In English as a Global Language (2007), David Crystal presents a lively and factual account of the rise of English as a global language.

Consider the following statements.

I – Dialects emerge because they give identi ty to the groups which own them.

II – The study of language history shows that if two social groups come to be separated only by a mountain range or a wide river, they will soon begin to develop different habits of speech.

III – When a country becomes independent, there is a natural reaction to reinforce the linguistic character imposed by its colonial past, avoiding the indigenous language, to provide a symbol for new nationhood.

IV – The drive for identity was parti cularly dominant in the second half of the twenti eth century, when the number of independent nations dramatically grew, and the membership of the United Nati ons more than tripled.

The only corrective alternative is