the future of English
...making it a hybrid language which can rapidly evolve to meet new cultural and communicative needs.”(David Graddol, 2000) Economics: one of major factors in the spread of English is the growth of commerce throughout the world, and in particular, “the rise of the US as a superpower that has spread the English language alongside its economic, technological and cultural influence.”(David Graddol, 2000) Travel: much travel and tourism around the world are carried on, in English. Most airports on the world will show signs, instructions and directions not only in the language of that country, but also in English. Many airline announcements are presented in English too.(Martin East,2004) English is also the preferred language of air traffic control in many countries and is used widely in “seaspeak”. Information exchange: a great number of international organizations and conferences are using English as working language. Furthermore, the Internet, as a major channel for information communication, has also influenced the position of English. Popular culture: in the western world, English is a dominating language in popular culture.(e.g. film, TV, Pop music, etc.) The position of English as the most important world language can not be overlooked. “It is learned by an ever-increasing number of people, children and adults, throughout the world.” (Graddol, 1998. Naisbitt & Aburdene, 1990) The place of other languages: Although English is the most important language in the modern society, people have noticed the importance of the languages other than English too. As David Grabbol acknowledged the likelihood that, by 2020, two-third of people around the world cannot communicate in English. Consequently, speaking other languages provides more opportunities for people than those who only speak English or any other. Alongside the trend towards globalization, the trend towards localization as well. “These native speakers live in countries, which the dominant culture is based around English. These countries, however, are experiencing increasing linguistic diversity as a result of immigration.”(David Grabbol, 1997) Culture and linguistic diversity is a feature of most countries today. Within multilingual societies, people from different culture backgrounds are asserting their own languages’ existence in a “cultural and linguistic renaissance.” (Naisbitt, 1982) The loss of language means the loss of culture. At the beginning of the Internet age, English played a vital role. However, according to a recent statistic, "There are approximately 172 million English speakers and 163 million non-English speakers online" (Global Reach), that means nearly half of we...