Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The use of English as an international language
Essay ON how English influence globalization
The role of English as an international language
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The use of English as an international language
World Englishes (WE) perspectives on AW
English has assumed the status of ‘neutral lingua franca’ (Hyland: 2006: 24) for its pervasive use in both Anglophonic and international contexts to the extent that approximately “one in five of the world’s population now speaks English with reasonable competence” (Crystal, 2003). Canagarajah (2006) reports two different distributions of speakers for year 2050 as follows:
Graddol (1999) Crystal (2003)
English as sole or first language: 433 million 433 million
English as additional/second language 668 million 462 million
There have been several models of World Englishes such as presented by Kachru (), Strevens (1980), McArthur (1987), Görlach (1990), Modiano (1999), Schneider (2007), and Mufwene (2010). Kachru’s model of Three Circles of English has provided some valuable insights into the classification and understanding of different varieties of English as seen in the picture below:
…show more content…
The outer circle is the norm-developing for English is a Second Language here and comprises of those countries which experienced colonialism such as India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Kenya, Philippines etc. the expanding circle is the norm-dependent where English has the status of a Foreign Language. All the countries other than those in the inner and the outer circle are part of the expanding circle. Mufwene in Coupland (2010: 31-55) classifies World Englishes as ‘native Englishes’ for instance of UK or USA; ‘Creole/pidgin Englishes for those in the Caribbean and on the islands of the Pacific and ‘indigenized/nativized Englishes,’ which emerged in India and in other former British
Robert McNeil's effectively uses expert opinions, personal anecdote and metaphors to inform how and why American English is evolving and proves to instructors, linguists and researchers that these changes are beneficial allowing a more diversified English language to emerge.
As a result, this cross-national concept has implications on English and has fostered two additional terminology, World Englishes and World English.World Englishes refers to the different forms of localized variations of English outside of the United States of United Kingdom and is different from the idea of World English. This is related to Kachru’s concept of the circles of English, discussed later. World Englishes is the idea that different variations of English arise through various political and social influences. These language variations vary and in many instances acquire different meanings and lexicon. World English is the concept of English as a Lingua franca and used for global activities, such as business, diplomacy and trade. In this instance, English is following in a long line of global Lingua
The statistics of those not speaking English could lead to the idea that English is diminishing in certain sections of the United States. An example of this is shown in the article “Why the U.S. Needs an Official Languag...
All of these different phrases and words create the idea of English now being Englishes as time has shaped the language into something that it never was centuries ago. Culture also has the same affect. As English is so dominant, many different countries speak different forms of English, this includes American English, British and Irish English, Canadian english, Caribbean English, African English, South Asian English, East Asian English and Australian and New Zealand English. These forms of englishes then break of into even smaller
Since the 16th century, the language of English, which in theory, stems from a small island between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, has, to an extent, stretched across the world, with as many as 50 countries now using it as their official language (British Council, 2013) in some form or another. This spread was seemingly due to several influential factors: the expansion of the British Empire, Britain's leadership in the industrial revolution, American's economic and political ascendancy from the late 19th century and the spread of English through technology like the internet (E. Schneider, 2007: 1). From American English to Australian English, each country has socio-linguistically developed its own variety of English, through undergoing different processes of development and integration. The linguist, Kachru (1922), put forth a model to categorize these varieties of English, although whether the model is deemed Eurocentric or not is debatable, yet it does appear to be one of the more popular models which separates the 'world Englishes' into three concentric circles namely the inner, the outer and the expanding circle. These 'world Englishes', a contentious term to catalogue the varieties of English present, are, for some, used in diverse contexts, such as for trade, business and international communication and are often linked to countries in the expanding circle of Kachru's model, such as Russia, Brazil and China (K. Bolton, B. Kachru, 2006: 225).
Schneider, Edgar W. English Around The World: An Introduction. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print.
The Concentric Circles Model proposed by Kachru is a method encapsulating the “types of spread, the patterns of acquisition and the functional domains in which English is used across cultures” (Kachru, 1992: 356). On the basis of these three characteristics, the scholar divided countries into three groups: The Inner, The Outer and The Expanding Circles. The Inner Circle refers to countries traditionally regarded as the bases of English, that is, nations where English is the mother tongue of a substantial part of the popula...
Whether it is for a job, to travel or for the sake of entertainment, chances are high English will have an important role in those activities as “In recent years, the term ‘English
This essay will discuss how the English language contributes to globalization. It also shows some problems that arise from this. Furthermore, we will give or suggest some solutions for these problems.
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
Seargeant, P. (2012), 'English in the World Today' in Seargeant, P. and Swann, J (ed.) History, Diversity, Change (U214, English in the World), Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 5-47.
Since the establishment of the British Empire, the spread of English language has been experienced in many parts of the globe. The success can be attributed significantly to the colonization activities that the empire had embarked on. They would train the indigenous community English language as they suppressed the local dialect. This massive spread is termed as lingual imperialism (Osterhammel 2005, pp. 14). The English language has become the first and second language of many nations across the world, and this makes it an international language. The native’s proportion to the non-native who speaks English cannot be compared with nations in the isle of Britain and far are speaking the language .considering that more than 70%
...nology is moving ahead at the speed of light. With all this advancement comes the inevitable need for a language that unifies the world. The need for a common language to conduct our business and economic affairs, and our need to communicate internationally on political and world interventions has made English the leader in world languages. It is not the language spoken first by most, but it the language that the world uses when it comes together to communicate.
English spreads widely in each countries, no matter the area of region or information transfer, English becomes an important position in global language. As the specification of a global language, it essentially refers to a language that learned and spoken internationally, so English can be the most out-standing. According to the number of English-speaking calculations, English is the official language used by most countries, English is the most widely used second language in the world, and the percentage of web pages with English content is estimated to be over 50% (Crystal, 2003). Meanwhile, the history and usefulness cause English to be a global language, and they mainly influence to spread English faster in China and to bring convenience
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.