Call to 'dump dictionary' for online reference

Britain is failing to keep pace with the way the English language is developing around the world, a think-tank has warned. Demos called for the Oxford English Dictionary to be replaced as the leading authority on English by a website listing new words suggested by the public in the UK and overseas.

In a new report, Demos warned that Britain is in danger of being marginalised internationally due to an "outdated" attitude to the use of English.

The current complacency over the global dominance of the language is "more suited to the days of Empire than to a modern, globalised world", the think-tank said.

The report proposed that new immigrants to the UK should be allowed to go to school to learn English alongside British pupils.

And a new website - "democtionary.org" - should be set up to challenge the standard dictionary.

This would allow members of the public to contribute their own new words and definitions, in the same way that online encyclopaedia Wikipedia works.

Sam Jones, co-author of the report, said the influences of immigrants on the use of English in the UK, and the way the language was being adapted around the world, should be formally recognised.

"English can no longer be seen as a single language, but more as a family of languages," he said.

"Each of these reflect the different ways people experience the world.

"We all encounter this every day, from the sketch show Goodness Gracious Me to comments on the BBC website.

"Such variation is now as much part of the English language as is grammar and word order. The problem is that it is rarely seen as such.

"As the world becomes more and more connected, accommodating different forms of English will be crucial to building the cultural literacy we need."

The proposed website would allow members of the public to add entries from around the world as new words and definitions are actually used.

Demos said: "This would create a more valid reflection of the English language than that of the Oxford English Dictionary."

Produced by a team of language specialists at Oxford, the dictionary has been regarded as "the last word on words" for more than 100 years.

Demos has backed government plans this week to teach foreign languages to primary school children. The Education Secretary Alan Johnson announced that all seven-year-olds in England would be required to learn a foreign language under reforms to the primary curriculum.