English as an International Language

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.

In this research, I’m going to focusing on the English as a language is being taught in many countries oversea today including Thailand. In fact, you’ll be surprising to know that English is required for many of the students in many countries. Unfortunately, it is not necessarily taught as well as it could be because of heavy teaching load, class sizes and adequate technology. Learning an English today still's has been challenging for many countries and specifically in Thailand. In Thailand, the student often gets too overwhelmed with English and mentally tune out in the classroom because English was their least favorite subjects. On the other hand, the students don’t have a resource at school or they don’t have it enough. Furthermore, many students just go to English class and switch back to Thai as soon as they out of school. English isn't used locally in Thailand. Although, there still a lot students continue care about English language because English has been the most ordinarily utilized language internationally and the language of traffic control and the majority of academic journals. It’s the most common language on the internet and the language that travelers use to communicate with different native speakers.

The article has been written by Barbara Wallraff who is English Language graduate. She is enthusiastic about the recent happenings to the English Language, that’s why she discusses with people about the universality of the English language. Ms. Wallraff has started the argument of the article by developing thesis statement on the universality of the English Language which has later been supported by related arguments of the article.

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.

Some of the examples Richard Lerderer gives to explain the widespread influence of the English language are “English has acquired the largest vocabulary of all the world’s languages”. He Also says “half of the world’s books are written in English, and majority of international calls are made in English”. Another important example is that English is universally spoken.

Through the article “Why English Should Not Be The International Language Of The World” (2015) by Robert Nielsen. The author claims that we have to protect the variations of this world’s language and set a new society, a new culture, even a new language for the future space settlements as our official language. The reason why English shouldn’t be the global language is that he notices for those non-native English speaker, using English is unfair for them, even “ International conferences almost always are held in

Language is oftentimes perceived as intrinsic to human nature which while true to an extent, ignores the way human behaviour today has affected our communication with one another. Since the end of the twentieth century, globalization changed the way people in the globalized countries are understood through language in ways that have both strengths and weaknesses. Languages have switched from being simply indicators of cultural background to being a commodity in the economic sphere. This reworking of the purpose of language has affected the growth of English worldwide and given it new ways to develop. Unfortunately, Standard English has largely become the focus of the international world at a cost for many people not born in English-speaking countries. Despite its shortcomings, globalization has provided different languages, and minority dialects, meaningful spaces in which they can develop their own worth. There are still important studies to be done into the effect of globalization on multilingualism and I propose doing multiple case studies to compare the progression of language in countries around the world. To start, it is important to looked at how that progression changed to begin with.

(Sharifian, F 2009) International language may be English because that is the most expected language and is the language of the ancient earth power. With factors like international education, globalization, foreign job placements and international business, people are expected to speak in English so that they can seamlessly integrate into their doings. This only caters to the growth of English as an international language. The growth of English as an international language however has a negative impact on the development of the other languages as an international language. The biggest challenge it will create is in the efficiency during jobs, education and integration in the

First, since English has become an international language, its ownership is regarded as denationalised and renationalised. The concept of denationalisation proposed by Smith suggests that English is no longer just owned by countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, but by various other countries around the world that also use the language. Kachru also argued that a global English should not only be restricted to the official use by colonial countries of the United Kingdom and the United States, and it is not a necessity to internalise the native speakers’ norms. It is said that the process of denationalisation results in renationalisation, in which, according to McKay, involves English localisation - the

There are 6,909 languages spoken in the world today (Anderson). As of 2009, roughly 328 million people speak English as their first language, coming in third to Chinese and Spanish (Languages of the World). This essay will describe the geographies, politics, and arts that contributed to the evolution of the present English language, as well as the different pronunciations, dialects, and varieties that have risen up throughout the world.

For those who want to benefit from life, knowing an international language like English is like catching a goldfish (it is magic). As a global language, English is breaking the obstacles in communication and exchange of cross-cultural information. According to David Crystal in the book “English as a Global Language” (2003), he states that

The influence of language and power in the formation of identity can be well understood through discussion of English as a World language, the most dominant language in the world. In relations to world Englishes, Kachru, (1997) proposed three circles: Inner, Outer, and Expanding circle. The inner circle refers to norm providing with 375 million native speakers. It refers to the countries where English is spoken as the primary language of majority of the populations (ENL). Kachru (1997) emphasizes that UK, USA, New Zealand, Canada and Australia are the countries where English is spoken as a native language. The outer circle refers to norm developing with 350-450 million English as a second language speakers (ESL). It refers to those countries where English is used as an important and official language. According to Kachru (1997) these countries are ‘ex-colonies’ of Britain and the USA. Countries like India, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Nigeria use English as a second language. These countries serve their important business, official and international affairs in English. The extended circle refers to norm developing with 750 million English as foreign or International language speakers (EFL or EIL). It refers to those countries where English is spoken as a foreign language. Kachru (1997) identifies Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, Japan, Indonesia, and Middle East as EFL (English as a foreign language) countries. In these countries English is not used strongly but taught and

English serves as a global language and it is essential especially among different countries to have an effective communication. Learning English is a great tool among other countries to promote development in the English language during the previous decades. English language not just improved the educational level of a one’s country but also it had been raised political and cultural aspects which are very significant for most countries. The changes that the English language can conquer are that it would serve as a long-term change in a country because it supports growth technologically and socially.

English is “the language of science, commerce, global politics, … [pop culture] and, above all, the internet” as David Thomas describes (Source B). The sheer influence that English has on the globe is staggering and continues to grow every day. While China and India are economic powerhouses with well over a billion people each, many of the citizens of these countries also speak, on some level, English. This yet again reduces the need for English speakers to learn the mother tongues of their business partners. In political discussions, specifically at the United Nations and the European Union, English is the dominant language with the UN even being criticized for relying heavily on English in their discussions and as source B states: English “has become the default tongue of the EU.” English is also a major influencer of global pop culture with many of the latest pop culture originating in English speaking countries such as music, where 45 of the top 50 songs globally are in English, to books such as the Hunger Games and Harry Potter, to television shows such as Game of Thrones. Without the influence of English, these pop culture phenomena would not have achieved the global success they have. With the continued rapid growth of foreigners learning the English language, the inverse in which English speaking natives are learning different

     “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,