Let us consider the example of what has today become a lingua franca in many fields – the language of this blog – English. Mauranen, C et al (2003) write:
The English language has established itself as the global lingua franca, that is, a vehicular language spoken by people who do not share a native language. This unprecedented spread of one originally ethnic language can be traced to British colonialism and later to the economic and political power of the United States, but the origins have ceased to be the prime motivation for the continued spread of the language. Most of its use today is by nonnative speakers (NNSs), and the number of people speaking it as a foreign or second language has surpassed the number of its native speakers (NSs) (about 80% of speakers of English are estimated to be bilingual users; see Crystal, 1997). As a consequence, voices in the English teaching profession and among scholars in the field (see, e.g., Kachru, 1996; Knapp, 2002; McArthur, 2001; Rampton, 1990; Seidlhofer, 2000; Widdowson, 1994) have questioned the NS’s status as the most relevant model for teaching English and have called for the development of models for international speakers that are more appropriate to the changed role of English.
The journey of the English language as a language of the colonisers which the colonies and the world at large made their own, in turn questioning the ‘standards’ of the language itself is very telling of negotiation of linguistic power. Ideas and concepts traveled with people in languages. English is of course not the only language to have traveled and contributed to the spread of ideas. German is one of the many other examples that we can consider. As a language, German has both colonial routes as well its own place as a language of academic pursuits and a key to new opportunities. The later has been possible for non-Germans to access through languages institutes across the world (confer. Confucius Institute to see a similar case).