Is the Current Global Role of English Sustainable?

Far from being simply the language of science or the world’s default means of communication, English takes on multi-faceted roles worldwide, and defies gross generalisation or easy description. This chapter attempts to address questions about the present and future roles of English, from the apparently simple issue of speaker numbers through to an assessment of political and social factors and an analysis of the characteristics of English in its role as lingua franca. The assumption of homogeneity and the simplicity of claims regarding native speakers are questioned and the optimism surrounding the English as a lingua franca movement is examined. Problems concerning the pragmatics of international communication and the discourse and historical elements in linguistic interactions are raised, with a view to evaluating the very concept of an international or universal tongue. Finally the chapter hopes to suggest that lingual abilities and trans-linguistic skills will probably be important and any lingua franca will need to be emergent and complex in order to be sustainable.