english has become the main language of

In the modern world, language change is often socially problematic. Long before divergent dialects lose mutual intelligibility completely, they begin to show difficulties and inefficiencies in communication, especially under noisy or stressful conditions. Also, as people observe language change, they usually react negatively, feeling that the One of the biggest disadvantages of adopting English language as the primary language for global business transaction is loss of cultural diversity. It is a threat to any organizational cultures and values hence, being threat to the overall country. This is because, when organizations used English as the primary language, they forget certain Regardless of the many languages one is fortunate to be fluent in, English takes its place as one of the world's predominant forms of communication with its influences extending over as much as +2 billion people globally. Quirks and inconsistencies aside, the history surrounding its monumental rise is both a fascinating and rich one, and while we Vay Tiền Online Cấp Tốc 24 24. Five hundred years ago, between five and seven million people spoke English, almost all of them living in the British Isles. Now, anywhere up to billion people around the world speak English, it’s no wonder why so many students choose to study English abroad! How did this happen? The growth of English has nothing to do with the structure of the language, or any inherent qualities, and everything to do with politics. The British Empire After developing for almost a millennium on the British Isles, English was taken around the world by the sailors, soldiers, pilgrims, traders and missionaries of the British Empire. By the time anything resembling a language policy was introduced, English had already reached all corners of the globe. For example, English-speaking puritans were not the only Europeans to arrive in North America Spanish, French, Dutch and German were also widely spoken. All of the languages were reinforced by waves of immigration from Europe in the following centuries. But in the process of designing a “United” States, the USA’s founders knew the importance of language for national identity. English was the majority language and had to be encouraged. As recently as the start of the 20th Century, several states banned the teaching of foreign languages in private schools and homes. The Supreme Court only struck down restrictions on private language education in 1923. Even today, English is not the official language of the USA, but there is no question that it is the dominant language in practice. And it wasn’t just America that said “hello” to English. At one point in the early twentieth century, the British Empire expanded across almost a quarter of the world’s surface, not including the USA. According to a popular saying, “the sun never set on the British Empire”. Nowadays, the sun has set on the empire, but English remains an important language in every single former colony. Gone but not forgotten In most of the British Empire, the main goal was trade so fewer Britons actually settled. This explains why English did not come to dominate colonies in Asia and Africa, where it was the language of business, administration and education, but not the language of the people. To this day, English has a key administrative role in these former colonies. For a long time, access to English meant access to education, whether in the mission schools in Africa or the first universities in India. This created an English-speaking elite in some of the world’s most populous countries, and elites are good at self-preservation. Post-independence, many countries became officially multilingual for the first time, but the various groups needed a language for communication with each other and with other nations. Again, that was English. English is now the dominant or official language in 75 territories a direct legacy of the British Empire. In countries where large settler colonies were formed, such as Australia, Canada and the USA, native languages and cultures have been pushed to near-extinction by the presence of English. It was not the first language of European colonialism; Portuguese and Dutch left the continent earlier. And, as recently as the 19th century, English wasn’t the world’s lingua franca as the term suggests, French was the number one language of international communication. So something must have happened more recently to give the language its unique international status. Without the rise of the USA in the 20th Century, the world’s language landscape would look very different. Two world wars and the rise of the USA While Europe was rebuilding in the years after 1945, the USA boomed. American businesses picked up where the British East India Company had left off centuries before, taking English around the world as a language of trade. The influence of American business, combined with the tradition of English left around the world by the British Empire, have made English the number one language of international trade in the 21st Century. All of the world’s top business schools now teach in English. English is now the most spoken foreign language in 19 of the 25 EU Member States where it is not an official language. The 6 states where English is not number one also show the importance of politics in language policy Russian is the most spoken foreign language in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia; Croatian the most commonly spoken in Slovenia; and Czech the most spoken in Slovakia. But the cultural legacy of the post-war decades is also very important to the growth of English as a world language. As well as sending money across the Atlantic, the USA provided the soundtrack through rock and roll, jazz and, later, disco and hip hop. Hollywood movies became global sensations and American television series became cultural reference points. American culture was everywhere, radiating confidence and success; just the things for a world that had been ravaged by war. It wasn’t just American music that brought English into the world’s discotheques and homes. British bands including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Queen, Pink Floyd, the Police or Led Zeppelin ensured that Britannia ruled the airwaves, if not the waves. The hippy movement came from San Francisco and London. Music festivals including the Isle of Wight and Woodstock became iconic for a whole generation, whether English speakers or not. This “soft power” continues today… English is “cool” Advertisers pride themselves on riding the cultural zeitgeist; creating consumer desire through making products sexy. One of the ways they do this is through using English words. Check out Der Spiegel’s German examples, French ones, and La Repubblica’s Italian ones. Many examples of English in advertising come from multinational companies, who wish to keep their message consistent across markets, but some examples are local firms looking for that elusive element of glamour that English can bring. Of course, this happens in English too haute couture and Eau de Toilette sound much sexier untranslated. Bands release their work in English to reach the largest possible audience. Film-makers too. This invisible pressure to produce creative works in English adds to the cultural momentum the language developed in the second half of the Twentieth Century. The style-conscious language of extreme sports is English snowboarders ollie, fakie and rodeo whether they are Canadian, Swiss or Japanese. The word “cool” itself has been assimilated into various languages. Science & Technology The global power of the USA coincided with the birth of popular computing, and English is the language of the technological revolution and the internet. Consider a keyboard for example; they are designed for Latin characters, so speakers of Asian languages particularly use complicated techniques to enter words. What happens inside the devices is also dominated by English. The USA remains the most innovative technological nation and, because of the language policy of the nation’s founders, English is the dominant language. Pull not push Apart from the efforts of some early colonisers, hundreds of years ago, the success of English has more to do with “pull” than “push”. People in British colonies who wanted an education would receive that education in English. Artists who want to reach the largest audience for their work can do that in English. If you want to trade internationally, you will need to speak English. And you don’t have to speak English to have a successful career, but it certainly helps. Will English remain number one? Some people suggest that English has become ubiquitous because it is “easy to learn” or especially flexible, but a glance backwards suggests that this is irrelevant. Despite a devilishly complex case system, Latin was Europe’s most influential language for over a thousand years and its descendents are still going strong. People learned Latin then for the same reasons they learn English now to get ahead in life and have access to knowledge. Yet now Latin is only spoken by priests and scholars. Languages and borders change over time, but English is likely to remain the world’s number one language during our lifetimes. In today’s world, English is the most spoken language. We think of it as a symbol of global communication and how we are all connected to one another, but there are many different reasons why English became so this blog post, we’re going to take a look at the history of the English language and how it has become the global language that it is Language The History!We can trace the origins of the English language back to around 450 AD when the Angles and Saxons invaded Britain. These Germanic tribes brought their own language with them, which eventually evolved into what we now call Old English was a very different language from Modern English - it was more like Dutch or German and would be almost unrecognizable to us today. However, it did lay the foundation for the language that we speak today. Over the centuries, the English language has been influenced by a number of other languages, including Latin, French, Dutch, and more. These influences have helped to shape English into the rich and varied vocabulary that it is of the most significant periods in the history of the English language was the Renaissance, which took place between the 14th and 17th centuries. This was a time of outstanding artistic and intellectual achievement and saw a revival in the study of classical languages such as Latin and Greek. At this time, many new words were borrowed from Latin and Greek and began to be used in English. This helped to form the basis of Modern English language continued to evolve over the centuries, and by the 18th century, it had become the dominant language of the world. This was primarily due to the British Empire, which at its height covered a quarter of the globe. As a result of the British Empire, English became the language of commerce, science, and politics and was adopted by many other countries as their official language. Today, English is spoken by around billion people around the world, making it the most widely-spoken language in the English Became The Global Language?There are a number of reasons why English became the global language. Let’s go through a few of them now1. The British EmpireAs we mentioned above, one of the main reasons for the English’s global dominance was the British Empire. At its height, the British Empire was the largest empire in history and covered a quarter of the globe. English became the language of commerce, science, and politics as a result of the British Empire, and it was adopted as the official language of many other countries. This aided in the globalization of English, allowing it to become the worldwide language that it is The InternetThe internet has also played a significant role in the spread of English. With more and more people using the internet to communicate and do business, English has become the language of the internet. This has helped to make English even more widespread and has made it easier for people from all over the world to communicate with each American CultureAmerican culture is also a major reason why English is the global language. American films, TV shows, music, and books are hugely popular worldwide and have helped make English the international language of choice. In addition, American English is considered to be the standard for English pronunciation and grammar, so many people learn English mainly from American Easier Than Various Other LanguagesOne of the main reasons English has become the global language is that it is relatively easy to learn. English has a simple grammar system and a small number of irregular verbs, which makes it much easier to learn than other languages such as French or Spanish. This has helped to make English the most popular language for learning and has contributed to its status as the global English is the Language of BusinessEnglish is the global language because it is the language of business. English is the official language of many international organizations, such as the United Nations, NATO, and the European Union. In addition, most international business transactions are conducted in English, so it is essential for anyone doing business internationally to be able to speak English is the Language of EducationAnother reason for English’s global dominance is that it is the language of education. English is the language of instruction in schools and universities in many countries. This helps to spread English around the world and ensures that more and more people are able to speak the GlobalizationFinally, we can’t underestimate the role of globalization in making English the global language. In a globalized world, more and more people are learning English to communicate with others and do business. This has helped to make English the most widely-spoken language in the world and has cemented its position as the global language of there you have it! These are just a few of the reasons why English became the global language. It’s a complex issue, and there are undoubtedly many other factors that have contributed to its success. But whatever the reasons, it’s clear that English is here to stay! Valeria Ramírez-Castañeda, a UC Berkeley graduate student from Colombia. While English facilitates discussion of science across borders, she argues, its dominance excludes from the field many people from non-English speaking countries — in particular, the global south. She is shown here on Bahía Málaga in Colombia’s Valle del Cauca. Photo courtesy of Valeria Ramírez-Castañeda English has become the de facto language of science International conferences are held in English, the world’s top scientific journals are in English and academics in non-English speaking countries get promoted based on their publications in English language journals. Even scientific jargon is in English — most non-English speakers use English terms and don’t bother inventing equivalent words in their native languages. Yet, for much of the world — in particular, the global south, where English is not a common second language — English limits entry into the the world of science and limits public access to scientific results, even when they pertain to a person’s own country. Valeria Ramírez-Castañeda, a graduate student in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, encountered this firsthand when she began writing her master’s thesis at the University of Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia, her native country. While she was one of the lucky ones — growing up in Bogota, her mother had the foresight to insist she take Saturday English classes — she found it impossible to write in English. To her, Spanish felt natural, not English. “When I was writing the thesis, a lot of people told me, Just write it in English.’ And I couldn’t. It was too difficult to write it in English,” she said. “I was like, No, I have already enough pressure to finish this on time, and it is already difficult to write science — so, I am going to write it in Spanish.’” But she also wanted to submit it to a scientific journal, which requires that she translate her thesis — about how snakes adapt to eating poisonous frogs — into English. “Since then, I haven’t published that paper. I am still working on that,” she admitted. “I felt that English was kind of a handicap for me just to advance, to progress in research.” Her introduction to the “language hegemony in scientific publishing,” as she calls it, led her to ask other Colombian doctoral students about the impact this has had on their careers. The results of her survey, published last month in the journal PLOS ONE, document the negative consequences of English dominance in science. She found that more than 90% of articles published by Colombian researchers are in English, and that this has created financial burdens. More than 40% of those she surveyed reported that one of their papers had been rejected because of English grammar, forcing them to pay for a native English speaker to review the manuscript or ask a favor of an English-speaking friend. Translation and editing services charge between one-quarter and one-half of a typical doctoral student’s monthly salary in Colombia, she found. Among of the study’s findings were that the Colombian scientists surveyed had higher anxiety when presenting their research in English, and that one-third avoided giving oral presentations at meetings because of language issues. Click on the image to see a summary of other survey results. UC Berkeley image courtesy of Valeria Ramírez-Castañeda Fully one-third of the 49 respondents, recruited through Twitter with the hashtag CienciaCriolla, used between Colombian researchers, reported that they had elected to not attend a scientific conference or meeting because of the requirement that oral presentations be in English. “When I published this on bioRxiv and tweeted, a lot of people started writing to me with very emotional things like, I left science because of English,’ I cannot graduate with a master’s thesis because of English,’ I thought about studying abroad, but then I had the interview and I froze because of English,’ and I couldn’t do it.’ Super difficult things,” said Ramírez-Castañeda. “People are leaving science because of English. It is not something that is isolated.” She found, too, that colleagues with high English proficiency were more likely to have backgrounds higher on the socioeconomic ladder. In Colombia, as in the socioeconomic status is correlated with race. “Now that we in the are speaking about the Black community, in many places, including Colombia, race means socioeconomic differences, poverty,” she said. “We don’t see a lot of Black scientists from Colombia, not only because being from a political minority and being a scientist is difficult, but also because of English. At the end, it is another layer to the difficulty, and we are not talking about it. That is the thing that worries me the most, that it is something that is super-quiet and silent, as if if didn’t exist.” Even for citizens, English can be a barrier Poor English skills are even an issue for those raised in the said José Pablo Vázquez-Medina, an assistant professor of integrative biology who came to UC Berkeley three years ago. José Pablo Vázquez-Medina with his lab colleagues. He studies the physiology of sea mammals, in particular how they are able to dive for long periods of time without suffering oxygen deprivation. He says that some Latinx students have problems writing English, which hinders their participation in science. UC Berkeley photo courtesy of José Pablo Vázquez-Medina “I have friends who are Latinos, but born and raised in the They send in a paper, and they are asked to run it by a native speaker,” he said. “With students who have come from disadvantaged backgrounds, you can see that in how they write. I see it as another hurdle.” He ascribes this to poor schools that fail to teach English to students from non-English speaking families. “That comes back to segregation. Where you live is where you go to school, and if you live in a rich neighborhood, you go to a school with resources; if you live in a poor neighborhood, you go to a school with less resources,” he said. “Without fixing that problem, I don’t see us making a lot of impact.” Growing up in San Luis Potosi in Mexico, Vázquez-Medina had access to some English education. His parents were teachers. But he still has flashbacks about the writing suggestions of mentors and friends, most of them offered graciously, he said. “I remember my very first paper. I wrote it in Spanish, and I translated it into English. It was horrible,” said Vázquez-Medina, who obtained his undergraduate degree from the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur in La Paz. Luckily, a coauthor on the paper made helpful comments. “It is definitely a barrier when you want to move up and go to grad school. Even if you go to grad school in Mexico, you have to publish papers in English.” Vázquez-Medina benefitted from working with a mentor who had studied in Canada and the and provided English tips. This mentor also sparked his interest in the physiology of marine mammals, which led him to a program at UC Merced, where he studied the diving and fasting physiology of elephant seals and was supported by the UC MEXUS program. “I always thought, Why don’t more people apply to this program? This is a great opportunity,’” he said. “But I felt that English was probably one of the main reasons why people didn’t feel comfortable applying for scholarships to study abroad.” Puertorriqueña Betsabé Castro Escobar, a doctoral student in integrative biology, says that she is more expressive in her native Spanish. Photo courtesy of Betsabé Castro Escobar Betsabé Castro Escobar, a doctoral candidate in integrative biology, saw how the hurdle of English fluency affected the lives of her friends, family and even her future husband. She grew up in Puerto Rico, which, as an unincorporated territory, mandates 12 years of English in K-12 education. All other instruction is in Spanish, and it’s the language of preference for more than 85% of Puerto Ricans, both at home and in their daily activities. While some people have the privilege and access to a good education and exposure to English, she said, as a society, many Puerto Ricans still struggle with poor class curriculums in many public schools, as well as lack of exposure to opportunities to speak English, lack of interest in learning it and even resistance to learning and becoming fluent in English. Spanish, though a colonial language like English, is preferred in Puerto Rico and is, in fact, a majority language worldwide one of the top 5 languages spoken. “I see people leave their academic fields because they don’t feel like they belong, many struggling with very clear language exclusion barriers. One thing about belonging is not just being part of a community, but also, how do we communicate? And one of those factors is language. There are clear language hurdles, and some people just don’t make it through because they have been excluded from the start,” said Castro Escobar, who is studying the ethnobotany of the calabash tree in the Caribbean. “Sadly, this is a funnel, and not everyone is going to make it through, due to language and communication obstacles. Unfortunately, this is how the system has been set up in order to participate in the globalized world; against others that don’t speak the majority’ language, basically.” Language hegemony “It is very much an issue,” agreed UC Berkeley professor of linguistics Lev Michael, who studies and seeks to revitalize indigenous languages in Perú. Linguist Lev Michael interviewing two women – Donalia Icahuate, left center, and Alejandrina Chanchari, right center – who speak the endangered Muniche language in Munichis, Peru, in 2009. UC Berkeley photo courtesy of Lev Michael “If you are Dutch, the fact that the language of science is English really is not a big hurdle, since, in my experience, many Dutch people speak better English than many English speakers,” he said, jokingly. “But in Perú, for example, many people where I work — even in some universities — don’t have great access to English education. It even plays out to the level where some people at that level have a hard time reading important works in English.” Michael admits to encountering a language hurdle when translating his English works — recently, a dictionary of the Iquito language — into Spanish and Portuguese. In his field, multilingualism is common, and academic meetings about South American indigenous languages are typically trilingual, he said. Speakers can deliver talks in Spanish, Portuguese or English, and most people in the audience understand. A small journal he edits, Cadernos de Etnolingüística, also is trilingual. But that is not typical in other areas of science. Few journals even publish abstracts in other languages, let alone full papers in translation. English hasn’t always been the language of science and scholarship, of course. Latin was the gatekeeper until 200 years ago, Michael pointed out, while German, French and Russian — and, recently, Chinese — have given English a run for the money. Aside from the issue of fairness, forcing people to communicate in a language other than their native tongue affects how clearly and effectively they interact with others. For Augusto Berrocal, who is from Mexico City and recently earned his from UC Berkeley in molecular and cell biology, English is a barrier to networking with colleagues at conferences, because his mind slows down when speaking English and, frankly, it can be exhausting. Augusto Berrocal, who is from Mexico, finds it easier to discuss and debate in Spanish because his mind works faster in his native language. He studies the genetics of development in fruit fly larva, seen on screen. UC Berkeley photo courtesy of Augusto Berrocal “It is my opinion that language is the main burden,” said Berrocal, who investigates the genetics of development in fruit flies. “I feel that my mind runs faster in my native tongue, which is Spanish. In a debate, for example, my conversations are more fluent in my native language. I think that has an impact at meetings or when discussing and getting ideas.” Castro Escobar says she gets more out of meetings where she can converse with colleagues in Spanish, and her field of ethnobotany has been gaining a critical mass of Spanish speakers. Spanish-speaking students and postdocs at UC Berkeley also are a growing community, a network where students and faculty members can discuss their work more naturally, or just let down their hair. “Throughout the years, there has been a growing number of us Latinx people on campus,” Castro Escobar said. “In my home department now, there are both grad students and professors I can talk to in Spanish. I find it refreshing to escape and speak my own language. I am more expressive, my ideas and connections are much faster, and my energy comes through more. I have more expressions I can use in Spanish. Sorry, I am biased, but Spanish is a beautiful language.” One of those professors is her adviser, Paul Fine, who actively recruits Latin American students to join his lab and converses with them in both Spanish and Portuguese. He studies tree diversity in the Amazon rainforest and has had students from Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Perú, Mexico and Costa Rica, not to mention Puerto Rico. Castro Escobar said that when she finishes her dissertation, she hopes — if her committee approves — to present her thesis in Spanglish that is, both in English and Spanish. “It will certainly be an interesting exercise for our department,” she said. “My slides would be in English — the idea is not to lose everyone in this language code-switching, but to actually show other people that their voice matters, too.” Solutions As Michael noted, scholarship in the past was conducted in Latin, a language that no one spoke natively. That put everyone in the same boat, assuming you were among the elite who could learn Latin. English is different, he said, having achieved ascendency because the rise of science after World War II coincided with the hegemony of two English-speaking world powers, Britain and the Valeria Ramírez-Castañeda shares this message with friends to encourage translation of research findings into Spanish. Image courtesy of Valeria Ramírez-Castañeda “When you are engaged in some type of project, like science, where you have participants from all sorts of different groups speaking all sorts of different languages, there is a tension between adopting a lingua franca which facilitates intergroup communication and the fact that that very same move creates inequities, because that language is the native language of some people and not of others,” he said. Ramírez-Castañeda noted that most of those whom she surveyed preferred English as the common language of science for its ease of communicating internationally. But she argues that scientists, universities and journals should acknowledge and address the costs to non-English speakers, in terms of time, finances, productivity and anxiety. Science could, for example, encourage more multilingualism, she said, including publishing abstracts or entire articles in multiple languages. She chose to publish her survey in PLOS ONE because the journal allowed her to co-publish the complete article in Spanish. “We need to encourage diversity, and that needs to take into account language and taking more effort to do multilingual science,” she said. “All the actors have to be involved journals, universities, governments, institutions. We need to stress more affordable or free translating and editing services at journals. Scientists can volunteer to edit papers, not just for English, but both ways. Simultaneous translation at conferences and meetings. Editing and translating services at universities and journals. Promoting annual editions in other languages.” She and many others look with hope to Google Translate or other platforms, which in the future could make Star Trek’s sci-fi “universal translator” a reality, obviating the language problem. At the moment, however, Google Translate is still “awful” for translating the technical terms and prose that permeate science, Michael said. “We, as scientists, have to do the work,” Ramírez-Castañeda said. “That means translating papers with the tools that we have, so that students in these countries and local communities can read them. We don’t need to put more effort on these communities, they already have to deal with a lot of things to be a scientist. We just have to make them feel it is easy to be a scientist, not more difficult.” RELATED INFORMATION Disadvantages in preparing and publishing scientific papers caused by the dominance of the English language in science The case of Colombian researchers in biological sciences PLOS ONE

english has become the main language of