Essay Example on An international language refers to a language in widespread Use

An international language refers to a language in widespread use as a foreign language or second language Richards et al 1992 p 234 Over the years the English language has reached a status of the international language and has played an important role around the world for economic education scientific and entertainment exchange between nations and particularly between people and commonly is characterized as a lingua franca According to Crystal 1997 today more people use English than has used any other language in the history of the world Additionally almost 380 million people have English as a first language but more than a billion people use it as a second language Even if people from different backgrounds such as cultural and linguistic meet they need to communicate using a particular language as the lingua franca English is now a world lingua franca used by people in almost every part of the world Graddol 2006 states that The English language finds itself at the center of the paradoxes which arise from globalization It provides the lingua franca essential to the deepening integration of global service based economies It facilitates transnational encounters and allows nations institutions and individuals in any part of the world to communicate their world view and identities Yet it is also the national language of some of the most free market economies driving economic globalization and is often seen as representing particular cultural economic and even religious values p 66 

There are many reasons of why English is an international language One of the major reasons is that because Britain is the leading industrial and trading country by the beginning of the nineteenth century English was the language of the leading economic power in the world Additionally there are major reasons for the initial spread of English such as colonialism speaker migration and new technology contributes to making English an international language McKay 2002 p 16 Moreover it is also used in new communication technologies such as the telegraph and telephone which used in international politics international industry and business It is also used in mass media such as newspaper and radio which used in technology and science and in education areas Therefore the most important factor in the spread of English is that it has been in the right place at the right time Throughout the history of English experts have proposed many models to try to classify English speakers Especially Kachru's model proposed in four decades ago Kachru 1986 identified three circles of English using nations Firstly he used the term Inner Circle IC to refer to countries where English is used as the primary language such as in the United States the United Kingdom Australia and Canada Secondly he used Outer Circle OC to refer to countries where English is used as a second language such as India and Singapore The last one is the Expanding Circle EC which is reserved for countries which English is learned as a foreign language such as in China Japan Korea and Egypt Kachru's model is valid in the sense of earlier history and politics the dynamic progress of English in the world and the roles and standards in current global interactions Kachru et al 1996 p 14 Last but not least there are many positive and negative aspects of English as an international language Firstly no doubt that English has reached the top position in the language hierarchy For example most of the scientific technological and academic production in the world today is performed in English 

Moreover thanks to using English people communicate with others in almost all countries all over the world The ability to speak English as the world's lingua franca creates opportunities to find jobs to travel and to entertain for people that have not available for those opportunities Additionally learning the English language gives an easy and direct access to the various fields of a very rich culture literature the arts the sciences the humanities Besides the positive aspects of it there are also negative aspects of English as an international language Especially the main concerns about the negative impact of English are closely related to the threat to other languages and or minority language endangerment Crystal 2003 Language is a part of every culture and upgrading English as the global lingua franca causes fear of loss of the cultural and social values of nations If everyone speaks only one language the other languages will disappear by degrees Then there would be no cultural diversity Furthermore the global dominance of English in domains such as internet advertisements commercials music and film leads to excessive use of English In conclusion English is evidently regarded as an international language because of its large number of native speakers It is one of the five most widely spoken mother tongues in the world today Additionally the position of English as a lingua franca is undeniable and it is believed to open doors that local languages do not Moreover English is growing as a strong language day by day and its future seems bright