Name : Khairun Nisa Simanjuntak

NIM : 22178011
Class : Applied Linguistic

ENGLISH AS A GLOBAL LANGUAGE

Why a global language?

Naturally, English is a global language in the worldview. We receive that

information from various programs on television and millions of viewers receive
or agree with that information. Plus, those who convey the information are
politicians from all over the world.

English is a global language, it is characterized by various signs

everywhere. We can see these signs and advertisements that are in English. In
particular, in the theme such as hotels, malls, restaurants, offices, airports,
stations, and others. And people who visit such a place understand about English.

English is also used when delivering a news story or at least a term in

English in various countries. It is inevitable, that every country in this world
recognizes Adaalh English as the official global language. If English was their
first language, they might have mixed feelings about the way English spread
around the world. They may feel proud, that their first language is a successful
one. However, on the other hand there is a sense of worry, when they realize that
people in other countries may not want to use language in the same way.

The consequence of being a global language is that no one owns it

anymore, because it already belongs to all of them. In other words, everyone can
use the language. Language is always in the news, and the closer a language
moves to becoming a global language, the more newsworthy it is. Like; political
differences over language economics, education, law, and human rights.

To be clear, everyone who has learned the language. In other words,

access to learn about it is everywhere. Facts may make some people feel
uncomfortable. And if English is not their first language, then they may still have
mixed feelings about it. Because, they are motivated to learn it, there is a feeling
of wanting to learn it and master the language. With it, they can communicate or
relate to more people. But, at the same time they require a lot of effort to master
them. Being able to master a global language is a great achievement. It is called
progress and enjoying the breadth of communicativeness that is possessed.

What is a global language?

A language that has achieved an all-round or global status. A global

language that has caused a special role development effect and has been
recognized by all countries. The language never spoken by the majority of mother
tongues in the country is Spanish. So the use of the mother tongue by itself cannot
give the language global status. To achieve status, the language must be taken by
other countries around the world. They should decide to give it a special place in
their community, although they may have speakers of the mother tongue.

Language can be used as the official language of a country, to be used as a

medium of communication in government, legal courts, media, and education
systems. It is important to master the official language at a young age and be
useful in future life.

The role of official languages today, is best illustrated by English which

has special status in seventy countries, such as Ghana, Nigeria, India, Singapore,
and Vanuatu. This is far more than the status achieved by other languages, such as
French, German, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic are among the countries that have
developed the use of official languages. Languages can be made a priority in the
teaching of foreign languages in a country, even if they do not have official status.
It will be a language that has the possibility of being taught to children when they
arrive at school.

Resources will be allocated to assisting individuals in accessing and

learning the language through the media, libraries, schools, and institutions of
higher education in a supportive atmosphere. The number and caliber of teachers
qualified to instruct in the language will rise. There will be an increase in the
availability of books, tapes, computers, telecommunications systems, and various
other instructional aids. However, in many nations, a lack of official backing or a
dearth of foreign money has made it difficult to meet language education
objectives.

What makes a global language?

The number of speakers of a language has minimal bearing on whether it

becomes a universal tongue. It has a lot more to do with the speakers themselves.
However, this was not because the Romans outnumbered the peoples they
conquered; rather, Latin spread throughout the Roman Empire. Simply put, they
had more strength. Latin continued to be the primary language of instruction over
the world for a millennium after Roman military strength waned.

This statement may seem self-evident, but it must be expressed because

over time, many false and popular notions about the factors that influence the
success of a language have developed. People frequently exclaim that a language
is a paragon because of its alleged aesthetic merits, expressivity, literary force, or
religious stature.

This is not meant to imply that a language can't possess particular traits
that make it desirable on a global scale. Because English has accumulated
hundreds of new terms from the languages it has interacted with over the
centuries, students occasionally comment on the "familiarity" of English
vocabulary. English has a cosmopolitan aspect, which many people view as an
asset for a global language, in contrast to certain languages that have attempted to
keep foreign vocabulary out.

Why do we need a global language?

On the international, interpreters were always present when monarchs or

ambassadors met. But what can be accomplished in this manner has its
limitations. A community can rely less on individuals to facilitate communication
between various groups. Bilingualism is a viable option in settings where only
two or three languages are spoken, because most of young children can pick up
additional languages with ease. But such a natural answer does not easily apply in
places where multiple languages are in contact, such as in much of Africa and
South-east Asia.
 Finding a language to serve as a lingua franca has provided a solution to
the issue. Communities may use a simplified language to communicate when they
start trading with one another. the combination of their various languages is
referred to as a pidgin. Many of these pidgin languages still exist today in areas
that were historically colonized by European countries and serve as lingua franca.
For instance, West African Pidgin English is widely spoken by a number of ethnic
groups along the coast of West Africa.

An organization's activities are typically conducted in a small number of

official languages; for instance, the UN was founded with five official languages:
English, French, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese. The idea that it makes sense to
try to cut down on the number of languages used in world organizations is now
widely accepted, if only to lessen the enormous amount of clerical and
interpretation/translation work needed. Costs associated with translation might
easily consume half of an international organization's budget.

If only a few nations were communicating with one another, these

tendencies most likely would be occurring. The advances that have occurred since
the 1950s are impressive since they have influenced every nation in the world to
some degree and have drawn in such a large number of nations. No country today
lacks some degree of accessibility by telephone, radio, television, and air travel,
while services like fax, electronic mail, and the Internet are considerably less
common.

What are the dangers of a global language?

1. Linguistic power

When compared to people who must study a global language as an official

or foreign language, individuals who speak it as their mother tongue
naturally hold positions of authority. There is unquestionably a risk. It is
feasible, for instance, that scientists who do not speak English as their first
language will take longer than their colleagues who do to assimilate
reports written in English and will, as a result, have less time to complete
their own creative work. People who present their study in a language
 other than English run the risk of having their work disregarded by a
global audience.

2. Linguistic complacency

A universal tongue takes away adults' incentives to study additional

languages. The issue is also legitimately present here. Common
observation says that the archetypal British or American tourist who
travels the world believing that everyone speaks English and that it is
somehow the fault of the locals if they do not already exhibits clear
indicators of linguistic complacency.

3. Linguistic death

First, a broad perspective needs to be established. Language domination

and loss processes are well-known throughout the history of linguistics
and exist independently of the establishment of a universal tongue. Since
humans first learned to communicate, thousands of languages must have
perished, yet no one is sure how many. Many of these deaths were brought
on by an ethnic minority assimilating into a more dominant civilization
and taking on that society's language.

Could anything stop a global language?

Any notion of a rising global tongue must be viewed within the larger
political framework of global governance. If political and economic power play a
role in linguistic supremacy, a shift in the balance of global power may have an
impact on the adoption of a universal tongue. A future in which Chinese, Arabic,
or perhaps another alien tongue becomes the universal language after some
catastrophic event is predicted in a number of literature, mostly in the science
fiction genre. But for such a scenario to occur, the revolution would need to be
apocalyptic, and rational speculation is tough.

In a generation or two, it's possible that individuals may regularly converse

with each other directly in their original languages while a computer takes the
strain between them if this field continues to advance at the same quick rate it has
over the past ten years.
 Real-time automatic translation will unquestionably become much more
accurate and quick. But it will take a lot longer for this medium to become
economically and globally accessible to everyone, endangering the existing
availability and appeal of a universal language. And all the evidence points to a
strengthening of English's position as a world language throughout this time.

A Critical Era

The emergence of global language scenarios is unpredictable in its

incredible speed. It was proved in one time, the language has moved away from a
situation in which the language of the world is already a real theory. The language
of identity needs to be maintained. The emerging global language is widely
regarded as the language of opportunity. The principle demands enormous
resources. The irony is that this problem arises at a time when the world's
financial climate is unstable.

In the history of linguistics , the decision to keep in mind is that we are

approaching a critical moment. It is possible that the global language will appear
only once. Once language is formed, it takes a revolution to replace it with an
unprecedented scope to replace a deep-rooted language.

English is as the language of the world. In such a large part of the country
as the Soviet Union, English still has a very limited presence. While in some
countries, there is an increase in resources devoted to maintaining the role of other
languages. Such as the use of French in some countries in Africa.

Therefore, if governments want to carry out their duties in influencing the

future of world linguistics, they must reflect carefully. Because they make
political decisions and allocate resources for language planning. In the history of
linguistics, they need to adopt a long-term view to plan ahead. Whether the goal is
to promote English or to develop the use of other languages in their community.
 ENGLISH IN THE WORLD

English has been chosen to represent the five billion people who call the
world home. Therefore, my goal in writing this book has been to look for
perspectives on how English fits into the world that would enable me and other
instructors to view our work in a new way. Nevertheless, this initiative covers a
wide range of topics, including postcolonialism, linguistics, and international
relations.

English has been chosen to represent the five billion people who call the
world home. Therefore, my goal in writing this book has been to look for
perspectives on how English fits into the world that would enable me and other
instructors to view our work in a new way. There are two main themes despite the
fact that this project covers a wide range of topics, including linguistics, colonial
history, and postcolonial literature. In the first, I elaborate on my concerns with
the constraints I perceive in the prevalent conceptions of English language
instruction in applied linguistics, which I have referred to as the discourse of
English as an International Language.

The Natural, Neutral And Beneficial Spread Of English

English has been chosen to represent the five billion people who call the
world home. Therefore, my goal in writing this book has been to look for
perspectives on how English fits into the world that would enable me and other
instructors to view our work in a new way. There are two main themes despite the
fact that this project covers a wide range of topics, including linguistics, colonial
history, and postcolonial literature.

In all six continents, it either predominates or is well established. It is the

primary language used in publications like books, newspapers, airports and air
traffic control, conferences held abroad by businesses and academics, science,
technology, and diplomacy, as well as in fields like sports, international contests,
pop music, and advertising. In the world, English is the primary language used by
scientists. English is the language used in nearly all international mail. Over 80%
of the data saved in the world's electronic retrieval systems is in the English
language.
The Discourse of ElL

According to a functionalist viewpoint not dissimilar to Hindmarsh's belief

that the world has chosen English because it knows what it wants, the reasons and
repercussions of this spread are rarely examined. The spread of English is viewed
as neutral, good, and natural. Although there may be some criticism of the
colonial imposition of English, its subsequent expansion is understood as the
outcome of unavoidable global factors, and therefore is considered natural.

Assuming that English has, in some ways, removed itself from its initial
cultural surroundings, it is now viewed as a neutral and transparent means of
communication. Many former British colonies in the New World now recognize
the value of English as a global language of communication as well as a language
of trade, science, and technology.

The fundamental question under discussion is whether or not attempts

should be made to uphold a single standard of English or if the various dialects
should be recognized as genuine forms in their own right. Many individuals who
are more closely involved in teaching English as a second language appear to
share this belief that the spread of English is natural, neutral, and advantageous.

Academic work that neglects to address a much wider range of concerns

that can stimulate a reassessment of our position as English language teachers in
the world has not served the majority of individuals in English language teaching
well. However, this is not shocking given that the narrative surrounding English
as an international language centers around the idea that the spread of English is
natural, neutral, and advantageous.

The Social, Cultural And Political Contexts Of English

According to Giroux (1983), the positivist culture that predominated at the

time made it possible to analyze only issues pertaining to the effectiveness of
teaching and learning, rather than issues like how effectively schools served as
agents of social and cultural reproduction in a society characterized by significant
disparities in privilege, power, and wealth.
 A wide range of social, historical, cultural, and political relationships are
sorely absent in the prevalent paradigm of research into English as an
international language. First, when people and nations appear to freely choose to
use English, there is a failure to problematize the idea of choice, leading to the
assumption that they are somehow free of economic, political, and ideological
restraints. A belief in the organic expansion of English is made possible by this
unwillingness to examine international interactions seriously.

Second, a structuralist and positivist view of language contends that all

languages are capable of existing independently of political and cultural
influences. This view, in particular, holds that due to its role as an international
language, English is even more neutral than other languages. The third, there is an
understanding of international relations that holds that people and nations are free
to interact with one another on an equal footing; as a result, it stands to reason that
English usage will be advantageous.

Many authors have noted that the introduction of English has had a far
wider range of cultural and political repercussions. Because of its extensive use
and status as a language of prestige and power in many nations, it poses a threat to
other languages and serves as a key barrier to social and economic advancement.
Its application in certain fields, particularly the professional one, may exacerbate
existing power dynamics and make these fields more inaccessible to a wide range
of individuals. Due to its location, it also serves as a global gatekeeper, controlling
the flow of people across borders.

It is strongly related to the international forms of culture and knowledge

that predominate in the world, both national and increasingly non-national.
Additionally, it is linked to features of international relations including the rise of
capitalism, assistance for developing nations, and the predominance of North
American media in particular.

Linguistic Genocide

To raise awareness of the ethical and political ramifications of English

instruction globally, particularly in light of the harm it poses to native languages
and its function as a barrier to advancement in many nations. English is a danger
to other languages first and foremost. This phenomenon is known as linguistic
genocide.

Social And Economic Prestige

The extent to which English serves as a society's gatekeeper for

prestigious positions is the second important point brought up here. Due to
English's prominence in so many educational systems around the world, it has
emerged as one of the most effective ways to be included in or excluded from
higher education, the workforce, or social positions.

The historical legacy of colonialism and the varying success of nations

after independence to fend off the challenges of neocolonialism are both apparent
causes of the degree to which English is involved in the political, educational,
social, and economic life of a country.

Professional Distance

The impact English has within particular domains is another aspect of

English's globalization. Maher (1986), for instance, who studied the emergence of
English as a global medical language, discovered that the dissemination and
exchange of medical knowledge in English had evolved into both a transnational
and intranational phenomenon, with the result that 'information is being regularly
published in English for domestic consumption in countries such as Germany,
Japan, and France.

Such observations begin to demonstrate that the impacts of the expansion

of English extend beyond schooling and other systems and organizations, and
have implications for interactions at several locations in various societies, in
addition to the fact that these effects may be observed on a broad scale.

Popular Culture And Academic Knowledge

Although historically there has been a strong connection between English

and British cultural forms as well as the cultures of a wider range of English-
speaking nations, it may be the connections between English and various forms of
culture and knowledge that are less easily localized that are more significant
today. The predominance of English in popular culture, international academic
interactions, and other types of international information flow is crucial in this
regard.

The dominance of English in global academic relations has significant

repercussions. A sizable share of textbooks published worldwide are in English
and created for either a domestic English-speaking market or a global market. In
both situations, students from all over the world are reliant on Western forms of
knowledge that are extremely inappropriate to the local context and of limited
value, in addition to being required to achieve a high degree of proficiency in
English in order to continue their studies.

International Capitalism

Several authors have made parallels between the spread of English and
broader problems in international affairs. The spread of English "went
simultaneous with the spread of the culture of international commerce and
technological standards," according to Ndebele (1987, p. 4). According to
Naysmith (1987), the process by which one region of the world has come to be
politically, economically, and culturally dominated by another includes English
language education.

He contends that the "central place the English language has taken as the
language of international capitalism" is the fundamental aspect of this process. A
position like this, which contends that English is a crucial component of the
world's dependence structures, has been thoroughly investigated.

The Worldliness Of English

The discussion in the previous section demonstrated how English is linked

to social and economic disparities that exist within and between nations as well as
how it is associated with different forms of culture and knowledge that are
becoming more prevalent globally, but it still leaves us with some unanswered
questions about what "connected to" and "bound up with" actually mean. How can
the links between language and social, economic, cultural, political, and historical
circumstances be made more obvious.
The Language Myth

The very position of the idea of a language is the first significant issue
worth bringing up. Unfortunately, this query is rarely posed, and when it is, it is
rarely explored sufficiently. Lyons (1981) proposes that there is a problem with
the myth of complete, homogenous languages after analyzing alternative
definitions of language. However, he asserts that if we carry this questioning to its
logical conclusion, we arrive at a position that accepts only difference. In the end,
we should be forced to acknowledge that each person speaks their unique dialect.

Discourse and Dialogue

The concepts of dialogue and discourse found in the works of Bakhtin and
Foucault are helpful in this situation. Bakhtin believes that it is crucial to
comprehend language and metalanguage (linguistics) as unique to their respective
social, cultural, and political contexts.

Discourses are knowledge connections that are ingrained in social

structures and practices. In our language use and the development of our
subjectivities, they are ways of structuring meaning that are both reflected and
produced. Notably, the emphasis in this poststructuralist understanding of
discourse is on observing historically how effects of truth are formed inside
discourses that are neither true nor false in and of themselves.

The significance of the language being English, then, is not so much a

matter of trying to determine what syntactical or phonological norms and
divergences occur as English spreads across the globe as a language, but rather a
matter of considering how using English implies certain relationships to certain
discourses.

English is more globally and locally oriented than other languages, which
suggests various links to the local and global contexts. There are unavoidably
problems to be raised here about language and inequality given the prevalence of
English in the world and its links to unequal economic systems as well as the
predominance of particular forms of culture and knowledge.