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Why english is the global lingua franca essay
The role of English as an international language
The importance of English as a global language
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Introduction
English has become one of the major languages of the world, and it can be an agent of linguistic imperialism (Phillipson, 1992). This review will offer a critique of the of the 1992 book, "Linguistic Imperialism," published by New York: Oxford University Press. The author, Robert Phillipson, is a research professor at Copenhagen Business School's Department of English. Through the examination of this article, it can be confirmed that Phillipson has accurately described the existing problems of the dying minority languages and the untenable idea of the combination of globalization and English. However, I contest that English can promote social mobility in low-income countries in Africa and other countries. The questions raised are:
1. Can the equality of learning English be attained globally?
2. Does this diffusion of the English language rule affect operations in
political and econmical relations?
Summary
The article claims that English is essential to the globalization processes for economic and political restructuring, but there isn’t a fair chance for ...
Conquest and colonization has always played a role in the history of European powers. Throughout the centuries many different European empires have attempted to make their mark on multiple different continents. Some have found success, while others have failed. One case in particular, in which European nations could not quite find stability, was in North America. Factors such as the American Revolution, U.S. westward expansion, and the Monroe Doctrine pushed European nations out of North America. Afterwards, the late 19th century marked the beginning of New Imperialism. As New Imperialism began, Africa became important to European nations in their “Scramble for Africa”.
Imperialism shaped the world we have today. There were many reasons behind global expansion. Anything from building an empire, like the British, to helping inferior races, had an impact. The extent the Europeans went to for national defence was a major motivator. Furthermore, the “civilizing mission” had a lot of supporters because of the belief it was their duty. Some arguments for imperialism had more influence than others.
Imperialism in the late 1800’s blossomed when a new phase of global expansion erupted. One of the main goals of this global expansion focused on new markets and sources of raw materials. Due to the Second Industrial Revolution, the demand for new markets and the exploding numbers in production compelled business leaders to search out new sources of investment for the growing economy. Rapid territorial expansion redirected the competing ideologies of agricultural demands, Native Americans, European Immigrants, and industrial capitalist in this new empire. In this search, manufacturers needed to find new raw materials in order to better equip themselves to sustain against the newly rising competitors. This caused competition with foreign market systems all around to begin pursuing an imperialistic empire. The European powers responded with aggressive nationalism when expanding their empire. This concept began trending internationally as other nations adapted the new concept of maintaining a steady nation through the new ideals of expansions.
This leads to the negative viewpoint of cultural globalization, that “[it] can lead to a utopian world, [and] some believe it will cause less dominant cultures to be obliterated and economically developed cultures to prosper.” (Issit 1). Although the dominance of English allows for people to speak a common language many can understand, a downside would be losing knowledge of other cultures.
Following the Civil War and Reconstruction Eras, Americans began to set their eyes on other shores. With new technology and equipment such as the telegraph and the railroads, the United States had shrunk. No longer was the United States a vast expanse of uncharted territory, but instead, it was a conquered land with a growing population and growing cities. Imperialism was born out of this desire to look across oceans for more land and trade posts for America’s expanding population and economy. Following the Reconstruction Era, the United States debated imperialist policies based on economic, social, military, and political beliefs which ultimately propelled the country to achieving a dominating international reputation.
Crawford, James. “A nation divided by one language.” Guardian.co.uk. 8 Mar 2001. Web. 11 October 2014
A Glimpse into Imperialism: The Colonizer and Colonized Extending their power to dominate distant nations, imperialism was founded on the basis of western nations seeking social, economic, and political gains. However, the foremost goal of these Western nations was to gain greater influence on a global scale. The ensuing struggle for power often rendered the natives in a position of helplessness and led them to their imminent demise, surrendering the foundations upon which their society was built to these foreigners. In his book, The Colonizer and the Colonized, Albert Memmi characterizes this relationship between the colonizer and the natives and illustrates the destructive nature of imperialism. Memmi appropriately contends the blatant illegitimacy
There were two different time periods where Imperialism occurred. The first wave of imperialism, called the 'Old' Imperialism, lasted from around 1500 - 1800. The 'New' Imperialism lasted from around 1870 - 1914. The three main differences that we will discuss today are the differences in economics, politics, and the motive behind all of this.
Imperialism: "Things Fall Apart" Compared to Primary Sources. Imperialism is the act of a larger, more powerful country taking over a smaller, weaker country. Imperialism was very evident in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Africa, an up and coming country, was a gargantuan country and just waiting to be taken over.
Imperialism was a time period in which more developed nations colonized less developed nations. The developed nations took advantage of the less developed nations resources, people, lands, and much more. Many countries lost their freedom and independence due to imperialism, however, they also received new technologies and innovations.
Mollin, S., 2006. “English as a Lingua Franca: A New Variety in the New Expanding Circle?”, The Nordic Journal of English Studies 5(2), pp. 41-57. Available from
It has been adopted by different sectors making it one of the most used languages in the globe. This has been attributed to its effective nature, easy learning and rich history. However, conservative groups exist who argues that there should be global language since it may cause the emergence of superior cultures. Nevertheless, it is evident that different cultures ranging from the early polish immigrants, the African American community, the advertising and media will greatly benefit from the globalization of the English language. This will prove in the end that English is indeed a global
Since the establishment of the British Empire, the spread of English language has been experienced in many parts of the globe. The success can be attributed significantly to the colonization activities that the empire had embarked on. They would train the indigenous community English language as they suppressed the local dialect. This massive spread is termed as lingual imperialism (Osterhammel 2005, pp. 14). The English language has become the first and second language of many nations across the world, and this makes it an international language. The native’s proportion to the non-native who speaks English cannot be compared with nations in the isle of Britain and far are speaking the language .considering that more than 70%
...nology is moving ahead at the speed of light. With all this advancement comes the inevitable need for a language that unifies the world. The need for a common language to conduct our business and economic affairs, and our need to communicate internationally on political and world interventions has made English the leader in world languages. It is not the language spoken first by most, but it the language that the world uses when it comes together to communicate.
In order to visualize the “global” as an adjective in the collocation “global language”, a study has shown the numbers of people speaking the language. According to them, there are about 6000 languages in the world and not surprisingly English is at the top of the list of most dominant. In the world there are 375 million first-language speakers, approximately the same number of second-language speakers and about 750 million foreign-language speakers (David Graddol, The Future of English? A Guide to Forecasting the Popularity of the English Language in the 21st Century. British Council, 1997). According to magazine Economist, more than one billion people speak some form of English. These numbers could make people think that English is really conquering the world which can be both positive and negative.