Is English a Global Language?

We are all actually aware of the ubiquitous use of English nowadays. Development of the internet, globalization and international travel are just some of the main factors which has been creating the necessity to have an effective tool to interconnect numerous aspects of modern reality which is a Global Language. To be called a Global Language it must be accessible all round the world, with an impressive number of native and second language speakers using it to establish diverse relations at economic, diplomatic and day-to-day levels. These are requirements needed for a language to be chosen as a “lingua franca” and these are criteria English language satisfies. If we look back to the human history we will obviously reveal other languages which became or almost became global ones such as Latin, Koine Greek, Akkadian, Aramaic, Volapuc o Esperanto. Regarding the last one it is necessary to mention that it has been popular even among contemporary learners as it is considered to ease learning process of any other European language to be learnt afterwards. Each of aforementioned languages played similar role in their era as Chinese, French or Arabic do today. Certainly, we should not forget about disadvantages English as “lingua franca” may bring into society (such as possible suppression of minor languages) but it’s clear that its advantages far more overweight negative aspects and, what is important, it gives a present-day world keys to improve and develop.

Global language, a matter of power.

"A language becomes a global language because of the power of the people who speak it."

David Crystal starts his speech with this premise when he's asked for his opinion on the "global language" concept, which shows us how language is important in History of human kind. According to Mr. Crystal, English has become a global language nowadays but this has been possible thank to the recent history of this language and the people who speaks it.

As a fact, he thinks that this kind of "rank" has nothing to do with the structure of the language. If English has become a global language nowadays is thanks to the political and military power shown by the British Empire throughout 15th century. Of course, other factors are also the main cause of this fact, as the technological power shown a century after, the Industrial Revolution and the fact that English was spoken in both U.S.A and U.K. in the 19th century, where these two nations are known for being the main economic powers in the world. For more information, just check the video.

As for Should English be taught as a 'global' language?, Mr. Crystal presents the dichotomy between teaching production and teaching comprehension. Besides, he continues by saying that it is important to show students different English varieties in a matter of pronunciation and grammar, in order to improve and to develop their listening comprehension. We, as a group, agree with this idea.

Euginne said that it is very important and necessary to expose students to the different accents of English and that this fact would encourage them to discover "diversity" as an essential aspect of languages. In this sense, we should not impose one specific accent which would result in students thinking that there's a "correct" way of pronouncing and the rest of them are "wrong". This must be practiced in vocabulary and phonetics activities, obviously. However, it is also necessary to show them some kind of "fixed" content, especially in grammar, so they can use it as a support for learning and passing the activities proposed.