English language as a global language

At the beginning of the XIX century, people could not even imagine that English would become so widespread and so universal. However, the end of the twentieth century proved the opposite, the" epidemic " of the English language literally swept the world. This fact only adds to the uniqueness of the English language, but it does not mean that it should be universal for everyone. According to scientists, the degree of development of any language is influenced by social and territorial relationships with other languages. Extra-verbal aspects should also be taken into account when integrating English into other languages. One of these aspects is the desire of countries to unite, to establish new international relations, as well as to produce domestication. According to many scientists, artificial languages would not be able to perform the functions of international languages as they have unnatural origin and difficult pronunciation. It is worth noting that the definitions "global language" and "international language" are similar in meaning, except that the global language cannot be an artificial language. The need to unify the language goes back centuries. An example of this is the tower of Babel or previous attempts to create a common Esperanto language. Unfortunately, both attempts failed, as people could not find a common language of communication. Any language is closely connected with culture.

Language is the greatest agent of homogenization, the wave by which any culture is transmitted. As English becomes the main international language of communication, the consequences of this phenomenon are obvious: the cultures of English-speaking countries will be dominant and influential throughout the world.

English is primarily the main language for the British and Americans, one of the two official languages of Canada, Ireland, Malta, the official language in New Zealand and Australia, it is spoken by the population of some African and Asian countries (Pakistan, India, etc.), including as official languages. English is on its way to becoming the world's first universal language. And this is confirmed by a number of facts: it is the native language for 500 million people in 12 different countries. This is significantly less than about 900 million Mandarin Chinese speakers. However, another 600 million people have a decent command of English and use it as a second language. And several hundred million more have some knowledge of the English language, which in turn has a semi-official or official status, and this is about 62 countries. But perhaps as many people who speak different dialects of Chinese as English speakers, English is undoubtedly more common geographically, and in fact more universal than Chinese. Its spread is growing rapidly. Currently, there are approximately 1.5 billion people who speak English.

In fact, in 90 countries, English is either widely studied or a second language. In the administrative region of the people's Republic of China, Hong Kong, students in nine out of ten secondary schools learn English. In France, students in public secondary schools are required to study German or English for a period of four years, and most - at least 85 % - choose English. Students in Japan must learn English before graduating from high school for six years.

In some countries, the study of foreign languages for children is mandatory, for example, in Russia, where most choose English. In Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, children are also required to learn English. Not taking into account the UK, of all European countries, the Netherlands ranks first in the number of people who know English. An interesting fact is that since Portugal joined the European community, the demand for English lessons has exceeded and even replaced the demand for French lessons. “Teachers, young professionals, students, government officials and business people in most countries are facing a General shortage of materials and technology in English” said Charles Wick, former Director of the United States information Agency (USIA).

The Agency promotes English language courses in more than 100 countries in 200 cultural centers. USIA sponsored English classes for 450 thousand people. English prevails in the transport sector, in the media. English is the language of communication on international airlines, it is the language of travel. Dispatchers and pilots at all international airports speak English. The importance of the English language in the modern world is confirmed by the words of Werner Sims, an employee of the American Maritime border service: “if ships had to communicate orally, they would find a common language, which probably would be English”.

Many authors compare the process of globalization of the English language with the process of "Americanization", noting that the use of words from this culture "we represent the interests of Americans" Based on this fact, we can conclude that none of the types of English at the moment cannot be considered global. Despite all this, many scientists agree that English is the standard of the global language, as it still contributes to international communication and cohesion of the world community. Interaction in different languages in addressing global issues is an integral task, so the ideas of globalization are becoming more relevant every day. Thus, the global approach contributes to the resolution of issues related to human health, the fight against natural disasters and the reduction of social inequality. But globalization also has a negative side. Due to the increasing pace of globalization, information and language inequality is formed. In addition, the cultures of many peoples are losing their identity. Based on this, it can be concluded that globalization entails the loss of the uniqueness of many Nations, as well as many languages cease to exist. The Internet also plays an important role in the process of globalization. With the help of social networks, the process of globalization is much faster.

At the moment, 70 percent of Internet resources are English-speaking. Despite this, the number of Internet users who do not speak English is increasing. Becoming a global English language is almost a fait accompli. Therefore, linguists in Europe are concerned that the English language "eats" other languages. Despite this, globalization of English threatens not all languages. For example, there are 3 times more Chinese-speaking people than English-speaking people. The United States is the largest English-speaking country, yet the number of people who do not speak English is regularly increasing. Due to the fact that English has become an official language in many countries, its popularity on the world stage has increased significantly. And in countries where English is not an official language, most citizens learn it as a foreign language. Often, the authorities of many States have nothing against English as a national language. However, there are those States that are struggling with the penetration of anglicisms in the traditional language. But despite all this, English remains compulsory for study in many educational institutions. Due to the globalization process, English is in conflict with other languages that claim to be the leading languages of the world (German, French, Chinese, etc.). French takes the second position in opposition to the English language. Of course, English is a contender for the role of an international language, but this does not mean that English should dominate over other languages, because it will lead to a violation of the language balance in the world. Based on the above, it is possible to distinguish the line between people who seek to revive and preserve the culture, traditions and language, and those who want to gain new knowledge about other languages and cultures. To solve this problem, it is necessary to find the optimal solution so that there are no advantages in anyone's favor.

According to the results of the survey conducted among the native French speakers revealed that the French know that the English language has a significant impact on their language. However, they do not attach much importance to this, because they believe that anglicisms practically do not adapt and are not fixed to the system of the French language in significant volumes. The study showed that the French are loyal to anglicisms in their native language, while Africans see their presence as a threat to the French language. The difference in relations is due to the fact that the French are sensitive to their language and do not welcome borrowing, they are more tolerant than Africans whose French is not just a language of many, but a language of special cultural and social significance Summing up the above, it is worth emphasizing that the globalization of the English language is a positive phenomenon. Not only does it have an impact on other languages, but it itself is constantly changing the English language. The main of these transformations of the English language is its simplification. Thus, the global English language acquires a feature that distinguishes it from other artificial languages - its simplicity.