The English approach has obviously arisen from pragmatism
It would be just as well-founded to think that pragmatism has arisen from the structure of the English language. Rather difficult to disentangle cause and effect, here. I think pragmatism is the the first layer of philosophy that grows when the conquerors have settled for good. Higher layers take some centuries longer.
I don't see much essential difference in the role of word order between English and German: Some variations in word order are used to convey different meanings, emphasis etc., and others are simply wrong.