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Empire, War, and Hollywood : The Economics of the English Language

Hargraves, Alexander
Master thesis
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URI
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/281616
Date
2014-12
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  • Master Thesis [4207]
Abstract
English is a pervasive language in today’s world, a

nd empire, war, and Hollywood are sociocultural ways in which English has asserted its

influence. No matter what country you live in

you are bound to be exposed to it in some way, most likely on a daily basis. The genesis of English as the world’s lingua franca

has been a long and complicated process, but the

language’s continuing importance cannot be denied.

The role that economics has played in

English’s ascent as a world language is little disc

ussed, but significant. Likewise, little has

been written of the effects of English proficiency,

namely English as a second language, on

economic growth. Establishing causation for this re

lationship is a delicate matter and will be

investigated through the course of this paper. The

outline of this paper is as follows. After a brief history of the ascent of English, an inquiry

into the economic basis for English as a lingua franca ensues. The result of this indicates that in addition to socio-cultural forces

English possesses an unparalleled economic might. Next, the effects of English proficiency on national prosperity are observed through various

mechanisms. The results suggest positive

effects of English proficiency on GDP per capita with varying degrees of significance

depending on the dataset. A study of sub-Saharan Af

rica then makes the case that English has

little effect there. Finally, a discussion section

attempts to tie the data together positing that

English proficiency has greater economic effect in

developed nations than in developing ones.

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