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<title> Is English A World Language? </title>
	For many people, the answer to this question is simple: yes it is. It is not hard to understand why; around 400 million people have English as their mother-tongue today (Crystal 1997:360). English is also the primary language used in business, politics, science, air-traffic and other major issues. It's the official- och semi-official language in over sixty countries and it's well established in all six continents (Crystal 1997:360). But if you look deeper into the subject, the question becomes less simple. 
	As English is spoken by millions of people in different countries worldwide; several types of the language has evolved. The most common are British English and American English, but there are many variants. The problem is that these different types of English often differ from Standard English in both pronunciation and grammar. With this knowledge, the question is not as simple anymore. Can one really speak of English as a world language when it appears to consist of not one but several different types of the language?

	In this essay I will deal with the following questions:

1. Is English really a world language? 
Here I will contrast the different opinions stated in the reading material, mainly the articles by 
Samuel Ahulu and Tom McArthur, and try to come to a conclusion.

2. Will English follow Latin?
In the reading material, some parallells between Latin and Standard English are pointed out. The "correct" Latin was never spoken by the people, who used a more informal language. 
The same could be said about English today; few people use correct Standard English in spoken language. Another parallell between the two languages is that Latin disintegrated into mutally unintelligible languages, and English may also be on its way to a similar break-up (McArthur 1987:9). 

2. Is there a need for redefinition of Standard English (SE)?
Most English speaking do not use Standard English. It's more of a written language than a spoken language. Should not SE be redefined to include all the words that are used in English all over the world? Is it right that, for example, a teacher can claim that words not included in SE is incorrect English?
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