Is There a Danger That English, as the Medium of International University Instruction and of Academic Technology and Publishing, Will Play an Increasingly Elitist Role in the Field of Education?
Introduction
As the technology improves, it shrinks the borders among different regions and brings the world closer together with no hindrance. Under the effect of globalization, interpersonal communication is facilitated. And English becomes the common language over the world. In the 2000s, the number of English speakers worldwide increase to over 1800 millions. The European Union reports that almost half of Western Europeans speak conversational English. From a 2012 article in English Today by Bolton and Graddol, states that around 400 million people in China are currently learning English.
English seems to be dominating in different areas, including technology, education and publishing.
On the aspect of Science and Technology, English has been a common language in the scientific world. 98% of German physicists claim English as their working language. They are closely followed by chemists (83%), biologists (81%) and psychologists (81%). To exchange with other scientists from other countries, English always be used in the field of science. Also, the Science Citation Index reports that over 95% of all of its documents are English documents. The Internet also plays a role in making English become the dominant language in the world. By far, the majority of online resources are written in English. And most forums are frequented by people who can speak English, so it means that sharing of ideas online is more accessible to those who can read and write in English.
English has been the predominant language in the publishing industry. This makes its dominance of translations has increased, so English has a much better chance of translation than those writing in other language. When English represented about a quarter of the world publishing market in the early 1960’s, the percentage of English in translations was already 40%. And journalists and writers around the world are finding a good command of English to be an increasingly useful skill.
English also
As the technology improves, it shrinks the borders among different regions and brings the world closer together with no hindrance. Under the effect of globalization, interpersonal communication is facilitated. And English becomes the common language over the world. In the 2000s, the number of English speakers worldwide increase to over 1800 millions. The European Union reports that almost half of Western Europeans speak conversational English. From a 2012 article in English Today by Bolton and Graddol, states that around 400 million people in China are currently learning English.
English seems to be dominating in different areas, including technology, education and publishing.
On the aspect of Science and Technology, English has been a common language in the scientific world. 98% of German physicists claim English as their working language. They are closely followed by chemists (83%), biologists (81%) and psychologists (81%). To exchange with other scientists from other countries, English always be used in the field of science. Also, the Science Citation Index reports that over 95% of all of its documents are English documents. The Internet also plays a role in making English become the dominant language in the world. By far, the majority of online resources are written in English. And most forums are frequented by people who can speak English, so it means that sharing of ideas online is more accessible to those who can read and write in English.
English has been the predominant language in the publishing industry. This makes its dominance of translations has increased, so English has a much better chance of translation than those writing in other language. When English represented about a quarter of the world publishing market in the early 1960’s, the percentage of English in translations was already 40%. And journalists and writers around the world are finding a good command of English to be an increasingly useful skill.
English also