ABSTRACT
The ocean of the English language is sustained around the world by people as varied as the language itself. The past 400 years have seen an exponential growth and it is now spoken by around one in five of the world’s population. Over 1.4 billion people live in countries where English has official status. It is not only an international language but is also commonly used in such diverse fields as science, sport, advertising, diplomacy, pop music, space and cyberspace.
