The Importance Of English Literacy

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Recommended: Learning English as a global language

English language is recognized as the lingua franca of the global economic frontier due to its “rapidly [increasing use in] globalizing business and professional worlds” (Evans, 2013). English literacy has shifted outside native English-speaking borders and spread to EFL (English as Foreign Language) regions, becoming a compulsory subject for students. Consequently, English is being widely used “for international … and … national communication” (Warschauer, 2000) where domestic and international companies wont English as their main medium of instruction in business communications. Having English literacy is now considered a basic requirement for employment. However, speakers of the English language differ from one another; each speaker has his or her unique accent when speaking English. An accent is a unique mode of sound production that is influenced by a speaker's dialect or native language (Edwards, 1997; Carlson and McHenry, 2006) and is divided into “standard or nonstandard” (Fishman, 1971). According to Ryan, Hewstone, and Giles (1984), standard – accent speakers are highly regarded for qualities related to “competence, intelligence, and social status”, while nonstandard – accent speakers are considered less satisfactory. Hence, nonstandard English speakers often face prejudice when seeking employment, being deemed unsuitable for certain jobs although no specific status is attributed to them (Carlson and McHenry, 2006). Much of …show more content…

The opposing arguments also stress on the various social advantages of an integrated workplace, illustrating the stand with higher potential problem – solving capabilities, and a greater talent pool in which increased divergent – thinking takes place.

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