World Monitor Magazine, #5, Industry World Monitor Magazine, Industrial Overview | Page 31
Power Language Index (May 2016)
Kai L. Chan, PhD
ENGLISH
PLI rank: 1
PLI score: 0.889
Language family: West Germanic
Geographic coverage: Global
ENGLISH
PLI rank: 1
PLI score: 0.889
Language family: West Germanic
Geographic coverage: Global
EXPERT OPINION
IND #
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
INDICATOR
GEOGRAPHY
Countries spoken
Land area (mn km2)
Tourists-in (mn)
VALUE
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
ECONOMY
PPP GDP (Int$BN)
PPP GDP/cap (Int$)
Exports ($BN)
FX mkt share (%)
SDR composition (%)
31,161
17,853
4,418
117.1
50.4
5
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
a
COMMUNICATION
Native speakers (mn)
L2 speakers (mn)
Family size (mn)
Tourists-out (mn)
446
510
115
250.3
OPP #
1
2
3
4
5
42.5
37.1
202.9
IND #
4
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
INDICATOR
KNOWLEDGE & MEDIA
Internet content (%)
Feature films
Top-500 universities
Academic journals
DIPLOMACY
IMF (indicator)
UN (indicator)
WB (indicator)
Index of 10 SNOs
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNIY
Geography
Economy
Communication
Knowledge & media
Diplomacy
VALUE
55.5
819
237
5,452
1
1
1
1.0
RANK
1
1
1
1
1
Power Language Index (May 2016)
Kai L. Chan, PhD
MANDARIN
PLI rank: 2
PLI score: 0.411
Language family: Chinese
English is thecoverage:
world’s lingua
franca.
Its dominance
Geographic
East Asia,
Southeast
Asia as the global means of communication is
unrivalled. It is (by the measure of the PLI) more than twice as effective as its nearest rival (Mandarin
IND # ItINDICATOR
# INDICATOR
Chinese).
is the leading language inVALUE
each of the fiveIND
opportunities
opened by language. VALUE
MANDARIN
PLI rank: 2
PLI score: 0.411
Language family: Chinese
Geographic coverage:
East Asia, Southeast Asia
1
GEOGRAPHY
2
ECONOMY
4
KNOWLEDGE & MEDIA
The1.1
rise ofCountries
English as
the most important
is spurred
by the
spoken
3.0 powerful language
4.1
Internet
content
(%)economic dominance
2.8
2
Land area
(mn
) English-speaking
9.4
4.2a legacy
Feature
films
and1.2
geographic
reach
ofkm
the
countries,
of the
British Empire that 584
gave rise
1.3 modern-day
Tourists-in (mn)
84.4 Most notably,
4.3 theTop-500
universities
to many
powerhouse nations.
USA is the
world’s economic, 43
cultural
4.4 areAcademic
journals
6
and military superpower, and the UK, along with Canada,
also leading
nations (G7) themselves.
The2.1
“neutrality”
of(Int$BN)
English has also helped
uptake. For example, in both India and
PPP GDP
19,594 spur its usage
5 andDIPLOMACY
2.2
PPP
GDP/cap
(Int$)
13,944
(indicator)
1 The
Singapore
it was
chosen
to be an official
language and5.1
meansIMF
of inter-linguistic
communication.
2.3
Exportsof($BN)
3,133
UN (indicator)
1
“Englishisation”
cultures at the same
time threatens5.2to displace
lesser languages.
2.4
2.5
FX mkt share (%)
SDR composition (%)
2.2
5.3
WB (indicator)
10.9 Kai L. Chan,5.4
PhD Index of 10 SNOs
1
0.2
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
COMMUNICATION
OPP # OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNIY
RANK
E: [email protected] W: www.KaiLChan.ca M: +971 (0)50 358-5317
Native speakers (mn)
960
1
Geography
6
L2 speakers (mn)
90
2
Economy
2
Family size (mn)
408
3
Communication
2
Tourists-out (mn)
158.1
4
Knowledge & media
3
5
Diplomacy
6
Distinguished Fellow, INSEAD
Mandarin Chinese is the second most powerful language, just edging out French. Its rise on the
global stage is a recent phenomenon. Mandarin was hardly spoken outside of China until recent
years; China itself had remained largely outside of the modern global economy
unti