Essay On English As A Global Language

2.1. ENGLISH AS A GLOBAL LANGUAGE AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN THE COMMUNICATION ERA 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.

2.1.2. Status of English as a Global Lingua Franca

Most of the people are now using English as a language for their national and international communications. At present, English has earned the status of “official language” and “language of administration”, the “language of lawsuit”, and the “language of education” in many of the countries where English is being used as a second language (Crystal, 1997). The epoch of communication revolution in the world has marked a rapid increase in the social, political and economic contacts and opportunities within and without the countries. While the life paradigms of the people are getting changed unprecedentedly day by day, the needs of people(s) have also increased with the advances of technologies (ibid). In these scenarios, English emerges as language of communications increasingly used in most