A First Study Of English As An International Language

The sentence "English is the global language." must have appeared in hundreds of newspapers and magazines in recent years. Both the politicians and ordinary people believe it, because now there are eighty five countries use English as native language or part of a country's chief institutions and more than one hundred nations treat English as a foreign language which is taught at school. In most international organizations, English is mainly used for communication or work. And English also plays a very important role in economy, science and technology, culture and some other aspects. English has been the commonly used language in international communication.As the native language of Englishmen, how could English spread from such a small island to the whole world? This question can be answered from three aspects.At the beginning of this thesis, I first talk about the origin of English, and then review the growth of British economy and military power. The most important is I have studied the expansion of British colonial power, which had lasted for 300 years and through comparing colonies and their languages, I confirm that colonization is the most direct and essential cause of the spread of English at that time.In the second part, I mainly search for the connection between the expansion of the United States and the spread of English. It is because of the powerful economy, science and technology, culture and politics of the United States that the position of English in the world is strengthened. English has become the global language.In the last part of this thesis, I illustrate that because of the internationalization, English has been not only the language of the native speakers, but also the language of non-English-speakers in international communication. I also introduce the progress of English education in China, Japan and South Korea, and prove that the progress of English education in non-English-speaking countries is vital to the spread of English. Now, it is very certain that English has become the international language. But by the rising of the national strength of some non-English-speaking countries, I hope other languages, esp. our Chinese can become one of the international languages.We can learn a lot about the colonial history of the Great Britain, the expansion history of American politics, economy, science and technology and culture, and the English education history of non-English-speaking countries when we study how English becomes an international language. It is also very helpful to enrich our historical knowledge, make us know more things about western countries. And we are deeply aware of the importance of solid national strength. It can not only make a country stay at the top of the world, but also spread its language around. Now China is one of the biggest countries in the world, but comparatively speaking, the economy, science and technology and culture of our country are much lower than some of the other big countries, so I hope we can benefit from the history of English and make Chinese become one of the international languages by developing economy, science and technology and culture of our country.