A consideration of the import of English language in contemporary world

Abstract

Humans communicate by means of language, even though language is notthe only means of communication. Whenever communication is thought of, we always associate it with language. The English language has grown in popularity and usage, with over a billion people in the world speaking some forms of it (depending on how ‘English speaker is defined’). However, globalisation and the subsequent impacts on language are seen as inescapable developments. China is the most populous nation on earth and the Chinese language is the most spoken but the British/United States of America’s (USA’s) English language has arguably remained ahead of China’s because (i) Chinese is limited to a geographical area, while English has progressively become the world lingua franca; and (ii) the world’s technical innovation and economic developments are communicated through English. It is in this context that this article X-rays the role and importance of English language in the world today which ranges from being an emerging world lingua franca to a criterion for job (employment) to business and commerce and have even been christened as the ‘Hollywood language’ for the entertainment industry, the internet language, among others.