The Importance Of English As A Global Language

Do we need to study foreign languages, since English become more and more popular around the world? Does every country need to implement English learning in all educational programs? What will happen to English if the political and economic importance of Asia exceeds the importance of the Europe and the US? There are a lot of different answers to these questions and today they are highly debatable and controversial. I believe that it is hard to underestimate the role of English in a modern global society and most probably it will gain more and more importance as a world language, however, the spread of English does not diminish the importance of other languages and the need to study them. This paper will examine the reasons of the emergence of English as a global language, explain the main problems and controversies of its dominance and gives some projections on the role of English language in the future society.
The main reasons of English currently being the global language are: the need for the some common language to ease communication in the modern global society; special features of English language; and the economic and political dominance of Great Britain and the US in the last century that ensure the spread of English around the world.
The real need for some common world language really emerged only in the 20th century, when the active processes of globalization started to take place. The creation of the numerous international organizations, the development of technology and transportation created the need in a global language (Crystal 2012).
Today, translation costs are a huge part of the budget of international organization (Crystal 174). Many international companies and business, science journals and others have to...

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...age plays a significant role in a modern global society and most probably will gain more and more importance as a world language, however, the spread of English does not diminish the importance of other languages and the need to study them. With the development of technologies, transportation and overall globalization processes there is an urgent need for common language, and due to many historical circumstances as well as the economic domination of English-speaking countries, English language today is the best option. However, the possibility of changes of the world political and economic conjuncture will stimulate the increasing importance of other languages, for example, Chinese. That is why, the solution for future is to become bi- or multilingual, and the native English speakers should focus on studying other languages as much as others strive to know English.