English as a global language Essay

Crystal begin â€Å" English as a Global Language† by asking what means for a language to be global ,and what the advantages and disadvantages of having a global language. There is no official definition of â€Å"global† or â€Å"world† language, but it essentially refers to a language that is learned and spoken internationally, and is characterized not onlty by number of its native and second language speakers, but also by its geographical distribution, and its use in international organizations and in diplomatic relations. A global language acts as a lingua franca a common language that enables people from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities to communicate on a more or less equitable basis. Why a language became a global language is because of the power of the people who speak it . It’s nothing to do with the structure of the language it’s nothing about English grammar or vocabulary or pronunciation, your spelling, that makes English an appealing language at a global level. In fact if we think about English spelling would put most people off, so it’s nothing to do with the structure of language, no it’s all to do with power. But power means different things to different times. English first became international because of Political Power, Military power the British Empire. It is not just political that takes a language around the world economy and other factors too. In sixteenth- seventeenth century we had the power of Science and technology, Industrial Revolution and English the language of science. But there was another important power in those times apart from science, technology and industry, it was the media, the media are the center of everyone’s life. English was the first language that been transmitted by radio in USA on Christmas EVE 1906. In the cinema industry, when sounds where add to the images in the late 1920s, it was the English language which suddenly came to dominate the movie word. The recorded industry was the other entertained industry which emerged 19 century all recording of pop music had English language origins.