Essay English: A Friend or Foe?

The English language began its climb to world dominance with the rise of the British Empire in the 16th century. During this time English began to spread as the worlds lingua franca for business and trade. With the support of the United States, which at the time was one of the most successful nations in history, english was able to overthrow all previous lingua francas. However, english should not be considered as the “gateway to the world”. Although the english language is widely- spoken around the world, making english language the official language of the world will lead to diminishing cultural diversity.

English has become the most widespread and powerful language on Earth. The imperial English Empire spread English across the globe; from America to Asia. English’s position in the world was cemented by US cultural and diplomatic dominance; evident in American movies, fast food, and clothing. English has proven it is not moving anywhere anytime soon, as English only grows in use over time. Thus a debate has arisen: Should English be the official Universal Language? On one hand, English can harm other cultures, international relations, and scientific development; however, English is very flexible and widely used, making it the perfect candidate for a global language.

Wallraff is concerned about the future of the English language and has started assuming what would happen if English became the global language. She further forecasted the situations that may occur if everyone started speaking English. The work, research and time Ms. Wallraff has devoted to the article demonstrate her attitude and concern about the English language and its future. The article that she has written basically targets people of new generation X who are firm believer of English being a Global language ignoring the fact that other languages are outnumbering English. Besides targeting the younger generation, the article is also targeting those for whom English is not primary

Nowadays, English is the global and technology language. English play an important role in the world and it works like a passport because it has improved a lot and became the language of technology and the language of internationals. As result, most of people developed based on English language through global businesses. In all over the world there are many opportunities that changes people life to make it better and its English language. There many non- English speaking countries that uses English as a second language and they teach subjects like science and mathematics and etc. in English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) to provide more opportunity for their development.

English as we know it is indeed the dominant language, but does that mean everyone should learn it? Should English be the global language? Should you have to know English to communicate if you are someone that lives in a place where the native language is something different? The answer is no. However, first you must consider the statement “It is a fact that English is the dominant language in the world today. Everyone, in every country, in order to participate in the modern world, should learn English. After all, a language is just a random collection of words, so how hard can it be”. Personally, I believe it is tremendously difficult to learn a new language as an adult, but in order to make the world go round, we all should know more than one language; no one language should rule. Barbara Wallraff, David Crystal, and John Tagliabue share a few words that connect to the statement to show their personal mindset behind English being a global language. In this essay, I will extract statements from each of the authors that explain their views on a global language to support my overall perception.

As time progresses, foreign languages are being abandoned in English-speaking countries. This is because English is becoming a dominant language in international affairs. A common question has arisen because of this situation as Americans are left wondering what will become of foreign languages in the future. At this present time, monolingual English speakers are at a disadvantage. Being multilingual offers better opportunities in the working field and improves brain flexibility. On the other hand, it is understandable that it can be useless as English is becoming an international language and it is expected that people who live in America should know English already.

In this context, English language inherits the credential of a Universal language that can be nearly understood almost each and every part of the world. The English Language; that has been evolving over centuries, has found its spot under the beam light and is used all over the world as a mode of communication. However, just like any other spoken

With the rapidly development of English, English becomes a lingua franca in the world. English language is spoken by over1.5billion people around the world (“Mufwene, S.”, 2010). Non-native speakers are far outnumber of native-English speakers which means that many people who come from different backgrounds and different native language are using English as a common language for communication(“Mufwene, S.”, 2010). In other words, English have an important position today; it affects more and more people use it as a common channel for communication or in the aspect of sharing academic information. However, although English has many advantages, it is threatening to the position of other languages in the world, for example, some languages are facing

“One out of four of the world’s population speaks English to some level of competence” (NADRAG, TIHENEA, and STAN, 2013). It is well known that English is a globally used language and holding balance internationally, but after all how can we ‘dig deeper’ into it? Although undisputedly English is today’s international lingua franca, the comprehension of globalization of the English language of its historical origin, further consequences (to other non-English speaking nations), and trend of benefit with disadvantage might come more important than the language itself as it is practically being used daily and globally.

English is one of the most important and official language in the world to communicate with each other and organization around the world and also has more advantage. It is important to know how significant English plays the role nowadays and also how to improve those skills in term of technology and environment as it may affect our future career opportunity by step to step are as follow.

One of the main advantages of studying English is that it vastly increases the career prospects and employment opportunities of students. One of the arguments in favour of speaking in English is that it virtually removes communication barriers. It is doubtless that it will be difficult to communicate with foreigners when the languages are different. English is therefore well-regarded as the lingua franca to ease international communication. As a result, miscommunication can be avoided and it can eventually assist companies to save cost and minimize wastage of time. (Mydans, 2007). Other than this, English is certainly the primary language of global trade and commerce and tourism sector. In many countries, most of the tourism authorities and other officials who are in contact with public prefer to speak English for interaction and also to engage with tourists and immigrants. (Wil,

A language that is spoken internationally is called “Global” or “World” language. A global language is a language in which people speak internationally on a daily basis, in international organizations and diplomatic relations. It is a “lingua franca”, a language that helps people from different backgrounds to communicate with each other. Not many languages that have been established in human history have reached to the point in which they are called a global language, amongst those few languages is English. Approximately 2 billion people around the world use English as a native language, a second language or a foreign language. English is used for many causes, such as; technical and scientific communication, education and employment.

No doubt that more and more people want to be a part of this international community by using English as a global language, language that can help people from different countries to understand each other. Therefore, English also affects educational system and educational policies around the world and its role is growing very fast in higher

English is now what linguists call a “Lingua Franca” because of the tendency for people to use English as an international language (Danesi, 2016, p.122), as well as the fact that over 40 countries use English as their official

     “In the world were over seven thousand languages have exisisted, one language had become dominate. This dominant language is English.” “In the majority of countries throughout the world speak English as their second or first language, no longer just America or England.” English has taken many forms, American English, the Queen’s English, Australian, Canadian English, and several others. Even American English has taken several types of English, Jersey English, East Coast English, West Coast English, Southern English, slang English, and Ebonics. All of these languages have major variants between them, but are all of them are still understood aboard. Without English the world couldn’t operate,