english as a Global Language (18)The
english language is becoming a powerhouse giant. From its history of the United Kingdom imperialism, its colonization and influences in
india, South Africa,
canada,
united states of America and
australia to say the least, the
english language has become as global and dominant as the latter countries. With the growth of international trade, foreign affairs, tourism and technology the need for communication and association to be understood and recognized by people all over the world has also been the growth for this global language. The world's most widely used language is
english which has over 1.8 billion users worldwide. (1) In today's society, with the safer means of convenient transport by air and sea, has lead to an increased amount of people traveling for
business and leisure purposes to different parts of the world. This in turn has sparked up organizations and companies in the tourism network to use these opportunities to facilitate services to travelers in a common language,
english. By educating or hiring staff that can communicate mainly in
english with the bonus of other languages is a benefit for the three parties mentioned as the services provided would be convenient and welcomed. Following through tourism communicating via the
english language has also provided a vehicular insight into the different cultural identities that exist, beginning from the from
united states, United Kingdom,
canada, New Zealand and
australia which many could suggest are quite the same but it's not until you speak and spend time with such cultures that you can see their common differences. Apart from the rest of the world's non
english speaking continents such as in the Central and South Americas, Middle East, Europe and Asia where cultures are most historical and profound, we now have the capacity to discover heritage, food, customs, religions and lifestyles in abundance, there is needless to say, so much to learn from but so many language barriers if not for a common language that we can use to its advantage. Although learning and knowing
english can be a privilege in many less fortunate countries it has become essential that educational reforms have taken place in countries of the like. It is rapidly becoming the second language to many cultures and has already established itself in the educational facilities, from very young ages to universities, in over 100 countries such as
china, Russia, Germany,
spain,
egypt and
brazil.(2) Not to mention the amount of exchange students and individuals that relocate to an
english speaking country to study and develop their language skills thus enhancing their careers. It is a life changing asset to gain and utilize, as so many doors and opportunities are opened for the educated and skilled in the
english language facet. Just as the
tesol position statement defines ‘In other words, learning
english is no longer viewed as something optional, but essential.
english has become the most widely taught language in the world' (3). Some would choose to learn it for different reasons, some for social reasons in communicating via the technology giant known as the World Wide Web, which to no surprise was created in
english, browsing through the abundance of information articles to social networks i.e. Facebook©, YouTube©, Twitter© but as well as being learned for purposes of
business language in technical trades, sciences and many industries for sharing and developing new intelligence and advances in their fields. Moreover, a study of learning
english in developing countries has concluded that implementing the skill of the
english language can increase the economic earning power of individuals by around 25% and that developing economies need access to
english if they are to grow and position themselves in the global economy. The British Council, the UK's education and cultural relations organisation, which commissioned the report from Euromonitor a leading research organisation, says that it is the first statistical research into the benefits of
english in developing countries.(4) In conclusion it can be seen that
english has been a major push for industrial and personal development. A global language, it certainly is, with much more room for improvement and advances to come which can only benefit the global economy and humankind.
english as a Global Language Research by Marcia Andrea Faundez - 3rd October 2013 (1) Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_language#cite_note-3 (2) David Crystal,
english as a Global Language, 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, 2003) (3) Web http://www.
tesol.org
tesol Position Statement on
english as a Global Language (4) http://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/jul/05/research-backs-
english-language-delotbiniere General Information Historical factors: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/blogs/
tefl-journey/2012/01/11/why-is-
english-the-dominant-world-language/ http://www.jobs.ac.uk/blogs/
tefl-journey/2012/01/11/why-is-
english-the-dominant-world-language/ http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/case-studies/minority-ethnic/