The spread of English as a global language seems part of an unstoppable process, closely linked to globalisation itself. But where is it all leading? Will the whole world eventually speak English as their first or second language? Will national languages become endangered? Will those who cannot speak English proficiently be excluded from the new global society? Prof.Graddol will explore the idea that the rise of English is part of a major restructuring of the world language system in which there will be a complex pattern of winners and losers. He will show some preliminary results of a computer model of demographic and economic trends in languages which form part of new research commissioned by the British Council. He will also discuss some of the problems faced by applied linguists trying to develop a macro, long-term perspective within a discipline which has shown the crucial importance of ethnographic, micro analysis.

David Graddol is Managing Director of The English Company (UK) Ltd which provides consultancy and publishing services in applied language studies. He is well known as a writer, broadcaster and lecturer on issues related to global English. David's publications include 'The Future of English?', a seminal research document commissioned by the British Council (published in 1997) and, last year, a commissioned article by Science Magazine on 'The Future of Language'. His work on English and globalisation is frequently cited in the media and has been influential in strategic management responses by governments and multinational organisations. David is the Production Editor of the new 'Journal of Applied Linguistics' and 'Linguistics and the Human Sciences' and is a member of the editorial boards of 'Language Planning and Language Problems' and the 'Journal of Visual Communication'. His academic interests include sociolinguistics and the analysis of multimodal texts. Before taking early retirement, David worked for 25 years in the Faculty of Education and Language Studies at the UK Open University where he was esponsible for developing open learning and audio visual materials related to the study of English. He has acted as a consultant to several ELT projects in China since the early 1990s.