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Nguyen Tu Anh

There are so many varieties and accents in English that English will soon lose its appeal as the worlds choice language of communication. Discuss. Like any other global language before it, English is spoken not necessarily by the most number of people in the world, but by the most powerful people. As fluency in English becomes one of the most important requirements for people who want to have a share in the global economy or to extend their influence to a large audience, the number of people speaking English has been rising rapidly. Accompanying this is the increase in varieties and accents in English. Some argue that this diversity reduces its appeal as the worlds choice language of communication; even so there are more reasons to believe that it has minimal effects on the popularity of English. This is because the current status of English induces integration purpose and business purpose among English-speakers, and because the entrenchment of English as a global language is hard, if not impossible to reverse. It is hard to deny that the many varieties and accents in English make it more complex for people speaking different varieties to understand one another. The evolution of English in different communities has led to a divergence in terms of pronunciation, vocabulary and meaning of certain phrases. Native speakers with a British accent pronounce words differently from those with an American accent. Also, the meaning of a word in British English may be completely unrelated to that of the same word in American English. With more varieties of English available, this often confuses non-native speakers who would like to learn the language as they are uncertain of whom they should follow. Consequently, this diversity has some effects in deterring people from learning English as a global language, because the way it is spoken is divided, which is quite similar to having different languages. However, it can be seen that the diversity in English accents and varieties is, in a way, helpful for non-native speakers to be identified with the groups they want to be a part of. Big English-speaking communities such as the British, American or Canadian are undoubtedly pre-eminent both economically and socially. The ease of immigration has allowed many people from less developed regions of the world to migrate to such advanced societies. The ability to speak the native accent will be of help to immigrants when they try to adapt to the new environment. For example, either as a habit or as a result of the need to fit in, immigrants in Singapore generally adopt the not-so-elegant way of speaking called Singlish and find it easier to communicate with the local people. Their purpose of integrating into and being identified with certain societies speeds up the evolution of English language. This enables people within English-speaking groups understand one another better and it does not weaken the position of English as a global language but indeed reinforces its popularity and usability. Besides, except for non-native speakers who want to be part of particular English-speaking communities, the most common motivation of people who speak English as a second language is to meet the demand of their jobs. As a result, the kind of language they are required to master is one for business, not all the idioms, slangs and informal phrases. Indeed, the different variants of English words are often for such expressions, while in the context of peoples working environment, formal and formularised formats are dominant. These formats, such as that of business letters, invitations, correspondence between corporations are usually consistent across different English-speaking groups. Thus, the use of English as a worlds choice of communication to facilitate businesses and cooperation between different countries and organisations around the world is definitely not affected by the diversity of different versions of English. Apart from that, the extensive use of English as a medium for education, dissemination of information in a global scale as well as the conveyance and sharing of scientific knowledge removes almost every reason for the reduced popularity of English as a common language for the world. If English were to lose its appeal as a global language, it is natural to assume that one or several other languages would replace it. However, according to The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language by David Crystal, over two-thirds of the worlds scientists write in English and of all the information in the worlds electronic retrieval systems, 80% is stored in English. To reverse this and replace English by any other language, either we must invent a translating machine with stupendous capacity or we must spend years after years converting the English texts to that other language. Not to mention the inaccuracies in translation, such scenario seems extremely improbable. Therefore, it is reasonable to say that Englishs appeal as the worlds choice of communication is to remain, out of necessity. From the points discussed above, it is clear that Englishs position as a global language is not to be shaken. Though there have been signs of the rising popularity of several other languages such as Mandarin, French, Spanish, and so on, their influence on the worlds economy and scientific arena is far too limited compared to English. If there were to be any changes in the worlds choice language of communication, it would not happen in any time soon.

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