Humanity's Lingua Franca

“If Only We All Spoke Two Languages” is an segment written by Ariel Dorfman that discusses the benefits of the United States becoming a bilingual and or a multilingual society. The piece was written in March 2004 and first appeared in the novel “Everything’s an Argument with Readings”. In the portion author Ariel Dorfman criticized Americans for being monolingual. The author illustrates how learning a second language “builds a bridge” to the English language. Dorfman continues to give statements of how advantages being multi or bilingual can be stating that it offers people “economic and political edge” and assists them in “understand someone else's culture.” The author concludes that if Americans do not follow through with procedures to increase

To begin, music exhibits serenity to the most timid of people in times of distraught. In The

The debate on whether the United States should adopt English as the official language is a complex matter that has stirred controversy among political figures and American citizens. Though the United States does not have an official language, bills are constantly being introduced to the U.S Congress Houses to establish English as America’s official language. However, Congress has yet to come to a consensus which elucidates the complicated nature of the single language policy debate. Opposers of the English Language Unity Act argue that it is unconstitutional because it violates the first amendment. According to these opposers, constituting English as the official language of the country will create difficulty in the lives of millions of

Music has a strong impact on people but it’s not the instrument that spoke to the people it’s the lyrics that spoke to the people. The lyrics in songs are probably the strongest form of

Language is one of the most important tools people use in the United States of America, where language is the key that opens the door to all opportunities in this country –that can either unite or break our nation apart. The first time Congress proposed to designate English as the official language of the United States was in 1981, where Senator S.I Hayakawa, from California believed that English unified the American people. Hayakawa believed that bilingual education in the public school system was a threat to the nation itself, where language acted as a barrier that divide us a result of the friction between the public and minority language. Many states soon after, began to institute English-only law that restricted the use if other languages

Music is the inventive procedure of making, performing, and reacting to sound for individual and aggregate importance. Through the procedures of making musical works, performing with voice and instrument, and reacting to our own particular and others' music, people and gatherings convey implications, convictions and qualities. Music engagement shapes our idea and movement, and is obvious from the most punctual phases of life. Music is a pervasive element of contemporary life. This is to a great extent since music, not at all like some other artistic expression, has the ability to successfully unite a gathering of individuals in light of a legitimate concern for a specific reason. In this way, while the experience of music serves to unite individuals

Everyone has a different interpretation of the word, “invention”. However the word is simply defined as; a new device, method of process developed from study and experimentation. An invention is just a mental fabrication; it’s a falsehood (Dictionary.com 2013).1 Although in the essays, “Why I write” by Joan Didion, “Life in a new Language” by Eva Hoffman, and “Basmati Rice: An Essay about Words” by Audrey Thomas, each author has their own view on the English language, how they each began inventing their own writing styles, and also their reasons for why they chose to become writers. These are the three things that make their definitions of invention very particular and their own.

On a global scale, our societies are extremely diverse. Very few traditions and passions can be paralleled between virtually every culture that endures today, or has ever existed. However, music is an exception. A 41,000-year-old flute, made of bone – with seven holes carved out – confirms that the creation of music has been a practice since the emergence of mankind. Throughout millennia, music has played an intricate role in influencing our development, expression, relationships, mindset, decision making, communication, etc., and has touched every corner of the Earth. Music is one of the most efficient cultural tools utilized by many historical movements. Establishing a common connection to a particular musical taste, practice, or genre, amongst potential movement recruits can draw them to acknowledge other connections they share with one another, and eventually leads to form a connection to the larger purpose of the social movement. The artistic and emotional effects of music are indisputable. Feelings of anger, motivation, joy, sorrow, or inspiration can be created by music of any style, contingent on its context. It is irrefutable that music is an emotional medium, regardless of the intention of the composer or the performer. In particular, young people are open to the emotional messages laced throughout music, for they often feel marginalized

Imagine living in a place with a distant community and a remote connection with everyone.That place is a world without music. Music brings people together because it is a constant reminder that no matter your gender, race, religion, and culture, people everywhere are the same in spirit and in heart. Whether it is through the rhythm of a beat or lyrics from a song, music creates a bonds and trust with others. Hans Christian Anderson once stated, “Where words fail, music speaks”. For instance, today’s generation of teenagers use music as a source of comfort and also a temporary solution for depression. Young adults use the underlying meaning of lyrics to relate with one another which creates trust, builds friendships, and relationships. Artist’s

I believe that as we sing a song the melody affects and connects to the spirit of mankind as it is the leading tune of a musical composition and delves deep in to the heart of a person when it is

To those trying to create a more interconnected, accepting, and peaceful world, the idea of a universal language is exciting and intoxicating. Societal progress is hindered without the free flow of ideas across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Many needless conflicts, like the push to remove Mexican immigrants from the US due to their cultural differences, result from misunderstanding and fear due to these linguistic boundaries. A universally understood language would resolve these issues by eliminating the need for translation and allowing for easy communication.

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 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 English has come to be known as the global language, it has moved toward paramount over the past decades. The majority of uses of English occur in contexts as a “lingua franca”, that is the language of heterogeneous linguistic communities whenever they wish to be mutually intelligible to speakers of other languages. Language is the unique characteristic of human so that it distinguishes human beings from other animal species. From four well-known language skills i.e. reading, writing, listening, and speaking, Rivers(1981)argues that speaking is the most frequently skill, that is used twice as much as reading and writing in our communication.As it is the means through which we express our opinionsthinking process, intentions and viewpoints. Speaking and writing usually have been considered as productive skills in comparison with listening and reading and it has been classified into two major groups: Monologue and Dialogue, that according to Nunan(1989)the dialogue focuses on the interaction with other speakers, in contrast, monologue refers to uninterrupted oral presentation. Moreover, according to the previous classification, speaking serves one of the two functions: transactional (transfer of information) and interactional (maintenance of social relationships) (Brown & Yule, 1983). As Nunan (1999) and Burkart and Sheppard (2004) argue,

Across the globe, the primary universal language that is accepted in English. To communicate effectively and interact in corporate and industrial environment at international level, an effective hold of language is must especially from students in colleges as they represent the future. But, there are very few countries in the world which have English as their first language. Therefore a level of difficulty arises for non-native speakers of English to adjust in the international standards of the language. Also, countries which do not have English as their first language struggle with the accent and dialect of their individuals where culture becomes an important factor in the use of Universal language English especially with use of slang words. This is an era of modernization and social media, internet communication plays an important role in exposure to the western culture in other countries of the world.