“Globalisation” is a term which may be defined in different ways. According to the website www.globalization.com “the political and economical views describe globalisation as the process of denationalization of markets, politics and legal systems, i.e. the rise of the so-called global economy. At a business level, globalisation is about companies deciding to take part in the emerging global economy and establishing themselves in foreign markets.
Beyond that, globalisation is a reality that touches our lives in ways most us never stop to think about. International trade has made us wealthier; the internet has brought a revolution to global communications, while McDonald’s has managed to spread more than 25,000 outlets across 120 countries.
In my essay I am going to concentrate mainly on cultural globalisation, which partly refers to the complex of forces that trend toward a single world society. Among these forces are mass communications, commerce, increased ease of travel, the internet, popular culture, and the increasingly widespread use of English as an international language. To be more precise, I would like to focus on the English language.
It is predicted by David Graddol, author of The Future of English: English will be spoken by half of the world’s population within 10 years. By the year 2015, two billion people are expected to start learning English and three billion will already speak it, says a British Council estimate. The report also showed that English was not the only language that is spreading, Mr Graddol said: “Chinese, Arabic and Spanish are all popular and also likely to be languages of the future”. Now, let us investigate this phenomenon and figure out what keeps English spreading, and how this is going to affect us in the future.
The Essay on English As A Global Tongue
... world, thus it is considered a world language. Today English seems to evolve to a future global tongue, as its spreading on the ... consequences, we can be sure that English as a global language will definitely come. A global tongue will always function as a ... keep their own language for internal communication there is nothing to worry about a global tongue. In Europe globalisation rather turned into ...
Globosity of the English language
English is spoken as a first language by more than 300 million people throughout the world, and used as a second language by many more. One fifth of the world’s population speaks English with a good level of competence, and it is likely that within the next few years the number of people speaking English as a second language will increase significantly.
Carl Marx once said that if you could sing The Internationale, you would be able to find friends everywhere in the world. It is true of English. Crystal (1997) reports that 85 per cent of international organisations make official use of English, at least 85 per cent of the world’s film market is in English, and about 90 per cent of published articles are written in English.
In addition, Zai, Zheng and Zhang (1999) report that more than 80 per cent of all scientific papers are first published in English and over half of the world’s technical and scientific periodicals are in English.
Furthermore, five of the largest broadcasters (CBS, NBC, ABC, BBC and CBC) reach a potential audience of about 300 million people through English broadcasts, computer program instructions and software are often supplied only in English, 85 per cent of the international telephone conversations are conducted in English, and English is the language of medicine, electronics, space and the Olympics.
In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, David Crystal (1995) draws attention to some astounding figures. English is present on every continent. In over 60 countries, it is used officially or without authorisation of the government and is prominent in 20 or more. More than 150 million people receive English language radio shows. A phenomenal 80% of the information stored electronically around the world is in English. Crystal also says that “over 50 million children study English as an additional language at primary level; over 80 million study it at secondary level (these figures exclude China)”. Finally, he notes that over two thirds of the world’s scientists write in English.
The Essay on English as a world language and its future in India
Essay on English as a world language and its future in India Many people think that the teaching of English is playing havoc with our native regional languages. Even the protagonists of Hindi, our national language, are deadly opposed to it. They think that English is a foreign language and an average Indian can neither understand it, nor express himself in it. Moreover much energy of a child is ...
Why it is so widespread
By the early 20th Century, Great Britain and the United States were known for their ‘economic imperialism’ because they invested more money than any other country in the world and were known as the global economic trade capitals. The rest of the world could see how much money these two countries were making and therefore wanted to join them, which meant that they had to learn the economic language, and that was definitely English. David Crystal (1997) states that “If the metaphor ‘money talks’ has any meaning at all, those were the days when it was shouting loudly – and the language in which it was shouting was chiefly English”.
Today English is incredibly widespread and it is constantly expanding. One of the main reasons for this is because of the media. The first medium through which English was spread is through newspapers. Everybody needed to know what was going on, not only in their country, but abroad as well. Newspapers are indispensable, which means that whether scientific or technological developments are created, the world still needed this type of information delivered through such a simple and cost-effective medium. This is why it is so important that more than half of the newspapers, published in the world, are published in English, which heavily contributes to the constant growth of the English language.
Television and cinema are other forms of media which greatly helped English reach so far. It was first developed in Europe and America during the 19th Century. The actors became ‘stars’ across the world, thus leading to America’s film industry becoming the largest and richest, therefore the films which were and still are produced, are sent off all around the world where they are subtitled (or dubbed).
Through watching these movies, people abroad learn the English language, whilst being entertained.
American television has a similar power over the world, and its benefits are obvious. For example, 250 million Chinese people (more than the population of the United States itself) are learning English in this informal way on TV, which is quite impressive.
The Term Paper on Third World Countries Poverty People
Poverty occurs in most parts of the world. Nevertheless, the more serious and problematical poverty takes part in the third world and the southern parts of the globe. First of all, we have to clearly define the word 'poverty'; . In a broad sense, it means that people within this 'poverty'; region are poor or have a lower average income per capita than other regions. To a deeper approach, we refer ...
Popular culture, in particular pop music, has also affected the spread of the English language. The phonograph – the first machine which could ever record and reproduce sound, was invented in America in 1877 by an American, Thomas A. Edison. It gave music the ability to travel across the world without the composer or artist having to travel themselves. This allowed other countries to experience foreign music.
Advantages and disadvantages of English as a universal language
The consolidation of English as a “lingua franca” across the globe has led to debates within certain circles as to its benefits and drawbacks. There are two fundamental advantages that I can identify with having English in such widespread use.
Primarily, some people argue that a global language such as English makes life in terms of communication considerably easier. Imagine a world where the average traveller from almost any country can still converse with others. It’s very easy to take for granted how difficult seemingly simple activities are, like asking for directions or getting exactly what you want in a shop or restaurant. It could be suggested that having knowledge of one medium language is a necessary compensation rather than trying to perfect a multitude of other languages.
Moreover, those who must do business or more serious forms of communications will benefit. One universally accepted and understood language can help avoid confusions and misunderstandings which are more commonplace when third parties or translators are used. Leading on from this is the economic factor. If the expression “time is money” really holds true, then it seems again that the globosity of English is again a positive aspect. The need for costly interpreters will be saved and furthermore negotiations between different nationals will be more coherent and speedy.
The Essay on A Global Language: English Language
English is an international language spoken all over the world that was originally borrowed from the world. If English is used as a global language, there might be some advantages related to communication and business. However, there are also several disadvantages in terms of losing mother tongue and taking time and money. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages, so English should be made the ...
However, there are distinct reasons to consider before the English language becomes even more readily embraced. Despite the practicalities of one universal language, language must also be seen as an identity of people. It carries history, meaning and is like a badge, especially for minority races and tribes. According to English as a global language, David Crystal (1997) identified for example that in Brazil, even just a few hundred years ago, more than a thousand indigenous languages were in existence; today maybe only just a couple of hundred are still known to be practiced. Invariably the death of language would mean the sad loss of traditions, way of life and local culture.
This is a real problem for my native country too. The Kazakh population has been in steady decline for a few years now and currently stands at about 15 million people of which many citizens don’t speak or learn Kazakh. The government is doing all it can to keep the Kazakh language practiced and valued, which is not easy in the wake of younger generations perceiving English as more important in their future.
The future of the English language (conclusion)
With (American) popular culture reaching areas “off the beaten track”, the business world seemingly trying to adopt one language and key mediums of information such as the media, magazines and computer speak all namely having strong English language influence, it seems that for the foreseeable future the use and study of English will continue to expand.
In the very long-term future, there may be some hints that its dominance could be challenged. For instance, many countries of minority languages are becoming more active in self-preservation of their own mother tongue, even at the expense of rapid English development. Likewise, even countries with key languages are challenging the dominance of English. France for example has motioned and indicated on more than one occasion over the past few years that
French should be the language of choice within several European Organisations.
Finally, it could be once more referred to English as a global language, David Crystal (1997) that the language of an era is tied-in with the political or military power of that time. Presently, that does mean English, via 19th century English imperialistic power, followed by 20th century ‘Americanism’ but many observers believe that the future global giant will be China, it remains to be seen if the Chinese language could really ever over-take English, but certainly the massive size of its population is a strong base for Chinese to expand.
The Term Paper on The spread of English in a Global World
English, as a means of communication has become the world’s “global” language. English is all over the world. Everywhere you go nowadays people seem to be speaking certain level of English. It can be seen wherever you travel – on the airports and train stations, on the road signs and advertisement, in hotels and restaurant menus, and even in the small shops. It comes with ...
Bibliography:
Crystal, D. (1995).
Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Crystal, D. (1997).
English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Zai, X.J., Zheng, S. T. & Zhang, Z. J. (1999).
21st Century College English. Beijing, Shanghai: Higher Education Press, Fudan University Press.
Neave, G. (2000).
Introductions in higher education. In G. R. Teasdale & Z. M. Rhea (Eds) Local Knowledge and Wisdom in Higher Education. Oxford, England: Pergamon.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/education/4080401.stm
Story from BBC NEWS, published: 2004/12/09 00:11:01 GMT