Simplifying English for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

The quest for a universal language has concerned individuals since antiquity. By the twentieth century, English had become the language chosen by a vast proportion of the world population as its de facto global language. The growing prominence of the language resulted in an increase of interest in the field of TESOL, leading many linguists, applied linguists, and educators to develop simplified English language plans to facilitate international communications. While greatly supported in the first half of the twentieth century, English simplifiers have met many obstacles: criticism against the linguistic theory behind their language plans, accusations of linguistic imperialism and of the debasement of the English language, and non-cooperation within the academic community. These factors prevented almost all of the language plans from prospering, despite not only the growing need for an international language but also the increasing evidence that seems to show the pragmatic efficacy of linguistic simplification.