Teach English in Burry Port - TEFL Courses

For centuries, people have been creating common languages in order to aid economic and political activities, such as international trade. Despite the irrefutable influence of Latin during the Roman Empire, the world has never really come close to having a global language. It wasn't until the 20th century that one language, english, started to become the global standard for communication. Why english, and why now? Is a global language really necessary, and how does it affect people? In this paper, I will give a brief summary of how and why english has become the global language. Language spreads for a number of reasons. Historically, the main reason has been colonization. When we look at all of the factors that have contributed to english becoming the global language, it is apparent that the language itself has very little to do with it. As David Crystal says in his article, english as a Global Language, english appears to have been “in the right place at the right time.” (Crystal, 2003) As previously stated, the language truly took its place on the global stage in the 20th century, in accordance with such technological advancements as the telegraph, telephone, and radio. (Crystal, 2003) Now capable of communicating at lighting speed, industry began to expand into a global setting. At the time, the united states had the strongest economy in the world, and the United Kingdom was the leader in international trade. (Morris, 2010) If the mother tongue of these two nations had been something other than english, it is very likely that that language would be the global one. english is “going global”, not because it's a powerful language, but because it is the official language of the most economically and politically powerful nations. Today, english has some sort of official status in over 100 countries (Crystal, 2003.) “Official status” can mean a lot of different things, mostly pertaining to educational and political policies. Although it is not the national language, the majority of the population of india speaks english. In the early 18th century, india was annexed by the British East india Company, and remained under British control until 1947. (Guha, 2007) It is now the world's largest democracy with one of the fastest growing economies, and english is its official language (or the assistant language) for work. (Krishnaswamy, 2006) Therefore, knowing how to speak english is equated with success. Why is a country that had been oppressed by colonialism for centuries so willing to use the mother tongue of its oppressor? india, like the rest of the non-english speaking world, has to do whatever it can to compete in a global economy. However, it is a unique example, because the country does not have an official national language. In the 1980's, violent debates broke out all over india, language being one of the central issues. Many of the country's leaders were trying to promote a national language that would unify the nation and give it authenticity. (Ghosh, 2004) If they had succeeded, the india we know today, which is a leader in the technology industry, may not exist. The fact is that as globalization takes effect, the defining characteristics of nations and peoples, such as language and culture are becoming blurred, combining, or disappearing altogether. Countries have to have a global presence and a global identity in order to be taken seriously. It is no secret that the world economy is dominated by just a handful of massive, multi-national corporations. Conducting business on such a scale means working with people from all over the globe who speak several different languages. For this reason, the business world has been the most enthusiastic about the notion of a standard form of communication. (Crystal, 2003) Academia has also embraced the idea, because of the potential to discuss new ideas with academics all over the world without the need for translation. (Crystal, 2003) I don't think it's fair to say that globalization is entirely negative or positive. Like everything else, it's a little bit of both. In my opinion, if everyone on the planet had the ability to easily communicate with everyone else, we would be so much closer to truly understanding each other, and that's definitely a positive thing. Sources Cited Crystal, David. english as a Global Language. 2nd ed. Cambridge [england: Cambridge UP, 2003. Print. Morris, Ian. Why the West Rules - for Now: The Patterns of History and What They Reveal about the Future. london: Profile, 2010. Print. Guha, Ramachandra. india after Ghandi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy ' New York: Ecco, 2007. Print. Krishnaswamy, N., and Lalitha Krishnaswamy. The Story of english in india. Delhi: Foundation, 2006. Print. Ghosh, Nandita. "Fixing the Language, Fixing the Future." Language in india: Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow. 10 Oct. 2004. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. .