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Does money talk, and do languages have price tags? Economic perspectives on English as a global language

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The rise of English to its present position of the world’s undisputed lingua franca and the role of Global English in a multilingual world are core topics of World Englishes research. However, this does not mean that they have not been of interest to researchers in other disciplines, as well – for example in history, sociology and economics. The present contribution reviews a sample of recent analyses of English in multilingual settings written by economists, arguing that in spite of their methodological blindness to some phenomena important to (socio)linguists they have important things to say to the World Englishes research community. Conversely, taking account of the results of linguistic research on World Englishes would greatly help in refining the econometric models.

References

  1. Bailey, R. & Görlach, M.
    (eds) 1982 English as a World Language. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press.
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  2. Blommaert, J
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     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511845307 [Google Scholar]
  3. Bourdieu, P
    1980 Le marché linguistique. InQuestions de sociologie, P. Bourdieu , 121–137. Paris: Ed. de Minuit.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Bussière, M. , Fidrmuc, J. & Schnatz, B
    2008 EU enlargement and trade integration: Lessons from a gravity model. Review of Development Economics12(3): 562–576. doi: 10.1111/j.1467‑9361.2008.00472.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9361.2008.00472.x [Google Scholar]
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     [Google Scholar]
  6. Cameron, D
    2012 The commodification of language: English as a global commodity. InThe Oxford Handbook of the History of English, T. Nevalainen & E. Traugott (eds), 352–364. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Cheng, I.-H. & Wall, H
    2005 Controlling for heterogeneity in gravity models of trade and integration. Federal Reserve Bank of St . Louis Review87(1): 49–63.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Christian, N
    . No date. A little more Pitkern language for you. nadinechristian.blogspot.de/2013/01/a-little-more-pitkern-language-for-you.html (14 February 2014).
  9. Coupland, N.
    (ed.) 2010 The Handbook of Language and Globalization. Malden MA: Blackwell. doi: 10.1002/9781444324068
     https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444324068 [Google Scholar]
  10. de Swaan, A
    2001 Words of the World: The Global Language System. Cambridge: Polity.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. 2007 The language predicament of the EU since the enlargements. InSociolinguistica: International Yearbook of Sociolinguistics. Vol. 21: Linguistic Consequences of the EU-Enlargement, U. Ammon , K.J. Mattheier & P.H. Nelde (eds), 1–21. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. 2010 Language systems. In N. Coupland (ed.), 56–76.
  13. Dor, D
    2004 From Englishization to imposed multilingualism: Globalization, the Internet, and the political economy of the linguistic code. Public Culture16(1): 97–118. doi: 10.1215/08992363‑16‑1‑97
     https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-16-1-97 [Google Scholar]
  14. Fidrmuc, J. & Fidrmuc, J
    2003 Disintegration and trade. Review of International Economics11(5): 811–829. doi: 10.1046/j.1467‑9396.2003.00419.x
     https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-9396.2003.00419.x [Google Scholar]
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  16. Fidrmuc, J. & Ginsburgh, V
    2007 Languages in the European Union: The quest for equality and cost. European Economic Review51(6): 1351–1369. doi: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2006.10.002
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2006.10.002 [Google Scholar]
  17. Ginsburgh, V. , Ortuño-Ortín, I. & Weber, S
    2007 Learning foreign languages: Theoretical and empirical implications of the Selten and Pool model. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization64(3–4): 337–347. doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2006.10.005
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2006.10.005 [Google Scholar]
  18. Grin, F
    2001 English as economic value: Facts and fallacies. World Englishes20(1): 65–78. doi: 10.1111/1467‑971X.00196
     https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-971X.00196 [Google Scholar]
  19. 2005 L’enseignement des langues étrangères comme politique publique. Paris: Haut Conseil de l’Evaluation de l’Ecole; electronic version at www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/var/storage/rapports-publics/054000678/0000.pdf (13 December 2013).
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  20. Heller, M
    2003 Globalization, the new economy, and the commodification of language and identity. Journal of Sociolinguistics7(4): 473–492. doi: 10.1111/j.1467‑9841.2003.00238.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2003.00238.x [Google Scholar]
  21. Hofmann, S.
    (ed.) 2008 Más allá de la nación: Medios, espacios comunicativos y nuevas comunidades imagninadas. Berlin: Walter Frey.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Hull, G.A. & Hernandez, G
    2010 Literacy. InHandbook of Educational Linguistics, B. Spolsky & F.M. Hult (eds), 328–340. Malden MA: Blackwell’s.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Kachru, B.
    (ed.) 1982 The Other Tongue – English across Cultures. Urbana IL: University of Illinois Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Kortmann, B. & Schneider, E. , with K. Burridge , R. Mesthrie , C. Upton
    (eds) 2004 A Handbook of Varieties of English, 2 vols. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9783110197181
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110197181 [Google Scholar]
  25. Mair, C
    2013 The world system of Englishes: Accounting for the transnational importance of mobile and mediated vernaculars. English World-Wide34(3): 253–278. doi: 10.1075/eww.34.3.01mai
     https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.34.3.01mai [Google Scholar]
  26. McArthur, T
    2003 World English, Euro-English, Nordic English. English Today19(1): 54–58. doi: 10.1017/S0266078403004097
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078403004097 [Google Scholar]
  27. Meierkord, C
    2012 Interactions across Englishes: Linguistic Choices in Local and International Contact Situations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139026703
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139026703 [Google Scholar]
  28. Mesthrie, R. & Bhatt, R.M
    2008 World Englishes: The Study of New Varieties. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Michel, J.-B. , Shen, Y.K. , Aiden, A.P. , Veres, A. , Gray, M.K. , The Google Books Team , Pickett, J.P. , Hoiberg, D. , Clancy, D. , Norvig, P. , Orwant, J. , Pinker, St. , Nowak, M.A. & Lieberman Aiden, E
    2010 Quantitative analysis of culture using millions of digitized books. Science331(6014): 176–182. doi: 10.1126/science.1199644
     https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1199644 [Google Scholar]
  30. Milroy, L
    2007 Off the shelf or under the counter? On the social dynamics of sound changes. InManaging Chaos: Strategies for Identifying Change in English, C.M. Cain & G. Russom (eds), 149–172. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Northrup, D
    2013 How English Became the Global Language. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9781137303073
     https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137303073 [Google Scholar]
  32. Pagel, M. , Atkinson, Qu. D. & Meade, A
    2007 Frequency of word-use predicts rates of lexical evolution throughout Indo-European history. Nature449: 717–720. doi: 10.1038/nature06176
     https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06176 [Google Scholar]
  33. Phillipson, R
    2003a Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. 2003b English-Only Europe? London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Pool, J
    2010 Panlingual globalization. In N. Coupland (ed.), 142–161.
  36. Ross, A.S.C. & Moverley, A.W
    1964 The Pitcairnese Language. London: Deutsch.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Schneider, E
    W 2007 Postcolonial English: Varieties around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511618901
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511618901 [Google Scholar]
  38. Selten, R. & Pool, J
    1991 The distribution of foreign language skills as a game equilibrium. InGame Equilibrium Models, Vol. 4, R. Selten (ed.), 64–84. Berlin: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978‑3‑662‑07369‑8_5
     https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-07369-8_5 [Google Scholar]
  39. Strevens, P
    1980 Teaching English as an International Language: From Practice to Principle. Oxford: Pergamon.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Trudgill, P. & Hannah, J
    1982 International English: A Guide to Varieties of Standard English, 5th edn 2008 London: Arnold.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Zhang, W. & Grenier, G
    2013 How can language be linked to economics? A survey of two strands of research. Language Problems and Language Planning37(3): 203–226. doi: 10.1075/lplp.37.3.01zha
     https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.37.3.01zha [Google Scholar]

References

  1. Bailey, R. & Görlach, M.
    (eds) 1982 English as a World Language. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Blommaert, J
    2010 The Sociolinguistics of Globalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511845307
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511845307 [Google Scholar]
  3. Bourdieu, P
    1980 Le marché linguistique. InQuestions de sociologie, P. Bourdieu , 121–137. Paris: Ed. de Minuit.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Bussière, M. , Fidrmuc, J. & Schnatz, B
    2008 EU enlargement and trade integration: Lessons from a gravity model. Review of Development Economics12(3): 562–576. doi: 10.1111/j.1467‑9361.2008.00472.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9361.2008.00472.x [Google Scholar]
  5. Calvet, L.-J
    1999.Pour une écologie des langues du monde. Paris: Plon. (English translation: Towards an Ecology of World Languages. Cambridge: Polity, 2006).
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Cameron, D
    2012 The commodification of language: English as a global commodity. InThe Oxford Handbook of the History of English, T. Nevalainen & E. Traugott (eds), 352–364. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Cheng, I.-H. & Wall, H
    2005 Controlling for heterogeneity in gravity models of trade and integration. Federal Reserve Bank of St . Louis Review87(1): 49–63.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Christian, N
    . No date. A little more Pitkern language for you. nadinechristian.blogspot.de/2013/01/a-little-more-pitkern-language-for-you.html (14 February 2014).
  9. Coupland, N.
    (ed.) 2010 The Handbook of Language and Globalization. Malden MA: Blackwell. doi: 10.1002/9781444324068
     https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444324068 [Google Scholar]
  10. de Swaan, A
    2001 Words of the World: The Global Language System. Cambridge: Polity.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. 2007 The language predicament of the EU since the enlargements. InSociolinguistica: International Yearbook of Sociolinguistics. Vol. 21: Linguistic Consequences of the EU-Enlargement, U. Ammon , K.J. Mattheier & P.H. Nelde (eds), 1–21. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. 2010 Language systems. In N. Coupland (ed.), 56–76.
  13. Dor, D
    2004 From Englishization to imposed multilingualism: Globalization, the Internet, and the political economy of the linguistic code. Public Culture16(1): 97–118. doi: 10.1215/08992363‑16‑1‑97
     https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-16-1-97 [Google Scholar]
  14. Fidrmuc, J. & Fidrmuc, J
    2003 Disintegration and trade. Review of International Economics11(5): 811–829. doi: 10.1046/j.1467‑9396.2003.00419.x
     https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-9396.2003.00419.x [Google Scholar]
  15. 2009 Letter to the editor. Economist, 07March: 19. Electronic version at www.economist.com/node/13226402 (12 February 2014).
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Fidrmuc, J. & Ginsburgh, V
    2007 Languages in the European Union: The quest for equality and cost. European Economic Review51(6): 1351–1369. doi: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2006.10.002
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2006.10.002 [Google Scholar]
  17. Ginsburgh, V. , Ortuño-Ortín, I. & Weber, S
    2007 Learning foreign languages: Theoretical and empirical implications of the Selten and Pool model. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization64(3–4): 337–347. doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2006.10.005
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2006.10.005 [Google Scholar]
  18. Grin, F
    2001 English as economic value: Facts and fallacies. World Englishes20(1): 65–78. doi: 10.1111/1467‑971X.00196
     https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-971X.00196 [Google Scholar]
  19. 2005 L’enseignement des langues étrangères comme politique publique. Paris: Haut Conseil de l’Evaluation de l’Ecole; electronic version at www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/var/storage/rapports-publics/054000678/0000.pdf (13 December 2013).
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Heller, M
    2003 Globalization, the new economy, and the commodification of language and identity. Journal of Sociolinguistics7(4): 473–492. doi: 10.1111/j.1467‑9841.2003.00238.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2003.00238.x [Google Scholar]
  21. Hofmann, S.
    (ed.) 2008 Más allá de la nación: Medios, espacios comunicativos y nuevas comunidades imagninadas. Berlin: Walter Frey.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Hull, G.A. & Hernandez, G
    2010 Literacy. InHandbook of Educational Linguistics, B. Spolsky & F.M. Hult (eds), 328–340. Malden MA: Blackwell’s.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Kachru, B.
    (ed.) 1982 The Other Tongue – English across Cultures. Urbana IL: University of Illinois Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Kortmann, B. & Schneider, E. , with K. Burridge , R. Mesthrie , C. Upton
    (eds) 2004 A Handbook of Varieties of English, 2 vols. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9783110197181
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110197181 [Google Scholar]
  25. Mair, C
    2013 The world system of Englishes: Accounting for the transnational importance of mobile and mediated vernaculars. English World-Wide34(3): 253–278. doi: 10.1075/eww.34.3.01mai
     https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.34.3.01mai [Google Scholar]
  26. McArthur, T
    2003 World English, Euro-English, Nordic English. English Today19(1): 54–58. doi: 10.1017/S0266078403004097
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078403004097 [Google Scholar]
  27. Meierkord, C
    2012 Interactions across Englishes: Linguistic Choices in Local and International Contact Situations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139026703
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139026703 [Google Scholar]
  28. Mesthrie, R. & Bhatt, R.M
    2008 World Englishes: The Study of New Varieties. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Michel, J.-B. , Shen, Y.K. , Aiden, A.P. , Veres, A. , Gray, M.K. , The Google Books Team , Pickett, J.P. , Hoiberg, D. , Clancy, D. , Norvig, P. , Orwant, J. , Pinker, St. , Nowak, M.A. & Lieberman Aiden, E
    2010 Quantitative analysis of culture using millions of digitized books. Science331(6014): 176–182. doi: 10.1126/science.1199644
     https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1199644 [Google Scholar]
  30. Milroy, L
    2007 Off the shelf or under the counter? On the social dynamics of sound changes. InManaging Chaos: Strategies for Identifying Change in English, C.M. Cain & G. Russom (eds), 149–172. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Northrup, D
    2013 How English Became the Global Language. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9781137303073
     https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137303073 [Google Scholar]
  32. Pagel, M. , Atkinson, Qu. D. & Meade, A
    2007 Frequency of word-use predicts rates of lexical evolution throughout Indo-European history. Nature449: 717–720. doi: 10.1038/nature06176
     https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06176 [Google Scholar]
  33. Phillipson, R
    2003a Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. 2003b English-Only Europe? London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Pool, J
    2010 Panlingual globalization. In N. Coupland (ed.), 142–161.
  36. Ross, A.S.C. & Moverley, A.W
    1964 The Pitcairnese Language. London: Deutsch.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Schneider, E
    W 2007 Postcolonial English: Varieties around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511618901
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511618901 [Google Scholar]
  38. Selten, R. & Pool, J
    1991 The distribution of foreign language skills as a game equilibrium. InGame Equilibrium Models, Vol. 4, R. Selten (ed.), 64–84. Berlin: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978‑3‑662‑07369‑8_5
     https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-07369-8_5 [Google Scholar]
  39. Strevens, P
    1980 Teaching English as an International Language: From Practice to Principle. Oxford: Pergamon.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Trudgill, P. & Hannah, J
    1982 International English: A Guide to Varieties of Standard English, 5th edn 2008 London: Arnold.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Zhang, W. & Grenier, G
    2013 How can language be linked to economics? A survey of two strands of research. Language Problems and Language Planning37(3): 203–226. doi: 10.1075/lplp.37.3.01zha
     https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.37.3.01zha [Google Scholar]

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