· Web viewEnglish is the most widely spoken language on Earth. About 375 million people have...
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Name_______________________________________ AP HG 5.5 Date______________ CULTURAL PATTERNS - LANG How dominant is the English language? 1. English is the language with the richest and widest-ranging vocabulary . The Oxford English Dictionary numbers over 500,000 words and when regional and technical vocabulary sets are also considered, English vocabulary can boast of over a million distinct words. 2. English is the most widely spoken language on Earth. About 375 million people have English as their mother tongue while about 750 million speak English as a second language. Others estimate the English speaking population at well over 2 billion. 3. One in four people is capable of speaking English with a satisfactory competence level. Wherever you might be in the world there’s a 25% chance you will find someone you can easily communicate in English with! 4. The world of the Internet is primarily built and conducted in English. It’s the language most Internet users use online. 5. Half the scientific publications and journals are in English which makes it easier for English speaking professionals to access the latest research. 6. The English language is officially getting larger by about 4,000 words each year, based on the amount of words officially added to dictionaries annually. N early 4,000 new words are added each year to the Oxford English Dictionary , or OED. Such fast growth is also largely
Transcript of · Web viewEnglish is the most widely spoken language on Earth. About 375 million people have...
Name_______________________________________ AP HG 5.5Date______________
CULTURAL PATTERNS - LANG
How dominant is the English language?
1. English is the language with the richest and widest-ranging vocabulary. The Oxford English Dictionary numbers over 500,000 words and when regional and technical vocabulary sets are also considered, English vocabulary can boast of over a million distinct words.
2. English is the most widely spoken language on Earth. About 375 million people have English as their mother tongue while about 750 million speak English as a second language. Others estimate the English speaking population at well over 2 billion.
3. One in four people is capable of speaking English with a satisfactory competence level. Wherever you might be in the world there’s a 25% chance you will find someone you can easily communicate in English with!
4. The world of the Internet is primarily built and conducted in English. It’s the language most Internet users use online.
5. Half the scientific publications and journals are in English which makes it easier for English speaking professionals to access the latest research.
6. The English language is officially getting larger by about 4,000 words each year, based on the amount of words officially added to dictionaries annually. Nearly 4,000 new words are added each year to the Oxford English Dictionary, or OED. Such fast growth is also largely the result of technology, which has led to several new words and new uses for old ones. Social media, too, is quickly spreading new words through the general public, which then leads to the words appearing in dictionaries.
In addition, many of the words added to the OED in recent years are portmanteaus. A portmanteau is a word made from shortening and combining two other words. A
few examples are: "brunch," which combines the words "breakfast" and "lunch"; "motel," which combines the words "motor" and "hotel"; and "carjack," from the words "car" and "hijack."
Other common Lingua Francaso East Africa:o South Asia:o Southeast Asia:o Former Soviet Union:
A group that learns English or another lingua franca may learn a simplified form, called _____________________________. Learn a few words and grammatical rules of the lingua franca, while mixing in some
of their own
The Global Dominance of English & The Importance of Preserving Local Languages
The Global Dominance of EnglishLingua Franca =
o The language for international communication is _____________.
Example: A polish airliner flying over France speaks to traffic controller on the ground in English
o
The Threat of ENGLISH Dominance
In the face of global domination of a lingua franca such as English, ____________________ _____________________________________________________________________
Recent efforts have been made to ____________________________ local languages Local languages are important as an element of _________________________
The rapid growth in importance of English is reflected in the percentage of students learning English as a second language in school. More than _______ of students in the European Union learn English in middle or high
school Students around the world want to learn English because they believe
__________________________________________________________________________________________________o ___________ has even considered adding English as a second official language
