The Twenty-First Century

This chapter considers English in its relation to other languages and its current place in the world as a means of predicting its future as a global language. The populations of various countries are obvious factors—the United States, China, the countries surveyed in Chapter 10 including India—as are elements of the language itself. There are features of English that impact its acquisition as a second or a foreign language, including its closeness to other major languages in the Indo-European family. As in the earlier history of English, both “external” and “internal” facts are relevant. Finally, the rapidly growing use of large language models and chatbots affects the use of English worldwide in ways that require serious attention to the advantages and disadvantages of the new technology and to moral questions that arise.