The English language is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. The globalization of English was started with the colonialization of many countries by English speakers. It was vital for the natives of these places to learn English to communicate with the foreigners. We now see English as a language of wealth, knowledge and supremacy. The power of England and the United States for the last couple of centuries has perpetuates these ideas.
The economy is one of the many factors driving the push towards English as a universal language. America is a nation of consumers. Companies that may be based in other countries have to cater to the language of their customer base. Important factor such as advertising and marketing must be created to appeal to the English-speaking customer. The pursuit of profit has made English the language of business.
Education plays a big part in the globalization of English. A large percentage of the world’s knowledge is written in English. The most prestigious Schools in the world are English speaking. If a person wants to take advantage of the knowledge available to them in higher education, they will most likely have to learn English.
The political realm is controlled by English speaking powers, such as England and The United States. These countries play such an important role in world affairs that it is important for other countries to learn English. Intricate details may be lost in translation. It is better for people to decide for themselves what is going on. Also with the learning of any language, a person also learns about the culture of the native speakers.
20 years from now English will still be evolving towards a global language. Technology, such as smart phones and ipads, which access the internet, will make English more visible in everyday life. The youth of other countries, will all speak and be taught English in school. I do not believe it will be universal yet, because the elderly people will still hold tight to there native tongues. In addition, accents will be less noticeable.
By the year 2060, English will be universal, except for very isolated places. The advances toward a global economy will have sped up the globalization of English. Most of the people that spoke other languages will adopt English as a tool for economic purposes. Many languages will die as innocent bystander to prosperity, and the elders not being around to perpetuate the other languages. A lot of the cultural elements of other language will also be lost during the globalization of English.
100 years from now, English will be a lot different from the way it is spoken presently. Many words from other languages will be incorporated into English. It will be a collage of languages, pieced together allowing people to articulate themselves in amazingly beautiful ways. We will all communicate with each other without language barriers. The amount of intelligent people will also increase drastically. Knowledge will be more readily available even in isolated areas.
J. Nevel I completely agree with you and English being the most powerful language communication world wide, today. I feel that with the economy going to the dirt it’s going to change. As of right now English is the world wide national language for economy, which mean all national papers have three copies, one in English, and the other two in the languages for the countries. But this also can change anytime. Knowing English gives a person so must more power to do other things. I agree knowing English can help a person gain higher education easier. In American is a great thing to be able to read, speak and write in English but there are many laws and organization to help people who don’t read, write, or speak English. American is a country of immigrates and most of those immigrates didn’t come from English speaking countries, so it important to make sure they understand what going on around them. American is an English speaking country, due to the fact that it was the founding fathers native tongs. Everyone forgets that American is the most diverse culture country and everyone is treated equally. So everyone native tongs should be treated with respected. Shyla
ReplyDeleteEnglish is the language of business. For God's Sake look at where the freak McDonald's is located! I went to El Salvador about two years ago and in the main city they have a McDonalds and a knock off of Popeyes called the Chicken something. It is really odd honestly. Its weird to order a number one in Mexico City; not only that, it was really disgusting. The burgers in the U.S.A. are like the royalty of fast food when compared to others in foreign countries. I digress.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't categorize Britain in the same class as us even though they are our allies. The English spoken around the world is, in my opinion, spoken because of the U.S.A. I know that sounds conceited but look at all the power we have right now. It's not just political or militaristic but also culturally. Go into a foriegn country and ask who Michael Jackson is. I gurantee there will be people who know who he is. Also, Europe hosts the European MTV awards where they honor mostly American artists tat are not evn native to the continent. Culture is a better indicator of power than language. But when we we lose our power our language will be mixed and completely different in foreign countries just like the Phillipines modified Spanish into Tagalog.