Globish

Critical response: ‘How much English is enough?’ of Jane Cuthbert and ‘Globish? It just doesn’t make sense’ of Peter Jackson

Summary

In contemporary life, Globish which is a simplified version of English is one of the most noticeable and questionable topics on international forums. Subsequently, the article “How much English is enough?” by Jane Cuthbert (2010), an English teacher, describes some benefits of Globish for language learners while in the same year, Professor of Applied Linguistics Peter Jackson argues against the language in worldwide usage in the article “Globish? It just doesn’t make sense”. This essay is going to summarize and evaluate some arguments of both authors. Firstly, they elaborate the limited range of Globish vocabulary. Although Cuthbert assumes that 1500 words are enough for people because her students can interact to each other easily for a short time, Jackson does not agree with the reason which is that children also know the same amount of lexicons and the source is not enough in certain fields. Their second argument is about the important role of English culture in teaching and learning. To support her concept, Cuthbert states the independence of Globish which is due to understanding and communication more easily. However, Jackson points out the disadvantages without cultural knowledge that could leads to a lack of interesting and deep meanings in conversation.

Discussion

Cuthbert and Jackson acknowledge different and interesting aspects of Globish. Cuthbert’s arguments about Globish vocabulary and culture only rely on her experience in small area while Jackson’s ideas on the same topics have a wide range of evidence and credible sources.

The first view on Globish vocabulary of Cuthbert is that it is simple and adequate. She demonstrates an example of her students who may not need to care about pronunciation or stress and be able to interact easily for short time in learning. However, the author is guilty of...