次の文章を読み、後の設問に答えなさい。
Why a language becomes a global language has little to do with the number of people who speak it. It has much more to do with who those speakers are. Latin became an international language throughout the Roman Empire, but this was not because the Romans were more numerous than the peoples they conquered. They were simply more powerful. And later, when Roman military power declined, Latin remained for a millennium as the international language of education, thanks to a different sort of power ―― the religious power of Roman Catholicism.
There is the closest of links between language dominance and cultural power. Without a strong power-base, whether political, military, or economic, no language can make progress as an international medium of communication. Language has no independent existence, living in some sort of mystical space apart from the people who speak it. Language exists only in the brains and mouths and ears and hands and eyes of its users. When they succeed on the international stage, their language succeeds. When they fail, their language fails.
This point may seem obvious, but it needs to be made at the outset, because over the years many popular and misleading beliefs have grown up about why a language should become internationally successful. It is quite common to hear people claim that a language is ideal, on account of its perceived aesthetic qualities, clarity of expression, literary power, or religious standing. Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic, and French are among those which at various times have been praised in such terms, and English is no exception. It is often suggested, for example, that there must be something inherently beautiful or logical about the structure of English, in order to explain why it is now so widely used. “It has less grammar than other languages,” some have suggested. “English doesn’t have a lot of endings on its words, nor do we have to remember the difference between masculine, feminine, and neuter gender*1, so it must be easier to learn.”
Such arguments are misconceived. Latin was once a major international language, despite its many inflectional endings*2 and gender differences. French, too, has been such a language, despite its nouns being masculine or feminine; and so ―― at different times and places ―― have the heavily inflected Greek, Arabic, Spanish, and Russian. Ease of learning has nothing to do with it. Children of all cultures learn to talk over more or less the same period of time, regardless of the differences in the grammar of their languages.
A language does not become a global language because of its intrinsic structural properties, or because of the size of its vocabulary, or because it has been a vehicle of a great literature in the past, or because it was once associated with a great culture or religion. These are all factors which can motivate someone to learn a language, of course, but none of them alone, or in combination, can ensure a language’s world spread. Indeed, such factors cannot even guarantee survival as a living language ―― as is clear from the case of Latin, learned today as a classical language by only a scholarly and religious few. Correspondingly, inconvenient structural properties ( such as awkward spelling ) do not stop a language achieving international status either.
A language becomes an international language for one chief reason: the political power of its people ―― especially their military power. The explanation is the same throughout history. Why did Greek become a language of international communication in the Middle East over 2,000 years ago? Not because of the intellects of Plato and Aristotle. The answer lies in the swords and spears wielded by the armies of Alexander the Great. Why did Latin become known throughout Europe? Ask the armies of the Roman Empire. Why did Arabic come to be spoken so widely across northern Africa and the Middle East? Follow the spread of Islam, carried along by the force of the Moorish armies from the eighth century. Why did Spanish, Portuguese, and French find their way into the Americas, Africa, and the Far East? Study the colonial policies of the Renaissance kings and queens, and the way these policies were implemented without mercy by armies and navies all over the known world. The history of a global language can be traced through the successful expeditions of its soldier/sailor speakers. And English has been no exception.
But international language dominance is not solely the result of military might. It may take a militarily powerful nation to establish a language, but it takes an economically powerful one to maintain and expand it. This has always been the case, but it became a particularly critical factor early in the twentieth century, with economic developments beginning to operate on a global scale, supported by the new communication technologies ―― telegraph, telephone, radio ―― and fostering the emergence of massive multinational organizations. The growth of competitive industry and business brought an explosion of international marketing and advertising. The power of the press reached unprecedented levels, soon to be surpassed by the broadcasting media, with their ability to cross national boundaries with electromagnetic ease. Technology, in the form of movies and records, fueled new mass entertainment industries which had a worldwide impact. The drive to make progress in science and technology fostered an international intellectual and research environment which gave scholarship and further education a high profile.
Any language at the center of such an explosion of international activity would suddenly have found itself with a global status. And English was in the right place at the right time. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Britain had become the world’s leading industrial and trading country. By the end of the century, the population of the USA ( then approaching 100 million ) was larger than that of any of the countries of western Europe, and its economy was the most productive and the fastest growing in the world. British political imperialism had sent English around the globe during the nineteenth century, so that it was a language “on which the sun never sets.” During the twentieth century this world presence was maintained and promoted, almost single-handedly, through the economic supremacy of the new American superpower. And the language behind the US dollar was English.
注： *1 neuter gender: （文法用語で）中性 *2 inflectional endings: 語尾変化
[設 問]
(1) 全体の議論を200～250字の日本語で要約しなさい。句読点も1字に数える。
(2) Explain in 100 to 150 words in English what the author means by the underlined statement that “English was in the right place at the right time.” As much as you can, avoid copying from the given text.
(3) Suppose that your task is to determine whether the globalization of a language, as explained in the above passage, is similar to the globalization of (i) a particular team sport, or (ii) a particular genre of music, or (iii) a particular style of cooking. Choose an example from one of these three categories. What would you do to accomplish your task? Answer as specifically as possible in 100 to 150 English words. As much as you can, avoid copying from the given text.
この問題は、設問(1)についてのみ[正答へのアプロウチ]と[解答例]を示すことといたします。設問(2)(3)は解答を英語で記すやう求めてゐますが、目下教養ある native speaker のチェックを得られる環境にないため、責任ある解答例を示すことができません。御諒解をお願ひいたします。
[正答へのアプロウチ]
(1) 各パラグラフの要點をメモ風に記してみますと（※パラグラフを丸數字で示します）、
① ある言語が世界的に普及して國際語となるのは、使用者の數とはあまり關はりがない。
② 政治の力であれ、軍事力であれ、經濟の力であれ、力の基礎が無ければ言語は國境を越えて普及することはない。
③ 言語の國際化は、言語自體の特質（美的特性、表現の明確さ、文藝の創作力、宗教など）によると、長年廣く信じられてきた。
④ さうした主張は誤りである。習得のし易さも言語の國際化とは關係ない。
⑤ 言語の世界普及の可否は、言語自體の長所・短所によるのではない。
⑥ 言語の國際化が主に使用者の政治の力、とくに軍事力によることは、歴史を通じて同じであり、英語も例外ではない。
⑦ 國際化した言語の維持・擴大には強い經濟の力が必要であり、特に20世紀初頭には、經濟發展が新しい情報傳達技術により地球規模で進み始め、大規模な多國籍組織を出現させてゐて、經濟の力が極めて重要となつた。（市場・宣傳の國際化、報道・放送の擴大、娯樂産業の成長、研究・教育の促進など）
⑧ 英語は、産業・通商國家として海外に進出した英國から廣まり、經濟力の優勢な米國により普及が維持・擴大されて、國際語となつた。
上記メモのうち要約でおさへておくと良いのは以下の點だと思ひます。
１ 言語の國際化は使用者の數や言語の特質にはよらないこと。
２ その要因は力の強さ（政治・軍事・經濟）であること。
３ 20世紀初頭から、經濟の力が特に重要となつたこと。
４ 英語は要件を滿たして國際言語となつたこと。
この設問の字數（200～250字）は、20字詰の原稿用紙なら10～12行あまりです。極めて簡潔に内容をまとめることが必要で、個別の例示に言及する餘裕はあまりないとみるべきでせう。さまざまな解答が考へられますが、下に示すのは、問題文の中心主題が「英語の國際語化」とみて、英語にやや重點を置いた解答の例です。
[解答例]
・言語の國際化は、言語使用者の數、言語自體の特質、習得のし易さによるのではなく、使用者のもつ力による。言語の國際化は先づは政治の力、特に軍事力によりもたらされるが、その維持・擴大には強い經濟の力が必要である。特に20世紀初頭からは、新しい情報傳達技術により經濟發展が地球規模で進み始め、大規模な多國籍組織が出現して、經濟の力が極めて重要となつた。英語は、産業・通商國家として海外に進出した英國により廣められ、經濟力の優勢な米國によりその普及が維持・擴大されて、國際語となつた。（236字）
一般論として、評論文の要約問題の對處法を、あくまで私見とことはりつつ、述べてみます。
・試驗など時間の制約がある場合には、評論文のパラグラフ構造の特徴を踏へると要約が容易になるのではないかと思ひます。多くの英語評論文は、パラグラフの積み重ねから成つてをり、１パラグラフ１主題が原則となります。（※例外もあります。パラグラフの構造については、拙ブログの General Structure of an Essay [2011年2月25日～2011年3月31日掲載] を御覽ください。）
・パラグラフ毎の主題をつかむには、各パラグラフの先頭文や最終文に注目すると有效な場合が多いやうに思ひます。英文では、難しい語句のあとに説明を加へたり、平易な語句で言ひ換へたりする場合が結構ありますので、わからなくてもその續きを讀み進めば主題の把握に差支へないことがあります。
・パラグラフわきにメモを書きつけたり、重要と思はれる文中の語句にしるしをつけるなどしておくと時間の節約になるでせう。どのパラグラフに何が書いてあるかわかれば可いので、メモを文にまとめる必要はありません。
・字數感覺を養ふには、原稿用紙か、一行あたりの字數を適切に設定したワープロ・ソフトを使つて練習するのが便利です。
・なほ、試驗問題は、書物や記事の一部を拔萃したものが多く、「長文問題」とは言ひながら實は比較的短いものです。かうした事情から、全體の主題が捉へにくかつたり、問題文がやや不自然に思はれることがあります。
※本文についての解説は拙ブログの記事を御參照ください（2012年8月20日～9月14日までの月曜日と金曜日に掲載）。畫面右の Back Numbers で該當の月・年をクリックし、Calendar で該當日をクリックしてご利用ください。
※お知らせ： 加齡による目の衰へのため、6月より扱ふ題材を變へて目の負擔輕減をはかることと致します。御諒承ください。これまでの記事はそのまま殘しておきます。
