Function Of English Essay

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Functions of English in a globalised society Over the last few decades the functional range of English has spread tremendously, affecting various domains in a worldwide context. It enables interaction for many sectors including technology, science, business, media, politics, and international organisations. English teaching in the classroom is becoming more widespread because English in the workplace is becoming more widespread. Management, IT, industry and tourism are all examples of professional fields in which communication in English is to be expected (Berns et al. 2007: 19). In addition to professional purposes, English is also used for activities such as holidays, family outings or sporting events, outside of school and work (Berns 2007: 2). Another significant role for ELF is the growing social use of English. This is connected to the online phenomenon of social media and the rapid proliferation of social networking platforms such as Facebook. I will devote a separate section in the next chapter to the interactivity of Internet platforms, as this topic merits extended discussion. In this chapter I will move on to discuss the role of English in the technological and scientific fields, as well as in context of teaching. An international language for technology and the sciences The marker for a successful scholarly career is having work recognised by the academic community, which affects everything from the way scholars package their ideas to the language which they use (Canagarajah 2002: 6). The academic community evaluates the significance of research according to various criteria, including originality, relevance and presentation, with the peer review process acting as a gatekeeper of quality (Hames 2007: 2-3). Of part... ... middle of paper ... ...Austrian statistics cited in this chapter. Graddol observes that these demographic shifts in English learning have gained rapid momentum in a very short time since his 1997 publication. Some countries are actively pursuing a radical transition in the status of English, as a goal set by political leaders. The aim of countries including Mongolia, Chile and South Korea is no longer to teach English as a foreign language but to build up bilingual national populations within a short timeframe (Graddol 2006: 89). By contrast, the European Union promotes an official language policy of plurilingualism, according to which young European students should have the opportunity to become proficient in two or more foreign languages, with English not recognised as a lingua franca even though it dominates European language teaching, as the Eurydice statistics show (Braine 2005: 29).

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