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Unit2English:AGlobalLanguage?TEACHER:Today’stopicisEnglishasagloballanguage.IknowmanyofyouspeakEnglishasasecondlanguage,right?Howaboutyou,Hiroshi?IsEnglishyourfirstlanguage?STUDENT1:No,myfirstlanguageisJapanese.Englishismysecondlanguage.TEACHER:Andhowaboutyou,Patricia?STUDENT2:Englishismysecondlanguage,too.MyfirstlanguageisSpanish.TEACHER:See,manyofyouuseEnglishasasecondlanguage,evenasagloballanguagetocommunicatewithotherpeoplewhospeakEnglishasasecondlanguage.Today,IwanttogiveyoutwocontrastingpointsofviewonwhetherornotEnglishisagloballanguage.ThefirstisthatEnglishisobviouslyagloballanguage.PeoplewhosupportthispointofviewbelieveEnglishisthelanguagepeopleallovertheworldusetocommunicate,andthatitisgraduallyreplacingotherlanguages.ThesecondpointofviewisthatEnglishisnottrulyagloballanguage,becauseitisnotthemainlanguagespokenbymostpeopleworldwide.SupportersofthisviewsaythateventhoughmanypeoplespeaksomeEnglishworldwide,Englishhasnotreplacedotherlanguages.TheyacknowledgethatpeopleuseEnglisheveryday,formanyreasons,butthisdoesn’tmeanEnglishisreplacingotherlanguages,nordoesitmakeEnglishthemainlanguagespokenintheworld.First,let’sexaminethefirstview.Firstofall,Englishisthedominantlanguageofbusiness,travel,andscience.Whenpeopleneedacommonlanguage,theyoftenuseEnglish.Thinkaboutit.Englishisoftenusedattouristinformationcenters,ininternationalhotels,atairports.IfyouuseataxiinRome,andyoucan’tspeakItalian,thetaxidriverismorelikelytouseEnglishthananyotherlanguages.Itisusedatbusinessmeetingsandinternationalsportsevents.TheEuropeanUnionusesEnglish,alongwithFrench,atitsmeetings.....ASEAN,theAsiantradegroup,usesEnglishatitsmeetings.CanyouthinkofothersituationsinwhichEnglishisusedasacommonlanguage?STUDENT2:Howaboutthisclass?AllofusarelisteningtoyouinEnglish.TEACHER:Absolutely.Educationalsettingsareagreatexample.Anyothers?STUDENT2:HowaboutachatroomontheInternet?IsometimesgotochatroomsandeveryoneisusingEnglish.TEACHER:Excellentexample.TheInternethascreatedalotofinternationalcommunitiesandpeopleoftenuseEnglish.Infact,mostpeoplewhousetheInternetknowEnglish.ThishelpssupporttheviewthatEnglishisagloballanguage.ThesecondmajorreasonthatpeoplebelieveEnglishisagloballanguageisthatitistheofficiallanguageofmorethanseventy-fivecountries.ThismeansthesecountriesuseEnglishinschools,banks,business,andgovernment.Oftheseseventy-fivecountries,Englishmaybetheonlyofficiallanguageofthecountry,likeinEngland,orEnglishmaybeusedalongwithotherofficiallanguages,likeinthePhilippines,Singapore,andIndia.IncountrieslikeIndia,wheresomanylanguagesarespoken,youcanseehowusingEnglishasanofficiallanguagemakesiteasierforpeopletocommunicate.Thethirdreasontosupporttheglobalargumentisthateveryyearabout1billionpeoplestudyEnglish.Why?Whataresomeofthereasons?Hiroshi?Howaboutyou?STUDENT1:Well,nowtostudy,andsomedayIwanttobeininternationalbusiness.TEACHER:That’sasolidreason.Howaboutyou,Oksana?STUDENT3:I’mnotreallysure.Ijustthinkitwillhelpmeinthefuturesomehow.TEACHER:OK,There’samoregeneralreason.Thepointis,peoplewantandneedtolearnEnglishbecauseitoffersthemopportunities.Tosumup,Englishisusedeverydaybymanypeople.Peopleallovertheworldcomeincontactwitheachotherformanyreasons.Theyneedacommonlanguage,alanguagetofacilitatecommunication.BeingproficientinEnglishgivessomeoneanadvantageinthesesituations.OK.IhavegivenyoumanyexamplesofhowEnglishisusedinavarietyofsituations.Nevertheless,doesthismeanthatEnglishisagloballanguage?Let’slookatwhysomepeopledon’tbelieveEnglishhasreplacedotherlanguages.First,thereareaboutthreetimesasmanypeoplewhospeakChineseastheirfirstlanguageasthosewhospeakEnglishasafirstlanguage.AndinmanycountrieswheresomepeopleuseEnglishforworkeachday,theydon’tuseEnglishanywhereelse.EveninEnglish-speakingcountries,therearemillionsofpeoplewhoprefertospeakalanguageotherthanEnglishathome,withfriends,oratwork.Second,Imentionedbeforethatseventy-fivecountrieshaveEnglishastheirofficiallanguage.Thisdoesn’tmeanall,orevenmostofthepeopleinthesecountriescanspeakEnglish.Forexample,inIndia,mostsourcesagreethatonlyabout5percentofthepopulationspeaksEnglish.That’sasmallpercentage!Third,howmuchEnglishdoesapersonneedtoknowtobecalledanEnglishspeaker?PeoplemaylearnsomeEnglishforspecificsituations,suchasthetaxidriverImentionedearlier.However,Ithinkyouwouldallagreewithmethatataxidriverwhoknowsafewphraseslike“Whereareyougoing?”or“Whatisthenameofyourhotel?”isn’treallyaproficientEnglishspeaker.AnotherexampleisAirspeak,theEnglishthatisusedbyairtrafficcontrollersandpilots.ApilotforJapanAirlinesoranairtrafficcontrollerinParisneedstoknowAirspeak.ButtheymaylearnonlytheEnglishwordstheyneedforthesejobs,andthereforetheycan’tbeconsideredEnglishspeakers.ThepointhereisthatpeopleallovertheworldmayusesomeEnglishforworkorothersituations.Nevertheless,thisdoesn’tmeantheyarefluentinEnglish.Theystillusetheirfirstlanguagefordailycommunication.Englishisnottheirmainlanguage.So,whatdoesthisallmean?Ithinkit’ssafetosaythatEnglishwillcontinuetobethemainlanguageusedinmanyinternationalsettingsbecause,asIsaidearlier,peopleallovertheworl
本文标题:unit-2--English-A-Global-Language
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