英语专业论文范文(4)
III. The Spreading Causes of English on a Global Scale
The spreading causes of English on a global scale cover the contemporary situation of English around the globe, factors of spread of English on a global scale, and various ways of spread of English to different areas.
3.1English around the Globe
In today’s world, English is widely used in five continents of the globe. English, as an international language, or a world language, no longer belongs to the native speakers of English. It is known that in the native English speaking countries, English is considered as the first or the second language. While for many other countries, it is used as foreign language. Therefore, owning the largest speaking population, there is no territory in which English has not been popularized in the world.
In reflecting on the situation of English’s global spread, what can not be underestimated is the significance of the overall population figure. As the soaring number of world population goes on, the users of English is also increasing fast. A well-known British Council has ever estimated that about a billion people engaged in learning English in 2000. It is certainly that among them, all learners are included, from beginners to the advanced ones. This evidence reveals that a growing interest in English has sprung out around the globe.
With the global status, a large number of world organizations are named in English or confirms English as the official or working language, like UNESCO, WHO, NATO, OPEC, IOC, etc. The approaching Shanghai World Expo will also attract a huge number of visitors from all over the world. It is certain that at that time in Shanghai, people will use English to communicate or share opinions mainly in English, as it is an undoubtedly international language in the world.
3.2Factors of Spread of English on a Global Scale
As to factors of spread of English on global scale, the thesis has already posed that Crystal’s claim of two major causes in the part above, which are “the expansion of British colonial power”, as well as “the emergence of the United States as the leading economic power of the 20th century”.
