Bilingualism Essay

Bilingualism The English language has grown to be the world’s most significant language and its increase to the status of globally spoken language must rank as one of the most significant facts in the educational times gone by of the twentieth century world. It is conceivably suitable, as the new millennium comes closer, that we ought to pause to reproduce on how English reached this point, what might take place next, and what it all means, both for those who converse English and for the large proportion of the world's inhabitants who do not. Uniformly, we need to think the insinuations of these changes on our own position as language education professionals. David Crystal's book, English as a Global Language, (Crystal, 1997) aimed to point out that “English became the world language not because of any intrinsic linguistic qualities, but because at significant moments in history it happened to be 'in the right place at the right time'”. "The Future of English?" (Graddol, 1997) suggests that “English is at a turning point in its development as an international language: it has become a global language at a time when the world itself is undergoing rapid change. Indeed, English is very much a part of the process of transformation, which is creating a more closely interconnected world in which people and machines talk easily to each other across vast spaces.” Reviewing Barbara Mayor and David Graddol, evident is the fact that there are two key indicators of this changeover point in the progress of English. First, the number of people speakers using English as a second language will rapidly outnumber those who articulate it as a first language. Secondly, it is obvious that added people learning English as a foreign language do so in ...

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...al systems, together with morphology, syntax and vocabulary. It is recognized that multilingualists have got to learn in what ways grammatical, phonemic, and semantic policies can be generalized across two or more languages and, if this is not possible, they must go for awareness of any methodical structural dissimilarities. This is particularly pertinent when two languages do not contribute to the similar syntactical rules. On the other hand, it is necessary to keep in mind that the process of flattering literacy cannot be alienated from the social background. Language is eventually a means of expression and individuality. References David Crystal (1997) English as a Global Language, Cambridge University Press. Graddol, David. The future of English? A guide to forecasting the popularity of the English Language in the 21st Century. London British Council (1997)