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OrderToday English is spoken and heard everywhere. It is in advertisements, popular movies, songs, and business. This popularity of English makes a lot of people ask the question if English should become the official world language. I am sure that it should because of several important reasons. Firstly, there are a lot of English terms that are used in every sphere of life and it is impossible to communicate without them. Secondly, the dominance of English can be explained by numerous historic factors. Thirdly, most information in the Internet, works of arts, songs, etc. are in the English language. Plus, it is impossible to travel or become a prosperous person in general if one does not know this language. Although there are still a lot of people who do not know this language, its popularity and importance grow opening new perspectives for English and making it a global language recognizable all over the world.
The spread of language
There are several really important factors that really prove that English should become the official world language. First of all, it is necessary to stress that this language is the most widely spoken in the world. It is the first language or mother tongue of about four hundred million people who live in Great Britain, the United States of America, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa, and Ireland. Plus, this language is spoken as a second one by three hundred million people. The English language is studied by a lot of people around the world and it is done practically in each educational institution. In general, approximately 1.3 billion use English and this number is in increase everywhere (Hempel, 2010, p. 210). That is why it is no wonder that this language is called a global one and people discuss if it should become the official world language. It is already used for communication by people whose native tongue differs.
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Write My PaperIt should be noted that English has achieved the status of world language over a long period of time and it happened due to a great number of numerous reasons. For example, in the seventh century the English language was spread by settlers who were going from Great Britain to the United States and in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the expansion of the British Empire. Many centuries, which were part of the empire made English as their official language after independence. This avoided their having to choose between competing local languages (Boampong & Penova, 2010, p. 118). As an official language, English is generally used in government, the law, and public administration. In many institutions this language is already applied for communication and documentation. Some countries feel that applying this language provides them with a significant advantage in all international affairs. It is impossible to neglect the fact that military and political power of America has influenced the spread of English all over the world. Since the middle of the twentieth century the English language has been used as an official language of such international organizations as the United Nations (Boampong & Penova, 2010, p. 125).
Economic factors
Economic factors are also very significant and contribute to the spread of English all over the world. America and Great Britain are the major financial and business centers. These countries gave birth to a great number of multinational corporations. It means that the knowledge of English is extremely important if one is going to become a prosperous businessman and wants to achieve success in business in the countries where English is used for communication. This language is applied as the main foreign language for communication with clients in hotels and practically in any place where tourists come to.
Technology and telecommunication
Advances in technology and telecommunications have also helped to establish English as a global language. Numerous inventions that are important even for the contemporary people (for example, radio, car, telephone, electricity and others) were created in the United States or Great Britain. English also became the language for international communications in air traffic control and shipping (McKenzie, 2010, p. 306). It is necessary to take into consideration the fact that the majority of information in the Internet is also in English. That is why it is important to know it if one studies or works and needs to find and analyze information. Nowadays major computer systems and software developers are based in America. The language under consideration is also spread through leisure activities. It is known that the United States is the home of cinematography and that is why movies in English are shown all over the world. To understand what popular actors say, one also needs to master the English language.
Teaching of English
Great Britain and America have already invested a lot of money in English language teaching. The British council has offices worldwide. This helps to promote British culture and support the teaching of English. As for the United States, its Information Agency also has libraries and cultural programs in many countries. The English language broadcasts of BBC World Service, Voice of America and other services that are very popular among the public in different countries (Scollon, 2012, p. 56). They also broadcast study programs for English language learners. All this information means that English language teaching has turned into a growth industry. Various language schools and courses have been opened throughout the world. A lot of books have been already published to help people to learn English. They are in different languages and that is why available for everyone.
As an international language, English is still developing. It should be noted that people who speak English as a first or second language have their own variety of this language. Each of them is changing independently of other varieties. For example, there are a lot of differences between English, British, and American English. There are also distinctions between Australian, Indian, South African, and Jamaican English. As a rule, foreign learners of the English language study British or American English. It helps to understand at least something in all other varieties.
Some statistics
According to statistics, the English language has the largest vocabulary. There are about 500000 words and 300000 technical terms in this language (Hempel, 2010, p. 150). It is known that one person in seven in the world’s entire population knows English. Incredibly enough seventy-five percent of the world’s email and sixty percent of the world’s telephone calls are also in English. Even geographically English is the most widespread language on the Planet. It is second only to Mandarin Chinese in the number of people who use it. It remains the language of technology, sport, and aviation.
English in American culture
English is the language of the dominant American culture. A lot of advertisements, songs, and advertisements are in this language. It is also the language of books and newspapers. In fact, it is rather easy to explain the popularity of the English language – it is rather simple in comparison with other languages. That is why it is not very difficult to understand and learn it. The same cannot be told about, for example, German that has numerous inflections difficult to remember. The simplicity and popularity makes English the best language for becoming an official one worldwide. There are already a lot of preconditions for this. For instance, English is based on Latin alphabet that is also rather simple, understandable, and is known by many educated people. Plus, the number of letters in English alphabet is relatively small. There are only twenty-six letters.
The characteristics of the language also contribute to the possibility of its becoming a global one. English possesses no fusional, agglutinative or synthetic features. It is impossible to omit the fact that English has borrowed a great number of words from different other languages. That is why there are so many easy words for English language learners. English words continue to appear in other languages and it is rather fashionable to use this language for communication in different countries. English words are heard everywhere. Even if people in a country do not use it for everyday conversations, there are a lot of signboards and names of the companies in this language. It adds popularity and raises the rating of the company or enterprise.
Conclusion
To sum up, it is necessary to stress that English should become the official world language because of its popularity and widespread usage. It is simple and easy to remember. It does not have very difficult grammar. Moreover, a lot of information appears in this very language and it means that each intelligent person should master this language to get access to it. Even if one does not know English, he/she hears and sees this language everywhere around him/her. It means that this language has already integrated into every country and culture. All people in the world use terms from the English language and have to remember them. This concerns each sphere of life. The number of English language learners is increasing rapidly. That is why there is nothing strange in the fact that the issue if this language should become an official world language is highly debatable nowadays.
