Globalization and the English language

Did you realize that more than 1 billion people in the world now speak English? According to a report entitled “English Next” by language researcher David Graddol, “… two billion people [will] be speaking or learning English in a decade. ” [1]

English is everywhere. The Economist says: “[English] it is the language of globalization, international business, politics … It is the language of computers and the Internet … it is the dominant international language of communications, science, aviation, entertainment, radio and diplomacy … ” [2]

“English … is an important tool for operating on the world stage,” says John Whitehead, director of the British Council. The ability to speak and understand English is required in certain fields, professions, and occupations. In fact, English is so widely spoken that it is known as “lingua franca”. [3] of the modern era.

However, with the millions of native speakers competing for jobs in the global marketplace, how likely are ESL (English as a Second Language) speakers to compete? ESL students are encouraged. As the Graddol report demonstrates, the global spread of English … will lead to serious economic and political disadvantage in the future … A future in which monolingual English graduates face bleak economic prospects as qualified multilingual youth prove to have a competitive advantage in global companies and organizations.

Since English has acquired its worldwide reputation due, in large part, to globalized power relations, those companies and governments employing well-trained non-native speakers for their international business communication needs will obviously see the advantage of hiring non-native speakers. of the English language with multilingual talents.