首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The Popularity of English I. Present status of English A English as a native/first language B English as a lingua franca: a lang
The Popularity of English I. Present status of English A English as a native/first language B English as a lingua franca: a lang
admin
2019-03-26
54
问题
The Popularity of English
I. Present status of English
A English as a native/first language
B English as a lingua franca: a language for communication
among people whose【T1】______ are different【T1】______
C Number of people speaking English as a first or a second language:
【T2】______ -380 million native speakers【T2】______
250-【T3】______ million speakers of English as a second【T3】______
language
II. Reasons for the popular use of English
A【T4】______ reasons【T4】______
【T5】______ brought the language to America:【T5】______
British settlers brought the language to Australia:
English was used as a means of control in【T6】______【T6】______
B Economic reasons
spread of【T7】______【T7】______
language of communication in the【T8】______【T8】______
C【T9】______ in international travel【T9】______
use of English in travel and tourism
【T10】______【T10】______
language of announcement
language of【T11】______【T11】______
D【T12】______【T12】______
use of English in the academic world
language of【T13】______ or journal articles【T13】______
E Popular culture
pop music on【T14】______【T14】______
films from the USA
III. Questions to think about
A status of English in the future
B【T15】______ of distinct varieties of English【T15】______
【T2】
The Popularity of English
Good morning, everyone!
Today’s lecture is about the popularity of English. As we all know, English is widely used in the world. Although English is not the language with the largest number of native or first language speakers, it has really become a lingua franca. Then what is a lingua franca? The term refers to a language which is widely adopted for communication between two speakers whose native languages are different from each other’s, and where one or both speakers are using it as a second language. For example, when an Indian talks to a Singaporean using English, then English is the lingua franca. Then actually how many people speak English as either a first or a second language? Some researchers suggested a few years ago that between 320 to 380 million people spoke English as a first language and anywhere between 250 to 350 million as a second language. And of course if we include people who are learning English as a foreign language all over the world, that number may increase dramatically.
Then we may ask a question, "How did English get there?" That is "How did English gain the present status of popularity?" There are, in fact, a number of interlocking reasons for the popularity of English as a lingua franca. Many of the reasons are historical, but they also include economic and cultural factors that have influenced and sustained the spread of the language. Let’s go through the reasons one by one. First is the historical reason. This is related to the colonial history. As we know when the Pilgrim Fathers landed on the Massachusetts Coast in 1620 after their journey from England, they brought with them not just a set of the religious beliefs, a pioneering spirit or a desire for colonization, but also their language. Although many years later the Americans broke away from their colonial master, the language of English remained and still does. It was the same in Australia, too. When Commander Phillip planted the British flag in Sidney Cove on the 26th of January, 1788, it was not just a bunch of British convicts and their guardians, but also a language. In other parts of the former British Empire, English rapidly became a unifying or dominating means of control. For example, it became a lingua franca in India where a variety of indigenous languages made the use of any one of them as a whole country system problematic. So the imposition of English as the one language of administration helped maintain the colonizers’ control and power. Thus English travelled around many parts of the world in those days. And long after that colonial power has faded away, it is still widely used as a main or at least an institutional language in countries as far apart as Jamaica and Pakistan, Uganda and New Zealand. That is the first factor.
Now the second major factor in the spread of English has been the spread of commerce throughout the world. The spread of international commerce has taken English along with it. This is the 20th century phenomenon of globalization. Therefore, one of the first sights many travelers see when arriving in countries as diverse as Brazil, China, for example, is the yellow twin-arched sign of a McDonald’s fast food restaurant or some other famous brands’ outlets. And without doubt, English is used as the language of communication in the international business community.
And the third factor related to the popular use of English is the boom in international travel. And you will find that much travel and tourism is carried on around the world in English. Of course, this is not always the case, as the multilingualism of many tourism workers in different countries demonstrate. But a visit to most airports on the globe will show signs not only in the language of that country, but also in English, just as many airline announcements are broadcast in English, too, whatever the language of the country the airport is situated in. So far, English is also the preferred language of air traffic control in many countries and is used widely in sea travel communication.
Another factor has something to do with information exchange around the world. As we all know, a great deal of academic discourse around the world takes place in English. It is often a lingua franca of conferences, for example. And many journal articles in fields as diverse as astronomy, child’s psychology and zoology have English as a kind of default language.
The last factor I cite here concerns popular culture. In the western world at least, English is a dominating language in popular culture. Pop music in English can be heard on many radios. Thus many people who are not English speakers can sing words from their favorite English medium songs. And many people who are regular cinema goers or TV viewers can frequently hear English in subtitled films coming out of the USA.
Now, to sum up, in today’s lecture we have reviewed some of the reasons or factors that lie behind the popular use of English as the No. 1 world language. Before we finish, I would like to leave a few questions for you to think about. Is the status of English as the No. 1 world language assured in the future? Will it split into varieties that become less mutually intelligible? Or will some other language or languages take the place of English as world language in future? These questions are not easy to answer, I know. But they are definitely worth pondering over after the lecture. OK, this brings us to the end of today’s lecture. Thank you for your attention!
选项
答案
320
解析
讲座提到英语为母语的人数为3.2亿至3.8亿。填入320。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/MSEK777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Theprocessofacquiringtheself-disciplineforJapanesebeginsinchildhood.Indeed,onemaysayitbeginsatbirth—howearly
ItisinterestingtoreflectforamomentuponthedifferencesintheareasofmoralfeelingandstandardsinthepeoplesofJa
AreyouconsideringtravelingtoanativeEnglishspeakingcountrytoimproveyourEnglishlanguagesskillsatalanguagescho
Whenwespeaktoanotherindividualorgroup,thedistanceourbodiesarephysicallyapartalsocommunicatesamessage.Mostof
Asmanyas40%ofuniversitylanguagedepartmentsarelikelytoclosewithinadecade,theformergovernmentadviserchargedw
HomeschoolingI.【T1】_____【T1】______—Require【T2】_____【T2】______—Childwhogetseasilyfrustratedisdifficulttobehomeschoo
A、Gooutandstartexercising.B、Seeherdoctor.C、Joinafraternity.D、Dosomeresearch.B句(10)中,米里亚姆提议,如果一名女性被确诊患了乳腺癌,那么她需要做的第
A、Water.B、Coffee.C、Tea.D、Milk.A根据句(8-1)和句(8-2)可知,女士认为液体对于人们保持精力来说非常关键,水是很好的选择,并指出对于改善情绪来说没有比多喝水更重要的事了。因此答案为[A]。
A、Straightforward.B、Honest.C、Friendly.D、Humorous.AJuliet说到她有一次遇到反对女司机的乘客,她把他嘲笑到他停止大惊小怪。由此可推断Juliet的个性最有可能是A项straightforward“
他们认识了三年,二人同是羞涩内向,个性保守。他从没有在她面前提过爱,然而,她依稀可从他羞涩眼眸中察觉到那一股灼灼爱意。几次三番,她向他暗示鼓励,他却仍是木讷呆傻,不敢开口。岁月飘逝,三年后,她跟另一个男孩订婚了,在订婚前夕却仍忘不了他。“如果他现
随机试题
A.终隐窝B.肾乳头C.肾大盏D.肾小盏E.肾孟马的肾盂向两端延伸形成
A、CEAB、p-ANCACC、ANCAD、ASCAE、AAAWeneger肉芽肿
杨某为销售自己生产的膨化剂,于2004年8月成立了“顺发贸易公司”该公司以膨化剂可以节油为幌子骗取购货方信任,先后销售膨化剂300余吨,销售额为120万元经查,顺发贸易公司销售的膨化剂根本达不到其许诺的基本使用性能,无节油效果在逮捕杨某后48小时内,司法机
下面几个施工项目中()工程适合安排在冬期施工。
根据《中华人民共和国森林法》,禁止()。
预应力钢丝质量的评定方法中,对拉力(含伸长率)、反复弯曲试验项目,当试验结果有一项不合格时,除该盘应判为不合格外,并应从未试验的钢丝中(),则该批钢丝应判为不合格。
(2016年、2014年)2013年4月9日,甲公司签发一张出票后定期付款的银行承兑汇票,付款期限为2个月,收款人为乙公司,金额为40万元。甲公司开户银行P银行承兑了该汇票。5月10日,丙公司作为保证人在票据上记载有关事项并签章,但未记载“被保证人名称”。
下面哪一项对人们座位的安排(从妹妹开始,经桌头再到另一边)是可以接受的?若爸爸坐在奶奶的对面,则下面哪一个人必须与妹妹相邻?
下列属于国际关系格局特点的有()
ItIsn’tEasyBeingGreenGreenstoriesofhotelsA)Overthesummer,IstayedatfourhotelsintheUnitedStates.Theywereal
最新回复
(
0
)