English as a Global Language

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Recommended: Pros and cons english as lingua franca

Having a lingua franca is vital for communicating with people around the globe and would seem ideal, but what costs does it come with? Due to the United States power right now, it seems English is quickly filling this role. “Many would reasonably claim that, in the fields of business, academics, science, computing, education, transportation, politics and entertainment, English is already established as the de facto lingua franca” (Mastin, 2011). Of course with a lot of positivity, comes a lot of controversy.
A lingua franca literally means French language. It has now become the term used to indicate a universal, or global language. For people who don’t speak the same language, it is necessary to have a form of speech they can rely on the other individual knowing as well. “…over 80% of interactions in English worldwide are now estimated to be between non-native speakers” (Weil, 2011). When a language becomes a lingua franca, it goes through a simplification process so it is easier to learn and comprehend. (Zelander, 2006).
While simplifying a language does make learning a second language easier for adults, it loses many beautiful words and phrases. It is created solely to inform. This can also create a linguistic gap between native and non-native speakers, creating even more minorities (Zelander, 2006). Having the upper hand, native speakers will be able to access and regurgitate information quickly and really expand upon and express their thoughts easily.
People who speak different languages have terms that are important to their culture and daily life. If there is not a similar or equal counterpart for them in English, it is lost. While words are lost, eventually so are whole languages. They become more obsolete and eventual...

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...guage Is Hard to Learn." Plain Language Humor: Reasons Why The English Language Is Hard To Learn. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. .
Thredgold, Jeff. "English Increasingly Becoming An International Language." Enterprise/Salt Lake City 41.40 (2012): 12. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
Weil, Markus. "Academia.edu - Share Research." English as a lingua franca in education. Academia, 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. .
Wheaton, Anne. "English as a Global Language." English on the Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. .
Zelander, Emilie. “English as a Global Language – Good or Bad?.” MittUniversite: Mid Sweden Univeristy. N.p., 2006 Web 13 Oct. 2013.

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