French vs. English!: French vs. English! The Dynamics of French and English as Global Languages


The Players…: The Players… Jennifer Burkey – French Language History Olivia Lysakowski – French Language Today Peter Trezise – English Language History Maria Pruszynska – English Language Today Patrick Stephenson – Future of Global Language, Consequences, Conclusions


French Beginnings…: French Beginnings… A Romance Language that has Gaulish roots with Germanic influences First there were the Gauls, then there were Germanic invasions, Frankish invasions, and the spread of Latin and Christianity Charlemagne wanted to restore Latin’s former glory: the Carolingian Renaissance Norman invasion had little effect on the language French triumphs over Latin! 1539 decree of Villers-Cotterets 1635 founding of the French Academy


Where is French Spoken?: Where is French Spoken? France Europe Africa Haiti and the West Indies Polynesia North America South America Middle East


How did it get there?: How did it get there? Colonization in North America Quebec The Acadians arrived in 1604, because of the “Great Upheaval” in 1755, many resettled to Louisiana Colonization elsewhere Africa: Intolerant of local dialects, emphasized superiority of French, Francophone countries take up about half the land area of Africa


How did it get there?: How did it get there? French Immigration to North Africa Up until WWI, many French settled in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco


The Francophone Movement: The Francophone Movement Really got underway in the 1960s Emphasized Cultural and Linguistic ties A reaction to the decline of French in academic and political circles Foundation of conferences of francophone states: 1967 AIPLF (Assemblee internationale des parlementaires de langue francaise), 1969 ACCT (Association de cooperation culturelle et technique)


Current Status of French: Current Status of French 77 million first language speakers 51 million second language speakers 11th most common first language 2nd most commonly taught language 113 million speak French fluently and use it daily Spoken as a native language on 5 continents (along with English) Spoken in 53 countries other than France


Current Status of French: Current Status of French Official working language of organizations such as: Amnesty Int., EU, Interpol, International Olympic Committee, NAFTA, NATO, OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), Red Cross and Red Crescent, UN, WHO, and WTO


Decline in Use of French: Decline in Use of French Threatened by countries that require only one foreign language to be taught in schools In 2002, 30% of European Commission(EU) documents published in French, compared to 58% in 1986 Also in 2002, 28% of European Council(EU) documents published in French, compared to 59% in English (in 1997 they were equal with 42% each) Only 4.6% of all websites are in French and only 33% of students across EU choose to study French


Decline in Use of French: Decline in Use of French Globalization along with the increasing popularity of American pop culture have caused this decline. English has been made to appear cool and its use is a skill desired by those hoping to leave France.


What is France Doing About it?: What is France Doing About it? 1994 legislation “loi Toubon” threatened jail time to anyone who used the words like “le weekend” and “le parking” There are protective laws, decrees and directives. Legislation stemmed from “loi Toubon” Today companies can be prosecuted for using such words in their ads Recently 3 French officials demanded that French be the judicial language of Europe


What is France Doing About it?: What is France Doing About it? Radio stations are required to mostly play songs with French lyrics Advertisements in English are outlawed if they do not provide a translation President Chirac has asked France’s media companies to create a French-language world news channel similar to CNN Academie Francaise: 400 year old institution whose goal is to keep “bad” French out French government body that creates French equivalents for English words (ex. banned “e-mail”)


Controversy in Schools: Controversy in Schools Recently a commission led by an education expert recommended the mandatory teaching of English in all French schools President Chirac was outraged and does not support Teachers, unions, and legislators have been publicly against this and are trying to prevent it French students have the lowest level of knowledge of English. They regressed between 1996 and 2002.


English Beginnings…: English Beginnings… A Germanic language First there were West Germanic Invaders, then Norse Invasions, William the Conqueror brought a form of Old French to the British Isles in 1066 ad The English spoken by the peasantry became more important than the French spoken by the Nobility. Advent of the printing press Dialect of London chosen for standard English, Grammar and spelling became fixed in 1604 King James Bible published in 1611 and English more important than Latin


How did English Spread?: How did English Spread? History of Accepting other languages Most words in English not from the Germanic roots of the language Industrial Revolution Colonization Africa: Tolerant of local dialects America


English Takeover : English Takeover America as a world power Technology Desire to be like “cool” like America


Where is it?: Where is it? English is the official language or has special status in at least 75 countries. Spoken all around the globe Native Language of more than 375 million Nearly twice as many non-native speakers


English Speaking Countries: English Speaking Countries


English as a Global Language: English as a Global Language Unlike the French Academie Francaise there is no such instrument in the English language Instead a term and journal “World Englishes” is used to describe English on an international scale.


World Englishes?: World Englishes? “At the beginning of the 1990s, the population of Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia would all be described as speaking varieties of Serbo-Croatian. Today the situation has polarized …[with] efforts being made to maximize the regional differences between them.” English has not polarized in the same way. Australians do not say they speak British English and vice-versa but there is no conflict between them. The lack of a Standard English allows dialectal variations to occur more readily.


English Spread : Technology: English Spread : Technology 1895-first wireless telegraphy in English, the signals first reaching Australia in 1918. 1936-world’s first high-definition television service began provided by the BBC. 1915 though the World Wars-motion picture industry with roots in Europe and the US; first sounds accompanying moving pictures were in English. 20th century-electronically transmitted information and the World Wide Web-90% of Internet hosts are based in English speaking countries.


English Spread: Political Purpose: English Spread: Political Purpose Some African countries it has become the official language. In many it is the language of education and government. America’s hegemonic status perpetuates the use of English. First Language Speakers of English will soon form a minority group. Language Death?


The Future of English as a Global Language: The Future of English as a Global Language The Peak Of English as a Global Language Decrease in native English Speakers English as a Second Language The New “Must-Learn” Language Mandarin, Chinese “Third World” Languages


The Future of French as a Global Language: The Future of French as a Global Language Decline as a World Language Population growth European Union and Global Organizations NATO, EU, UN, etc… Expansion and English Domination


Consequences: Consequences Language Death and Birth Loss of Rural Languages New English Hybrids Sciences’ Lingua Franca English Expansion ESL and Educational Burdens


Conclusions: Conclusions While French was at one time the “lingua franca” of the educated world, that’s no longer the case. English has been gaining in importance and dominance as a language for the past 150 years, and is now the most widely distributed and second most commonly spoken language on the planet.


Conclusions (cont’d): Conclusions (cont’d) English is most likely just a ‘temporary ruler’ as a global language. In the next 100 years, it could easily be overtaken by Mandarin, Chinese or Arabic, depending on how cultures and economies grow and spread.


Works Cited: Works Cited Ball, Rodney. The French Speaking World: A practical introduction to sociolinguistic issues. London: Routledge, 1997. Holmes, Urban T. and Alexander H. Shutz. A History of the French Language. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1938. Walter, Henriette. French Inside Out: The worldwide development of the French language in the past, present and the future. Trans. Peter Fawcett. London: Routledge, 1994.


Works Cited (cont’d): Works Cited (cont’d) http://www.ethnologue.com http://www.forbes.com/columnists/fr…4/1129/039.html http://french.about.com/library/bl-whatisfrench.htm http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/cultural/2003/0829auxarmes.htm http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13…00.html


Works Cited (cont’d): Works Cited (cont’d) A World Empire by Other Means. Economist, 12/22/2001, Vol. 361 Issue 8253, p65, 3p. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/lan_eng_sta http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0226_040226_language.html#main