The Presence of Anglicisms in four italian Magazines: a Case Study


 
 3 INTRODUCTION The central idea of this work arose while reading English as a Global Language by David Crystal. What appeared at first as an obvious statement – that English is the global language – is in fact a complex and controversial issue. The spread of English concerns and affects many domains and aspects of daily life that Crystal's book effectively summarizes. When referring to my personal experience, a comparison between the global situation and how Italy, my country, is affected or part of this process seemed to me particularly interesting. To better comprehend the presence of the English language in Italy, it is nevertheless necessary to contextualize it in a global (Ch. 1) and European (Ch. 2) context. The present situation, in fact, is only the result of many centuries of political, economic and cultural contact with the English-speaking countries (especially the UK and the USA). Chapter 1 focuses on the long journey of the English language around the world; its history is in fact characterized by a constant movement and development. The term ‛diaspora’ is used by many scholars (e.g. Jenkins 2003; Kachru 2006) to describe the geographical spread of English first in the present-day English-speaking countries, such as the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (Par. 1.1.1), and secondly in other continents, namely Africa (Par. 1.1.2, 1.1.3, 1.1.4) and Asia (Par. 1.1.5, 1.1.6). These territories share a common background in which the presence of English is closely linked to political and military actions. However, the influence of the English language in the world, above all in the 20 th and 21 st century, is not just a result of colonialism, at least not in its traditional form. Economic (Par. 1.1.7) and cultural factors (Par. 1.1.8) contributed to its spread, too. When referring to such a vast and diversified domain as the global spread of English, the need for representation and codification seems to be an urgent matter. Several scholars (e.g. McArthur 1987; Strevens 1992; Kachru 1992; Modiano 1999a, 1999b; Jenkins 2003; Svartvik, Leech 2006) have attempted to describe