Subject: Introducción al Inglés.

Teacher: Daniela Otero

The world of English

1) Define ´Lingua Franca´.

2) Why is the English Language a linguistic tool?
3) Describe the influences of the economic and cultural factors.
4) Describe the negative effects on the language.
5) Should teachers expose students? Describe.
1) A lingua franca is a language that can be adopted by two different people whose native
languages aren’t the same in order to communicate. That is why English is consider a Lingua
Franca.
2) The English language is a linguistic tool because it connects people from several businesses
all over the world, so that their companies can communicate with other companies in pursuance
of expanding themselves.
3) The influences on English in the economical factor are that thanks to its language, the United
States of America has emerged as an economical power, bringing the phenomenon of
globalization. This isn’t good at all for the identity of individual countries, so that it became a
threat.
4) English can have a negative effect on the languages it comes into contact with, downgrading
them so that their use becomes restricted, and in extreme circumstances, bringing about their
decline. Also, most of the teachers who teach English, learnt it as a second language, so the
contact that students have with English isn’t the same as learning with a native speaker. On the
other hand, there’s also people who believe that learners of English are victims of linguistic and
cultural imperialism.
5) Teachers should expose their students to several kinds of English, because as we know,
English is spoken differently all over the world. So if teachers expose their students to different
kinds of pronunciations and readings, it’ll help them to understand better, and improve their
listening. Students should be hearing only the sound of their teacher’s voice.