The video Global language shows the importance of English as an International language. It was produced by Australasian Training Academy, a English school from Australia.
This other video shows how English became an important global language and how it have been learned all over the world.
Lot of the history about the rise of this language can be seen in the book The future of the English?, by David Graddol. The author discusses what can happen in the further years with English as an international language.
In the multilingual context, English language has a different social and political status. The most of the time, the fact of knowing it gives some opportunities that are denied for who does not know the international language.
The article Status and function of English as a language of international/intercultural communication in Korea, by Dr. Kyung-Suk Chang, from Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, show the political importance for English in Korea. English schools arrived at Korea in the 19th century. At that time, Royal English School educated young elite offcials. Since then, English has been considered a language of opportunity.
A structural theory of imperialism, Johan Galtung talks about the five types of imperialism: economic, political, military, communication and cultural and shows how these areas are changed in the relationship between dominant and dominated nations.
Growth of Mandarin WorldWide is an example of how the rise of China in the economic world is changing the behavior of Americans who are paying attention to the Mandarin vocabulary in order to increase the chances of integration in the economic market that tends to have the Chinese domination in the coming years.
Globalization can be considered the most responsible for overspread English as an international language. Zack De La Rocha is the vocalist of one of the most important American rock band called Rage against the Machine. His lyrics point many problems related to the American Way of life. In this video (part I and part II), Zack interviews the intellectual and linguist Noam Chomsky to talk about the effects of the globalization in the society throughout the world, specially the effects in the life of the Mexican people.
Cultural flows
Language has been regarded since the Renaissance in terms of territory. Statistics about language, culture and economy, collected by international bodies, have been based on nation states, populations of speakers and relative sizes of economies.
The concept of “global cultural flows” refers to intense international movements of people, cultures and commodities that have restructured the means by which individuals establish personal and collective identities.
The page Popular Culture: from Baseball to Rock and Roll shows the influence of American pop culture in Britain. The site John Bull and Uncle Sam is a project of the Library of Congress and The British Library that brings together material from the two greatest libraries in the English-speaking world.
The English language flows into other languages, which adopt English words and phrases. English also ‘colonises’ the space of other languages by taking over certain communicative domains. But local languages also influence English, giving rise to new hybrid language varieties in second-language-speaking areas.
In this Joel Santana interview, he speaks a very particular English, with a strong Brazilian accent that shows the Portuguese influence.
Something very similar happens in Chinese Pidgin English. The new language is a mixture between English and Chinese.
The immaterial economy
The world’s output is getting lighter. Within a few decades, many more people will be employed in the service industries which characterize economic globalization. New forms of global teleworking are emerging and an increased proportion of the value of goods is produced through language-related activity.
Branding is one way in which value can be added to material goods through immaterial means. The construction of a brand image is primarily a semiotic activity. Companies such as Nike, who have created a global market for their goods, are well known for their propensity to shift manufacture from country to country, in search of the cheapest labor.
One example of this branding construction is this Nike's ad that shows Brazilian and Portuguese soccer's team.
In Nike's site is possible to see the different Englishes around the world. It is possible to choose between one of 12 options of English.
The added value obtained through marketing, however, is the result of activity in languages and places – here we highlight the importance of the English language – other than those in which primary manufacture took place.
The world economy and the role of technology
Technology at its core helps man to overcome barriers in pursuit of facilitating their way before the difficulties encountered when performing any activities.
The definition of the term technology can be material objects of use to humanity, such as machines, but can also encompass broader themes, including systems, methods of organization, and techniques. The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas: examples include "construction technology", "medical technology", or "state-of-the-art technology".
The English language has a crucial role in technological development when the subject turns to the economy and the means for expansion and understanding of the evolution of world economic markets.
When we think about techniques and marketing, the advent of Internet is the first image that comes into our mind. As we know the English language is now the main language used in the construction of websites that seek to improve the knowledge of man and the perfect use of this in search of better results in their respective markets.
Even Brazilian trademarks have their webpage with his English version, as it is possible to see in this page from a Brazilian handcraft's worker. Through this web blog we have a classic example of how globalization can guide the business of a small Brazilian manufacturing that try to expand his business.
Using the Internet, anyone anywhere in the world can see actions and progress of economic markets without ever leaving your office. Consulting a primary source of market information economic from Dow Jones the executives can also have contact with the global markets and all journals that cover the main news related to the theme.
A good example of technology uses for economy is the site Business English Pod. This website is one of the most complete resource founts to help those who wanted to be more connecting with the principal material - tasks, answers, e-books and grammar videos about economic terms, money vocabulary everything related to the economic world.
This video is an episode of a two-part series on IT and computer vocabulary related to the “next generation” of internet technologies, commonly referred to as Web 2.0. Here it is shown several examples of terms of outstanding importance in the global economic market and the internet language. The speaker also emphasized the correct pronunciation of terms highlights its importance in the use of internet language.
