INTRODUCTION

In the twenty-first century, the entire world has become narrow, accessible, sharable and
familiar for all the people living on this earth as English is used as a common language even
though there are some variations in habits, cultures, traditions, regions and idiosyncratic
aspects. As English has got the common qualities, it has been accepted as the global language
among the speakers of thousands of different languages. Since science and technology is
progressing, there are tremendous changes taking place in the lives of the human beings
everywhere in the world. As a result, the whole world has become a global village and the
people have to maintain good relationship with the others. Moreover, business, trade and
commerce have become international and most of the business organizations have their offices
in most of the countries. In order to maintain international relationship in science, technology,
business, education, travel, tourism and so on, English serves the purpose as a common
language and a global language. It is the language mostly used not only by the scientists,
business organizations and the internet but also in higher education, and tourism sectors. As
English plays a dominant role in almost all the fields in the present globalized world, there is a
need to discuss its role as a global language.

English language is spread all over the world into almost all the fields such as science,
engineering and technology, medicine, trade and commerce, scientific research, education,
tourism, internet, banking, business, advertising, film industry, transportation, pharmacy and to
name a few. Undoubtedly,
English is one of the world’s most dominating language, having an unique impact on every
field of work. Although with the positive outcomes, the negatives outweigh them to some
degree as it means that many languages will perish out as a result.
CONTENT PAGES – The Intro

Language is a means of communication and people share their thoughts, feelings, expressions,
ideas and expressions. In other words, language exercises cultural transmission, socialization,
status, sharing power, politics, and knowledge and so on. Even though there are different
communication systems, human communication system is well-recognized because of its
arbitrariness, duality of patterning, displacement, voluntary-vocal, etc. No language is alike and
all languages are different from one another with respect to their popularity, cultures, dictions,
influence, scope, aspects, accents, popularity, extra-linguistic features, standardization, status
and so on.

INSERT- WORLDS LANGUAGE CIRCLE DIAGRAM

The above diagram unveils that even though there are 7.2billion people on the earth, nearly
two-third of them speak the above mentioned 12 languages as their mother tongues. It clearly
indicates that there are a very limited number of languages spoken by many of their native
speakers around the world. Today, almost 7,000 spoken languages are there in the world
whereas around 2,000 languages among these have less than a thousand speakers. So, almost a
third of languages are now endangered as they are spoken by very less number of speakers i.e.,
less than a thousand speakers. Almost two-third among these 7,000 languages is from Asia and
Africa.
Lingua franca is a language that is used to communicate among different people all over the
world. It is a well-known fact that Chinese is the most spoken language in the world with the
number of 1.2 billion native speakers and among them, nearly 1 billion speak Mandarin and it is
the language that is spoken by a majority people in the world. Then if we consider only the
native speakers, Spanish has its nose in front of English with almost 400 million speakers.
Whereas English is concerned, it is spoken by nearly 360 million native speakers as well as 500
million people speak it as a second language. Though the Chinese language has a large number
of speakers in the world, it is limited to China only. On the other hand, English is spoken in all
the countries in the world irrespective of their mother tongue. This clearly shows the
remarkable success of English as lingua franca of travel and tourism, business and international
relations. Though the Chinese language has a large number of speakers in the world, it is limited
only to China, whereas English is the language that is spoken in all the countries of the world
irrespective of their mother tongue.

ORGIN OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The origins of English can be traced back to the 5th and 6th centuries AD when Germanic tribes
invaded Britain. They brought with them a language that would become known as Old English or
Anglo-Saxon. Old English was a highly inflected language, with complex grammatical structures
and a vocabulary that was heavily influenced by Latin, Greek, and Scandinavian languages.

Over time, Old English evolved into Middle English, which was spoken from the 11th to the 15th
centuries. Middle English was heavily influenced by the French language and culture after the
Norman Conquest of 1066. As a result, many French words and phrases were incorporated into
the language.

In the late Middle Ages, English began to undergo a major shift in pronunciation, grammar, and
vocabulary, known as the Great Vowel Shift. During this time, many of the vowels in English
were pronounced differently than they are today, and the language began to take on many of
the features of modern English.

The Renaissance period brought a renewed interest in classical languages such as Latin and
Greek, and many new words and expressions were borrowed from these languages. The
invention of the printing press in the 15th century also played a significant role in the
standardization and spread of the English language.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, English became a global language, with the expansion of the
British Empire and the rise of American influence. Today, English is one of the most widely
spoken and written languages in the world, and it continues to evolve and change over time.

The evolution of English has been influenced by a wide range of cultures and languages, from
Latin and Greek to French and Scandinavian. This diversity has made English a versatile and
adaptable language, capable of expressing complex ideas and concepts.
SPREAD OF ENGLISH AS A GLOBAL LANGUAGE

Although English was the first West Germanic language spoken in medieval England, now it has
become a global lingua franca. It has been the first language for a majority of the population in
several countries, such as the United Kingdom, the Unite States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New
Zealand and a few Caribbean nations. Around 375 million people speak it as a first language and
more than 750 million people speak it as a second language. Moreover, English has official or
special status in almost 70 countries.

INSERT WORLD MAP

ENGLISH- THE NEED

Though English was originally considered the language of the British, it has become a second
language of many former British colonies such as the US, Australia, Canada, Nigeria, South Africa
and India due to the historical efforts of the British Empire. But today, English has become the
principal language of the countries influenced by the British colonialism and it is also the main
language used in business, trade and commerce and cultural spheres dominated by these
countries. There is no hesitation to say that English has been used as the de facto language in
the field of science and technology. Even most of the Hollywood movies and TV programmes are
made in English and a majority of the newspapers in the world are published in English. It is also
the language of scientific research and the common language used in the tourism department.

Moreover, most of the students who go to foreign countries to pursue their higher studies
should know this language as almost all the books of science, engineering, information
technology, medicine, tourism, and business and so on are written only in English. Furthermore,
English has become an essential tool for those who wish to work in a foreign country or in any
multi-national company. It is also the language mostly used on the internet and in the electronic
media and press. English is the only language where 85% of the scientific journals are published
in that language. Even the Chinese language, Mandarin, is spoken by a majority of people in the
world, English has got its status as a global language only because Mandarin is limited to a part
of the world whereas English is spread all around the world.

It is also the language used not only by the diplomats but also by some world organizations such
as UNO, WHO, UNESCO, UNICEF, OPEC, EFTA, ASEAN, UNHRC, WTO, ILO, BRICS, INTERPOL and
so on. One third of these international organizations use English only but 90% of English is used
among the Asian international organizations also. As different people from different parts of the
world speak various languages, there is a need for a common language that is spoken by most of
the people around the world. Even though English is the native language of the US, the UK,
Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, it is spoken by more non-native speakers of the
world. It has also got official language status, that is, a language used in citizen interactions with
government officials, for around sixty countries and fifteen countries are using it as a de facto
official language, but not as a primary language. According to the recent statistics, English has
been the official language in 55 sovereign states and 27 non-sovereign entities. Even many
country subdivisions have also declared English an official language at the regional or local level.
Therefore, English has attained the status of a global language in order to meet the needs of the
people across the world.

CONCLUSION

With the ever-growing levels of interconnectivity and globalization around the world, the
significance of immediate and appropriate modes of communication has been increasing very
rapidly in this modern world. It is an undeniable fact that there is a need for a common language
to communicate with the present growing commerce and trade between companies from all
over the world. With the development of informatization as well as globalization, it is evident
that most people all over the world are communicating with the people of other regions in only
one internationally recognized language, that is, English. English is the language that is almost
used between an agent and an international company. English, being the first world language, is
said to be the first global lingua franca and it is the most widely used language in the world in
international trade, diplomacy, mass entertainment, international telecommunications and
scientific publications as well as publishing newspapers and other books.