1. Steven Rosen
3/20/2015
Professor Steele
English vs. Mandarin
The English language is considered by a majority of the world as the dominating global
language, or as close to one as our world has seen. In his article, “A Comparison of the Global
Status of English and Chinese: Towards a New Global Language,” Jeffery Gil references a
concrete definition created by David Crystal, for the term “Global Language” as well as a list of
criteria that a specific language must pass to be considered as such. Gil claims that, “A global
language must have a special role that is recognized in every country,” as the first and most
important qualification for a language to be considered global. If a language does indeed match
the first characteristic, it would have to continue to pass the following three necessary
components to be considered an overlying global language: It is a language spoken by at least a
majority of people in some countries around the World; it is widely adopted as an official
language; it is a priority of foreign language teaching around the world. The English language is
currently the standard set in place, as it passes all four of the criteria mentioned above. English
has without a doubt earned a special role recognized in every country, as it has over 400 million
first language speakers spanning over numerous countries. (Gil 53) It has been adopted as at least
a co-official language in at minimum 70 countries across the world and it is currently being
taught in schools and Universities in just about every country worldwide. (Gil 53) Clearly,
English is recognized as our current global language, and reasonably so.

2. However, one can make the argument that more than one language can be considered a
Global Language, and one can go further in making the claim that the Chinese Language is on its
way to becoming the second recognized global language, as evident by its ability to pass each of
the criterion mentioned above. Chinese is currently spoken by an extremely significant number
of native speakers around the world, over 1 billion according to Li and Thompson. (Gil 54)
While it has not been adopted by the 70 or so countries that recognize English as an official
language, it has been by multiple areas and shows the potential to be increasing significantly in
the near future. Last, Chinese has become a priority in terms of foreign language teaching around
the world, as over 40 million people worldwide are learning the language. If it is not already
considered by a majority of the world to be a dominating world language, it should and will be
very soon.
The Chinese language currently demonstrates a number of signs that point to it being
considered a Global Language, first and most drastically in regard to its current status as a native
Language. As mentioned above, a total of roughly one billion people speak the Mandarin
language, the largest dialect of the Chinese-language family. According to the 2007
Nationalencyklopedin, one billion native-speakers consist of about 14.5% of the world’s
population, a mind-blowing statistic in relation to the Spanish language, which is second in the
world with close to 7% of people speaking it worldwide as a native language. Mandarin has
double the amount of native speakers as the second closest language, and it nearly triples the
English language (ranked third), which is spoken by approximately 5% of the world as a native
language. (Nationalencyklopedin)
Additionally, Gil writes that while the majority of the 14.5% of native speakers come
from the mainland of China, there are in fact over 50 million Chinese people living outside of

3. this area and, according to a study in 2011, somewhere between eight and 13 million of those
mentioned people speak Chinese as a native language. (Gil 54) So, while Chinese is not
represented in as many countries as some languages such as English and Spanish that reach more
total countries overall, Chinese and specifically Mandarin has an enormously more amount of
native speakers than any other language in the world. It is without a doubt a language spoken by
a majority of people in some countries around the world, and would pass Crystal’s first test with
flying colors.
The second criterion is where the Chinese language has the most difficulty being
considered global, as it is not technically the official language of as many countries as English
and Spanish are, which both rank at the top respectively. However, Mandarin shows signs of
increasing and is in a better position than most other languages. According to Gill, Mandarin is
considered to be the official language of four territories; China, Taiwan, the Hong Kong Special
Administration, as well as Singapore. While the total of four does not match the 65 countries that
consider English as an official language, with the total number of native speakers being so high,
the total number of Chinese-speakers now living outside the mainland of China growing, the
increased focus by the Chinese Government to spread the language, and the increased emphasis
on Chinese-language education, the number of countries labeling Mandarin as an official
language will soon be increasing.
The third and final criterion for a language to be considered global is its ability to be seen
as a priority for language education around the world. As mentioned previously, in the last few
years in particular there have been an increasing number of students learning Mandarin
worldwide, and a much greater emphasis has been put on the language in schools and
Universities. According to Gil and People’s Daily Online, it was estimated that by 2009 over 40

4. million people were learning Mandarin, and in America alone, the total number of higher
education students studying the language increased by 50% from 2002 to 2006, just four years.
(Gil 56) Additionally, over one fourth of the nation’s Universities are offering Mandarin classes
to its students, about 800 schools. The emphasis is not only being made at higher education
levels, but in high schools as well, as almost 1200 schools were offering programs in 2006,
almost 10 years ago. (Gil 57) Leaders in Education places such as America, New Zealand,
Britain, North Korea, and many others are putting extreme emphasis on the Mandarin language,
making it evident that it is becoming something more than just a standard language.
In all, it is clear that more than one language can be considered a “Global Language”,
specifically when following David Crystal’s definition for what that language is. The English
language, with its 400 million native speakers spanning over 65 countries certainly fulfills the
required standards. Yet, the Chinese language and specifically its dialect of Mandarin is not as
far behind as many believe, and the argument can be made that due to its one billion-plus native
speakers, it’s increasing growth to new countries, and the emphasis made on the language in
education, it has already reached the point of a Global Language.

5. Works Cited
Gil, Jeffrey. "A Comparison of the Global Status of English and Chinese: Towards a New Global
Language?" English Today 27.01 (2011): 52-59. Web.
Graddol, David. "Profiling English in China." (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 22
Nationalencyklopedin. Malmö: Nationalencyklopedin, 2007. Print.