Teach English in Huangcheng Zhen - Yangzhou Shi

English as defined by the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, 2020 is ‘the language, originally of England, now spoken in many other countries and used as a language of international communication throughout the world’. A language is called a “global language” when it achieves the official position and education preference in every nation, which allows the language to be used by more people than any other language. The essential reason to make a language global or international is the power of its people. Military power, political power and economic power are the three essential factors to make a language global and to keep its status (Culpepper, 1997). Historically, the rise of English first began in the colonization era with the use of emerging ex-colonial states and other nations making the language its official status. This was then solidified through the use of religious and cultural teachings and the economic ability of these mother countries to expand industrialization and technology in the captured country. In defining these elements of the preposition, can it really be argued that English has transcended to a universal language? The English vocabulary has an undeniable fullness and profound set of rules, processes and vernacular that sets it apart from other languages. In addition to this, it is flexible, which commonly sees students having the ability to structure a sentence as an active or passive one or utilization of a prefix/suffix or by even compounding or fusing a variety of words together. Perhaps, the most important thing to note is that the grammar has the ability to form a simple sentence, use pronunciation and spell simple words, which in turn allows a student/teacher to have a simple conversation. In today’s world, while we’ve had some developments in the language, the rules essentially remain the same and is still being practiced from infancy. As defined by the UN the nearest thing we have, or have ever had, to a global community, currently uses five official languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian and Chinese, and an estimated 85% of international organizations have English as at least one of their official languages (A Brief History of the English Language, 2004). It would appear then that we need to consider the number of countries that has the ability to speak this language, ie their mother tongue, the number of countries adopting it as their official language, and the number of countries that teach this language to students in schools. This I believe would allow us to truly trace a distinction between its current and practical use of users around the world. Multiplicity of cultures, traditions and languages define and outline the pride of one’s country, which in turn helps to shape the language, and modifications of its structure. Despite the disparities in customs, cultures, backgrounds and idiosyncratic aspects in today’s world, through technology the entire world has become one global medium, now accessible and shareable at the touch of a button or click of a mouse via the internet. As a result, the world has become a global arena with individuals having common goals, such as the need to keep connected via social media, business, trade, increased educational opportunities and entertainment purposes. This in turn would outline that the world in its diversity has to be connected. How is this done? With one common language breaking down the barriers between communication of different nationals within a country. Additionally, what needs to be understood is that English is generally used in many commercial transactions, in the global workforce and in many educational institutions – especially on the Western borders. It can be argued that the western civilization does play a part in dictating the significance of a language especially due to its strong leadership, trade and underlining political ties. In the United States of America, the most common language used by the people in the regulations and compulsory educational practices is English. Variations in the pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and accents may differ, but essentially the same vernacular is used. This in turn has translated in books, television and other religious/entertainment pieces being created from the use of language which travels along varying border lines. In concluding, the continuous pressure provided by the worldwide media, technology and even social media, along with the dire need for education and trade will allows result in the desire for individuals to participate in the global community. It is my view that the culture of a community will dictate the level of accessibility to language ties. In this twenty-first century it is almost impossible to deny that a large influence of English has come from the historical factors that have led to the language being a dominant status in the world.