Download or read book English - One Tongue, Many Voices written by Jan Svartvik and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 2006-12-12 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This readable textbook tells the fascinating story of the English language in three ways. It begins by tracing the history of the language from its obscure beginnings over 1500 years ago and follows up by showing the geographical spread of the language and its increasing diversity. Finally, it looks at the present state of English as a global language and problems and uncertainties of its future. Students interested in the history of the English language will be well-served by this valuable introduction.