2008年Mini-lecture(2/7)

Some researchers suggested a few years ago that between 320－380 million people spoke English as a first language,and anyway between 250－350 million as a second language. And of course, if we include people who are learning English as a foreign language all over the world,that number may increase dramatically.Then we may ask a question: how did English get there?That is, how did English gain the present status of popularity? There are in fact a number of interlocking reasonsfor the popularity of English as a lingua franca.Many of the reasons are historical,but they also include economic and cultural factors that have influenced and sustained the spread of the language.