Text 2
How English develops in the world is no business whatsoever
of native speakers in England, the United States, or anywhere
else. They have no say in the matter, no right to intervene or
pass judgment. They are irrelevant. The very fact that English is
an international language means that no nation can have
custody over it. To grant such custody of the language is
necessarily to arrest its development and so undermine its
international status. It is a matter of considerable pride and
satisfaction for native speakers of English that their language is
an international means of communication. But the point is that it
is only international to the extent that it is not their language. It
is not a possession which they lease out to others, while
retaining the freehold. Other people actually own it (Widdowson,
1994, p. 385).
KILICKAYA, F. World Englishes, English as an International Language and
Applied Linguistics. English Language Teaching, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2009. Available
at:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/42386333_World_Englishes_English
. Access on: 21
may. 2024. [Adapted].