Importance Of English As A Global Language

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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.
As English being one of the leading languages of today, it has subsequently lead to the loss of one’s culture and identity. With the introduction of English being a global language might lead to discrimination of other languages. Losing a language equals losing identity, as language is much more than just a tool for communication. Trudgill (2000) expresses the idea that there is an intimate relation between language and culture and a large homogenisation of culture might lead to a shift in language where native people adopt another language and eventually the old language may die out. Crace (2002) mentions that out of approximately 6000 languages in the world only 95% of the population only knows how to speak 15 of them, this shocking statistic is the unfortunate reality of today. When a language is no longer spoken, or in use it seems to trigger a domino effect, consequently native languages are becoming redundant and even endangered. As professor Graham Furniss explains when a language is no longer active especially if it is an indigenous language you not only lose language but you also lose all the culture and spiritual associatio...

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...mic, technological, communication, media, entertainment, cultural, transportation and educational purposes (Crystal, 2003). This new phenomena can be seen in a positive light because the use of English as a common language brings efficiency and greater understanding.
In conclusion, the controversial topic of English dominating today’s society has divided many people. With the continual domination of English it has led to many devastating consequences including people losing touch with their cultural identity, more poor and developing countries being left behind and people are becoming more lazy and unmotivated to learn another language because they believe that all the other languages will be unnecessary (Crystal ,2003) . Nevertheless English is becoming more of the ‘standard’ language around the world, making communication with one and other the more easier.

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