English Worldwide: Practice 4.

Read the text and answer the following questions

About one hundred years ago many educated people learned and spoke French when they met people from other countries. Today most people speak English when they meet foreigners. It has become the new international language. There are more people who speak English as a second language than people who speak English as a first language. Why is this?

There are many reasons why English has become so popular. One of them is that English has become the language of business. Another important reason is that popular American culture (like movies, music, and McDonald's) has quickly spread throughout the world. It has brought its language with it.

Is it good that English has spread to all parts of the world so quickly? I don't know. It's important to have a language that the people of the earth have in common. Our world has become very global and we need to communicate with one another. On the other hand, English is a fairly complicated language to learn and it brings its culture with it. Do we really need that?

Scientists have already tried to create an artificial language that isn't too difficult and doesn't include any one group's culture. It is called Esperanto. But it hasn't become popular. But maybe the popularity of English won't last that long either. Who knows? There are more people in the world who speak Chinese than any other language. Maybe someday Chinese will be the new international language.

Questions

1. What was the world language 100 years ago?

2. Which group is larger- people who speak English as a first language or people who speak English as a second language?

3. What are two reasons English has become an international language today? 

4. What are two reasons English isn't a good international language?

5. What is Esperanto?

6. What might the future international language be?

English Worldwide: Practice 3.

What do you remember about English as a global language? Try the quiz below:

1. Which is the world’s most widely spoken language?

2. How many people speak English as a first language (mother tongue) worldwide?

3. In which countries is English used as a mother tongue? And what is a mother tongue?

4. In which countries is English used as a second language? What do you consider it is a second language?

5. In which fields of work is English a dominant language?

6. What is a lingua franca?

7. If people cannot communicate by using a common language, they tend to use body language. What are the disadvantages of using body language?

Check this website in order to help you to answer the quiz:

http://www.englishenglish.com/english_facts_2.htm#

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-elt-future.pdf

http://www.aila.info/download/publications/review/AILA13.pdf

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-research-english-next.pdf

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=eng

English Worldwide: Practice 2.

Complete the text with the correct answers.

English is often used as a ______________ when we have to communicate with people with a different native language. Today, we have many _____________ of English, one example is Japlish. People from Singapore speak _______________. English has spread to all corners of the world because of the _______________. In this way it has become a ___________ language. 80% of the texts on the ____________ are published in English. Moreover, English is used in many professions, for instance within ___________. Due to cultural differences, ______________ cannot be trusted. In Norway, English is used as an _______________ language, whereas in India it is a ________________. When English is used as a second language, it means that it is used within business and ______________ matters. A _________________ is the first language learned as a child. ______________ is a country where English is used as a first language. There are more speakers of _______________ that of English. _____________ means Received Pronunciation. That is the English spoken by the ________________.

English Worldwide: Practice 1.

Watch the video and answer the following question:

Global English with David Crystal

According to Crystal, why is English a global language?