David Graddol Explained

Birth Date:	1953
Birth Place:	United Kingdom
Death Date:	1 March
School Tradition:	Linguistics
Notable Works:	The Future of English? (1997)

David Graddol (1953 – 1 March 2019) was a British linguist^[1] who worked in applied linguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, and history of linguistics. He died on 1 March 2019.^[2]

Research interest

He was perhaps best known for his 1997 book The Future of English?, published by the British Council, in which he offers scenarios for how English as a world language may develop. Most notably, he pointed out that native speakers of English were or would soon be outnumbered by those who speak English as a second or foreign language. In an article that focuses more specifically on this issue, he stated the following:

Graddol's views about English as a world language are similar to, though not identical with, those held by his linguist colleague David Crystal.

Career

Graddol graduated from the University of York with a BA in Language and Linguistics in 1975, also in Sociology in 1983.^[3] He earned his PhD from the University of Stockholm.

Personal life

He married Margaret Keeton and they had triplet daughters.

Works (selected)

• Graddol, David (1997). The Future of English? A guide to forecasting the popularity of the English language in the 21st century. London: British Council. Available for free from the website of the British Council.
• Graddol, David (1999). The decline of the native speaker. In Graddol, David/Meinhof, Ulrike (eds). English in a Changing World. AILA Review 13, 57–68.
• Graddol, David (2006). English Next. London: British Council. Available for free from the website of the British Council.

Notes and References

1. News: Spoken everywhere but at what cost?. David. Graddol. . 20 April 2005.
2. Web site: David Graddol RIP - BAAL.
3. The Future of English. Grapevine. Spring/Summer 1998. 20. Alumni Office, University of York.