Presently, English is the most wide spread language in terms of the number of countries that speak the language as a mother tongue or foreign language. Regardless of languages such as Mandarin, Arabic and Spanish having a great number of speakers, English dominates as a foreign language for many. A Newsweek Magazine article, written by John McWhorter, ranks English as the world’s international language today and states it is likely to remain this way in the future (McWhorter). Writer Dorie Clark for Forbes Magazine also supports this claim from an economic perspective, whereas English is seen as the global language of business as well (Clark). The importance of English is measurable by its increasing expansion in several nations around the world. The majority of Europe is beginning to speak English, leaving only five European nations that do not speak it as a popular foreign language, as stated in a Daily Mail online article by Steve Doughty (Doughty). The language is everywhere, from popular culture, western movies and music, literature, news, schools and more. The domination of English in media, its increasing global expansion, and significance in the economic industry make it the most important language today in terms of social mobility.
Media is one means of communication that links us all together. This can include, but is not limited to, news, television series, movies, and music and radio centers. 80% of the world’s electronically stored information is in English, dominating the internet (Mydans). Since so many people on a daily basis access the internet, internationally people all around the world notice English, which increases its popularity and brings attention to its importance in regards to social mobility. This s...
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...factors, as well as the relative easiness in learning the language, it is understandable to regard English as the most important language today and in the near future.
Works Cited
Clark, Dorie. "English - The Language of Global Business?" Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 26 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Doughty, Steve. "English Is the Lingua Franca of Europeans as Two Thirds Speak the Language Which Has Squeezed out All Its Rivals." Mail Online. N.p., 27 Sept. 2013. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
"English Won't Dominate as World Language." Msnbc.com. N.p., 26 Feb. 2004. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
"Lingua Franca." The Free Dictionary. Farlex, 2005. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
McWhorter, John. "Why Learn Mandarin? China Won't Make You Speak It." Newsweek. N.p., 17 Jan. 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
Mydans, Seth. "Across Cultures, English Is the Word." New York Times. N.p., 9 Apr. 2007. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.
Mujica, Mauro E. “Why the U.S Needs an Official Language.” Worldandi.com. 2003. Web. 31 July 2011. .
Crawford, James. “A nation divided by one language.” Guardian.co.uk. 8 Mar 2001. Web. 11 October 2014
English has always been a unofficial preferred language in the United States. Historically it has never been a, “monolinguistic country” (Driscoll 1). Over the years United States has experienced a lot of cultural diversity even though it, "has not appreciated l...
Thomas, David. “Why do the English need to speak a foreign language when foreigners all speak English?” Editorial. Mail Online. Daily Mail and General Trust plc, 23 Jan. 2012. Web 2 Feb. 2012.
Language is one of the most basic values of a society that differentiates one society from other one. Each country desires to be superior over other countries and spread of its language and their culture to win in a way over other countries language. The growing utilization of English to communicate internationally has been continuing in several decades which makes English as one of the growing language between the countries; as Robson reported that “English is spoken at a useful level by some 1.75 billion people worldwide
According to The New Websters’ International Encyclopedia, (1996), it is stated that there are more than 400 million people in the United States, the British Isles, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Arica use its native language which is English Language. English is a lingua franca in all of the industries across the world such as scientific industry, accountancy industry and education industry.
The increased concern with different languages was obviously related to the World War but also to the major shift in the quantity of immigrants to America. For centuries, the United States of America has been considered the ultimate country where dreams are made and a place where everyone wants to migrate to for better living standards. It is argued that dialectally diverse nations need a standard language to permit mutual understanding and in a global society, for instance, it is the whole world that can benefit from a national language. French as well as Latin once took on this role as an international medium of communication and in this era, as well as the future years, English is and should be the global voice.
With this, English is becoming more commonly used, not just as a foreign language to learn, but for education, medicine, and even diplomacy reasons. In his essay, when he was talking about the United Arab Emirates, hitching also mentioned that Arabic is their language for school, religion, home, and culture, whereas learning English over there is “symbolic of modernity, work, higher education, commerce, economics, and science and technology” (271). This associates English with a more advanced outlook if one would want to get a higher education or find better work. English is getting a name for itself and it is not a bad name. People are not just learning it for a class, they are learning it for business, higher education, and many more reasons around the world. Julie Traves mentioned in her essay that there are about 380 million people worldwide speaking English as their first language, whereas it is estimated that anywhere from 350 million to about 500 million people speak it as a second language. The English language is spreading throughout the world through education, science, technology, and the culture which is another reason why English is the best language to
Due to the rise of China’s comprehensive power and huge target market and international influences, there was a great mass fervor of learning Chinese, and more than 85 countries added Chinese lessons, covering nearly 30,000,000 students. Most of them are Japanese and Korean. The second large populations are Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese and other southeast countries’ people. The third are North Americans and European countries people. Chinese is becoming a new dominant language just after English.
It would be reasonable if Honey suggested that English would be the dominant language in the near future. English is still the global language worldwide and the United States is still the driving force in political, economical and cultural fields of endeavor. This dominance will last for a long while yet, but not forever.
"Chinese 'takes More Brainpower'" BBC News. BBC, 30 June 2003. Web. 08 May 2014. .
Based on the number of people who use it as a language and its easy nature to learn, English is the best candidate as the global language, which should facilitate communication in the changing environment. This draws the line between English and other languages whose usage is predominant across Europe and parts of Asia. In terms of numbers and effectiveness in learning, English is more superior to other languages.
The number of native English speakers in the United States is continuing to decline year after year. In a study done by the U.S. Census Bureau, it was found that, “Of 291.5 million people aged 5 and over, 60.6 million people spoke a language other than English at home” (Ryan 2). Since the country’s demographics are always changing, many researchers believe that this number has increased and will continue increasing. It is projected that in 2020, English will be very close to no longer being the most spoken language in the United States. In a study done by Jennifer Ortman, for the United States Census Bureau in 2011, the projections
English is, almost certainly, the most important subject that a child can learn in school. Without knowing proper English, a child will not be able to communicate effectively with the English speaking nation. They would be shut off from education and other people in this country. A person who does not poses proper English limits his or her ability to achieve their highest potential. Knowledge of the English language is important to learn to be able to communicate with others, in the teaching of immigrant students, and in finding and maintaining a job.
Over the years English inarguably has reached a status of a global language and commonly is characterized as a lingua franca. It has become the language that is spoken by millions of people all over the world; as the mother tongue, as the language used for international communication and as the language learned in the millions of schools.