World Englishes

Question

Construct a concise description of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), including mention of its positioning and power. Then critique the effect that the rapid spread of the Internet and social networking sites have had on ELF. You must illustrate your claims with facts and examples drawn from course materials, external sources and personal observations.

Answer

Despite the fact that most of England’s former colonies had become independent states by the mid-twentieth century, they retained the English language to serve various internal functions. Because of its colonial past, English was already well placed to become of the world’s main languages of international business and trade. The present-day international status of English is due to two factors, the first being its colonial past and the second being the economic dominance of the United States, which has ensured the continuing influence of English throughout the twentieth country and beyond. Not only has English become international in the last half century, but scholarship about English has also become international, the ownership of an interest in English has become international. In this essay, we will discuss ELF of its positioning and power, and how the rapid spread of the Internet and social networking sites have had on ELF.

English as a lingua franca (ELF) can be defined as a contact language among speakers from different first languages or cultural backgrounds. The last few decades have seen a growth in the role of the English language around the world as the lingua franca for economic, scientific, and political exchange. It is a global phenomenon, with a much wider range of people using English now as an additional language than native speakers. Indeed, over eighty-percent of interactions in English worldwide are now estimated to be between non-native speakers (Graddol 2006). According to Crystal (1997), eighty-five percent of the world's...