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Despite the extraordinary changes of the last few years, one thing appears to remain the same. More people than ever want to learn English. The projections given in this book confirm that English learners are increasing in number and decreasing in age. As a news headline it is not much of a story. We’ve become used to the idea of English growing in popularity across the world. Far from being news, it has become one of the few enduring facts of global modern life – a trend which began in the late 19th century when English was heralded, from Europe to Japan, as the new rising world language.

But at what point do we pause, take a fresh look at what is happening and decide that what is going on now is not just ‘more of the same’. After scrutinising current trends, including those which have not yet reached the statistical yearbooks, I conclude that there has been a significant – even dramatic – qualitative change: one that may be taking the language in a very new direction.

(From Graddol, D., 2006, INTRODUCTION, ENGLISH NEXT, pages 10-11 http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/sites/ec/files/booksenglish-next.pdf)