What are the costs and benefits of the current dominance of English in international/multinational regional organisations (e.g. the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union, the Commonwealth, the Association of South East Asian Nations)?

Running Head : English Dominance

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Outline

Introduction

Background

Benefits of English language in International organizations

Negative impact of use of English language in international organizations

Conclusion

The Effects of English Dominance in International Organizations

Introduction

English is one of the most spoken languages in the world . Globally around 380 million people speak English as their first language , 250 million use it as their second language , and 1 billion are in the process of learning it and about one

third of the global population are affected by it one way or the other . By the year 2050 it is forecasted that around a half of the world will be able to communicate properly in English (Pennycook A . 1994 ) English is on its way to become a dominant global language . The language has developed to become the language of use in international trade , international science conferences , and global politics . The predominant usage of English has gone further to affect international and regional organizations such as World Bank European Union , and other multinational companies (Brutt-Griffler , J 2002

English dominance originated from political suppression and economical manipulation by Britain and United States . Some policies of international organization such as World Bank have served to propagate the dominance of English in developing countries (Keal ,

1983 However , the most important factor that has led English to become such a globally spoken language is the emergence of United States of America as a `world super power ' a nation that uses English as its major language of communication (Brutt-Griffler , J . 2002 . Since the United States and Britain dominate in the international organizations such as World Bank World Health Organization (WHO , United Nations (UN , World Trade Organization (WTO ) and so on , this has influenced such worldwide entities to use English as a major language of communication (Brutt-Griffler , J . 2002

The use of English as the dominant language in these organizations has generated enormous benefits especially in the ease of operation . However it has not been smooth sailing has a myriad of controversies have continued to emerge because of the same dominance (Keal ,

1983 Linguistic dominance has its origins in conquest , military and political subjugation , and economic exploitation . The role of language in imperial expansion has been a central element of the europeanisation of the world (Robert

) This view has continued to emerge in many forums where most nations (especially the non-English speaking ) have constantly objected to the dominance of English because it has been seen as a way of Europeanizing ' others (Robert

p The purpose of this is to critically analyze both the benefits and costs with the purpose of establishing the direction the organizations are likely to take in this thorny and controversial issue

Benefits of English language in International organizations

Communication

This is perhaps the greatest benefit that the domination of English has brought to almost all world bodies . Having one language as a lingua franca ' facilitates or breaks down the communication barriers (Gary C Members of such bodies...