According to some linguists, the global language system is experiencing various new trends because of technology and some other novel developments in communication systems. The world of science is today driven by a few dominant languages such as English, Chinese, Russian, French, German, Spanish and Japanese. Out of these languages, the English language has become the most popular in the world of science.
At glance, somebody might think that the reason is most likely linked to the supremacy of some powerful English-speaking nations in the world. It is obvious that the very reason is not out of the grid because it has a strong base. However, there is another important reason that is clearly visible in science world. Many experts as well as scientists from non-English-speaking nations think at present that they need to publish scientific publications in English to reach a wider international audience.
According to the constitution of my country, English is the link language. We have mainly two vernacular languages such as Sinhalese and Tamil, but people who use local languages are linked by English to a greater extent. To my best knowledge, the first language in Singapore is English but Mandarin, Malay and Tamil are used by people as secondary languages. In India, a country with a wider diversity far and wide, the English language plays a leading role at all levels in the social order. Hence, it is very clear that the English language has gradually become an integral part of many cultures at present. Most of us use English today within our “local identity”. In this context, the volume of people speaking English around the world has been increased to a greater extent.
With this unique nature in global language system, the experts, researches, scholars and others have been able to use the English language as a “bridge of multi-connectors” to network groups of people speaking different languages. We really need not to study “Shakespeare English” in order to deal with the current setting in the world, but modern English or global English is so flexible and can be easily rooted in alien soils. Therefore, the knowledge originated at one end in the planet is fast disseminated across the globe as a result of this “handy courier”, the English language.
Good Luck!
Comments