Globalization is an inevitable issue in the world, which brings boundaries between the countries much more close. Because of the sophisticated technology, the mobility of local culture, music, knowledge and goods has enhanced. As we want to communicate with the other races of people, we shall use one language to be a bridge. Therefore, the English becomes a globalizing language because of its clear structure and format. Does the globalizing language good or bad for us? I believe that the answer should not be one-sided. The truth is, English as a globalizing language can bring us good for Economics and local culture. However, it also triggers some negative issues. In my following essay, I will divide into three parts. Firstly, I will describe the reason of English as a lingua-franca. Secondly, the disadvantages and advantages of using English as a globalizing language. At last, my point of view is going to present. English had risen in less than 400 years; it was a language of an island in north Europe, which only had 4 million populations. How can it be used as a global language? The history of England becomes the key factor. The United Kingdom was a small island at first. However, she tried to invade the countries across the ocean in order to transform into one of the greatest Empire in world history. Then, their language had spread all over the world. Nowadays, it is used in many important domains and fields such as Science, Business and international events. It is an undeniable fact that English is the world’s most commonly taught foreign language. A second language is powerful; it is a tool of spreading cultures, religious, music, and literature to other states. It is also for colonization. For example, the Chinese mu... ... middle of paper ... ... factors, then it will further elaborate into other new set of language. Somebody considers it is the destruction of native language. But the new language is more superior than the old one. It emerges the advantages and features of English, meanwhile it remains the structures and foundations of native language. English has a special role in the globe. It offers opportunities for us to preserve our own culture while we are having globalization. Since power distribution and political system may affect the dominated globalizing position of English, other language may replace English after a couple decades. As China has more reputation nowadays, the non-native speakers try to master Putonghua in order to have more business interactions with China. It is not a dream for Putonghua to take over the status of English as a globalizing language.
This leads to the negative viewpoint of cultural globalization, that “[it] can lead to a utopian world, [and] some believe it will cause less dominant cultures to be obliterated and economically developed cultures to prosper.” (Issit 1). Although the dominance of English allows for people to speak a common language many can understand, a downside would be losing knowledge of other cultures.
As the English language gets more and more prevalent around the world, more and more discussions will come up about what a global language would look like. David Harrison author of “When Languages Die” writes about what will be lost when other languages die out and another rises. Harrison focuses more on the negatives of what a global language would look like rather than the positives. The author of “Why a global language” writes about the good and the bad that would come from a global language.
The most widespread language in the world is English. It is spoken and written more than any other language. English is a West Germanic language that was first developed in early England, in the 5th century A.D. when Germanic Anglo-Saxon tribes invaded the island. The vocabulary has been significantly influenced by other Germanic languages in the early medieval period, particularly French. In 1066, William the Conqueror of Normandy, invaded and took over the island of England and the Germanic language turned to French.
The world is always in constant changing. Living creatures had had to adapt to new environments and living conditions. Therefore, every species have faced a process of evolution. The human race was not excluded of such changes, and has suffered numerous transformations since the beginning of times. Moreover, this process of change affected humans not only physically, but also affected their communities, organizations, values and every other aspect of their cultures. One of the aspects of cultures that would inevitable change with the time is the language. Language can be understood as a group of symbols that contain meaning, and is used as a form of communication in the human´s communities. Each language has an enormous part of cultural content and is vital to the development of such. However, the bond between languages and cultures led languages to go through continuous changing; some even face extinction with the time. The English language is not saved from suffering this constant evolution; nevertheless, it has managed to become one of the most predominant languages in the world. To understand the strong influence of the English language is necessary to observe the changes that it has suffered through the years; also, is important to know the reasons that led to the disappearance of other languages, and to make an analysis of if it was whether the culture that changed the language or vice verse.
The spread of English where it used as a foreign and/or a second language may be compromised if it is replaced by another language such as Chinese or Spanish. For example, if China continues to gradually dominate the world economically, politically and technologically, its language could replace English as the major foreign language taught and learnt in various countries’ education systems because they b...
Globalization is a word that has been highly discussed by people for decades of years. It is the process of making something in a lot of different countries all around the world (Longman Dictionary). It involves in a wide variety of areas such as language, business, and technology. This essay mainly focuses on the factors that precipitate English into the most global language, and potential impacts of spread use of English around the world. Some people think that Chinese dominates the global language because recently approximately 1.4 billion people speak it, and it considerably exceeds the population of English speakers. In contrast, other people consider that English
Throughout the time there has been many languages yet none of them have been as dominant as the English language. This has raised some distress among the people fearing it will become the only language spoken in the world. Countless dialects have and will disappear and those that survive will be simplified by the usage of smaller vocabularies and less complex sentences. These changes were particular cause by the migration. This forced adults to learn new languages quickly but as a result, they were learning less of the language, opting for shorter sentences and not using any grammar rules. The future holds an increase of streamlined languages that will become easier to learn and will have the capacity to communicate in one widely accepted language that could be used as a second tongue. In this essay will discuss the idea that McWhorter has of how the English language will be the only idiom in the world.
It has led to the development of new dialects and modification of existing ones. The British Empire has been able to spread the language across the globe and to date it is the most widespread language and most used in foreign transactions. Currently, the population of non- native English speakers is higher than native English speakers. This is a clear indication that English has become an international language.
It has been adopted by different sectors making it one of the most used languages in the globe. This has been attributed to its effective nature, easy learning and rich history. However, conservative groups exist who argues that there should be global language since it may cause the emergence of superior cultures. Nevertheless, it is evident that different cultures ranging from the early polish immigrants, the African American community, the advertising and media will greatly benefit from the globalization of the English language. This will prove in the end that English is indeed a global
The English Language has emerged as a global language and continues to reign as one of the prime languages used for various communications in several parts of the world. It is taught as either the first or the second language in more than 100 countries in the world including Russia, China, and France (Crystal, 1997). In the history of English, its increased use has, in the communication era, marked a new beginning, a period of “Global English”, followed by the conventional divide of three periods: Old English, Middle English and Modern English (Rohmah, 2005). The recent advances in Communication Technologies have not only impacted on the political, cultural and economic order of the world, but also burgeoned the role of English even more in the global context. It is, in this light that the importance of English as a global language is discoursed in the communication era.
English is considered one of the most powerful language on earth and it is for that reason that the English language is currently dominating today’s society, and as a result people are less eager to learn their native tongue thus leading to the ‘death’ of many languages. With English being the only global language it has a number of consequences including countries losing their culture and identity, developing countries being left behind and the lack of motivation for people to learn another language. However, English has enabled people from all over the world to communicate in a universal language.
In order to visualize the “global” as an adjective in the collocation “global language”, a study has shown the numbers of people speaking the language. According to them, there are about 6000 languages in the world and not surprisingly English is at the top of the list of most dominant. In the world there are 375 million first-language speakers, approximately the same number of second-language speakers and about 750 million foreign-language speakers (David Graddol, The Future of English? A Guide to Forecasting the Popularity of the English Language in the 21st Century. British Council, 1997). According to magazine Economist, more than one billion people speak some form of English. These numbers could make people think that English is really conquering the world which can be both positive and negative.
The emergence of English began to appear in 5th century AD after the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians invaded Britannia in the 4th century. Referred to as Old English back in the day, the language has undergone several transformations to where it is now called English. Today, over 750 million people speak English as a language and at least half of those use it as their mother tongue (McCrum et al., 2002, pg. 9-10). Many people rely on English to serve them financially and for social purposes (Crystal, 2003, pg. 29). Besides this socio-cultural factor, it has gained prominence around the world as several countries have adopted their own variety of the language and English is being used more frequently as a foreign language. Together with this geographical-historical factor, the socio-cultural factors allow English’s future as a “global language” to become more of “a reality”. To understand how English has spread across globally, we will look at a model created by Braj Kachru. Kachru’s model of the spread of English is divided into three concentric circles: the Inner Circle, the Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle (Kachru, 1992:356). Countries such as the United States, Australia and Britain are part of the Inner Circle. According to Kachru, the English in the Inner Circle are “norm-providing” varieties where it is the dominant language (Davies, 2005, pg. 45). Other places such as Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong are part of the Outer Circle, where English was brought over through colonial means (Davies, 2005, pg. 45). The English in the Outer Circle territories are “norm-developing” varieties that have recognized the growing importance of English as a language and in these areas; English has been given a higher status. Melcher...
A lot of benefits shows that study of English in modern society. In workplace, most international companies use English as their communication.Therefore, study of English exposes individuals to professional opportunities that would be impossible to achieve in absence of fluency in the language(Pinon and Jon 9). This makes it necessary for people to learn English as opposed to Chinese. Another important areas involve that uses of English as the mode of interaction. For example, most of the social networking relies on English. The internet is important as the popularity of internet increasing feature in modern society. In fact, most activities over the internet are carried out in English.Therefore, English speakers have more advantage than the peo...
English is a language that has spread rapidly throughout the world over centuries. This essay will aim to look at the way English has spread while focusing on specific areas in the world where English is now a language. There will be four points that are to be discussed in detail within the essay. The first point focuses on the extent to which language variation contributes to marking language users’ identities. This includes looking closely at variations of English around the world. The second point focuses on whether or not varieties of English are accepted by their users after being described by linguists. This section will look closely at the views of users of English in other areas and whether they recognise English as a variety. The third section explores the opposing views facing whether there is one English within the world, or many English’s within the world. It will look at both sides of the argument and also case studies of examples fitting both sides of the debate. The section will focus closely on whether there is one English and many varieties, or simply just many different English’s. The final section discusses whether language is made predominantly by its users, or made by codification; again looking at both arguments and including relatable examples. Overall, the essay will evaluate the way that English has affected areas of the world and whether or not it is accepted and recognised by others. English has become a second language within many countries, which shows how influential it is. The four points specifically relate to the different ways that English can be seen and allows the essay to find out more about the different views held regarding English around the world. Examples and case studies will...