ENGLISH: AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

By Bivol Elena

What is a an international language?

Language with special status over the native

mother tongue
Special status conferred in two ways:

1. Government making it as official 2. Receives priority in schooling

English as an international language

Does not compel the speaker to have a perfect
command of the culture it expresses
Is denationalized Communication of the ideas and culture Functions as a bridge between speakers with different

linguistic backgrounds
English plays the role of lingua franca

Kinds of english
English as a Native Language (ENL)

English as a Second Language (ESL)

English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

WHY ONLY ENGLISH?

Half of the world's scientific journals written in English Three quarters of the world's mail written in English Three fifth of the radio stations of the world beam their

messages in English
Spoken as a first language by more than 300million

people around the world

One in five people speak English competently

 Flexibility of the English language Migration to the United States has created a segment

of the world population whose aim is to learn English for survival purposes
Five of the seven continents have one English

speaking country

Spread of english as a language

Industrial

Revolution, the British economic predominance in the 19th century paved the way for colonialism of large geographical reach French from the sphere of

Displacement of

diplomacy
After World

War 2, there was a rise in economic influence from the United States

English across the globe

English is fast gaining status as an international language leaving other languages quite behind in the race to the top.

Showing the relative numbers of native English speakers in the major English-speaking countries of the world

English across the globe

Countries in Which English Is an Official Language

USE OF ENGLISH IN BUSINESS

Knowledge of english as a language facilitates trade To upgrade workers skills Participate in workplace flexibility and multi-skill

initiatives.
Provides competitive advantage

example outsourcing by many developed countries

English language training useful for the successful

participation of non- English speaking jobseekers abroad .

Governments are now providing for English language

training programs for potential overseas workers and immigrants.

Important vehicle to promote development and IT

transfer improvement.

 Comparative advantage:
The internet is widely regarded as a tool for

strengthening trade and investment.

Global internet statistics show that English shares

around 36% of the total online language.

Understanding and not just knowing English

Your friendly new British neighbor youve met in the corridor

said that you should come over for a coffee some time so why did they look surprised when you turned up at their doorstep the next afternoon Your friendly British neighbor was just being polite lets do something some time is a just an expression, bearing as much weight and actual intention behind it as the notorious hi, how are you. If they really did want to invite you for a coffee, they would have made a date.

Tips to learn english

Developing contextualized language courses Encouraging interaction between the native and non-

native English speaking people

Supporting continuous language tuition on all levels,

including local languages making an effort to understand the local culture

Possible drawbacks
Linguistic power: Are those who speak the

global language as a mother tongue automatically have more power than those who learn it as a second or foreign language?
Linguistic complacency: Will a global

language eliminate motivation to learn other languages?

A warning about complacency!!

It is all too easy to make your way in the world with English as your mother tongue . . . . We become lazy about learning other languages. . . . We all have to make a greater effort. English may be the world language, but it is not the worlds only language and if we are to be good global neighbors we shall have to be less condescending to the languages of the worldmore assiduous in cultivating acquaintance with them. Sir Siddrath Ramphal, former secretary general of the British Commonwealth

What about linguistic death?

Emergence of a global language leads to the

disappearance of minority languages

A unfounded fear for now: English as a

global language seems to have the opposite effectstimulating a stronger support for local languages