negative personal
feelings, but for academic arguments, it would have been much better for
Crystal to provide solid theoretical foundations for why he considers their
positions as “hopelessly inadequate”. Furthermore, he needs to clarify his
own concept of linguistic reality. For readers, it would certainly be an
intellectually stimulating experience to read the pros and cons of Crystal’s
version of linguistic reality and Philipson/Pennycook’s version of linguistic
idealism rather than reading the unbalanced calumny for each other’s naïveté.
In sum, Crystal’s English as a global language will function as one of the
authoritative resources for general interest reader as well as students and

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individuals researching language sciences. His efforts are most highlighted in

the inclusion of Internet websites and ample footnotes, both of which
certainly make this second edition more informative than the first. Moreover,
throughout Chapters 2, 3, and 4, the author seems to successfully convince
his readers to perceive English, be it an American variety or so-called World
Standard Spoken English (WSSE), as the global language. However, Crystal
does not seem to pay much attention to a critical pedagogy position except for
condemning two scholars: Philipson and Pennycook. In addition, despite his
proposal of WSSE, as he acknowledges, the proposal does not have many
practical implications other than abstract conceptualizations per se.
Hopefully, these minor shortcomings will be revised in a future third edition.

Bibliographical references
Bakhtin, M.M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays by M.M.
Bakhtin, (M. Holquist, ed.), (C. Emerson & M. Holquist, trans).
Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Dawkins, R. (1976). The selfish gene. New York: Oxford University Press.
Gould, S.J. (1996). The mismeasure of man. (Revised ed.), New York: Norton.
Graddol, D. (1998). The future of English. London: The British Council.
Kachru, B. (1988). “The sacred cows of English”. English Today 16, 3-8.
Lysandrou, P. & Y. Lysandrou (2003). “Global English and progression:
Understanding English language spread in the contemporary era”.
[Paper given to conference on The cultural politics of English as a
world language, Freiburg, June 2001]. Economy and Society 32(2),
207-33.
McArthur, T. (1998). The English languages. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Myers, R., M. Collison, L. Eggertson & C. Waxer (2003). “Money for
healing”. Time July 28 (Canadian ed.), p. 38.
Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural policies of English as an international
language. London: Longman.
Philipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.

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