Has English as a Lingua Franca been an Entirely Beneficial Phenomenon?

湯青媚

Abstract:：It seems that, throughout history, English has always played an essential role in communication around the world. Thus, many people believe English as a lingua franca is absolutely beneficial for both native and non-native English speakers. However, this essay will attempt to demonstrate that although its advantages overtakes its disadvantages, it does not mean it is totally beneficial.

Key Words: Lingua Franca; Commercial Contact; Cultural Exchange

1. Introduction

English as a lingua franca can be defined as “all the speakers, either native or non-native, all use World Standard English to lean cross-national and cross-cultural elements to communicate with each other” (McArthur, 2001). There is a controversy over the extent to which it is considered completely beneficial. This paper will analyze its pros and cons from three aspects.

2. Commercial Contact

English as a lingua franca promotes the commercial communication among countries and empowers the poor in those undeveloped countries. With the help of it, it would be less complicated when negotiating or signing contracts during the business process. For example, if a Japanese company wants to do business with a German and a South Arabic corporation at the same time in a Singapore hotel, their all using English as a lingua franca would be more effective than translating one language into three others one by one. In addition, those poor countries could also have opportunities to introduce their products or raw material to other countries, to attract foreign capital to develop their economy. However, someone may debate that it would trigger a larger gap between poor and rich, concerning that some remote countries are even unable to get access to English. It is possible that such situation is happening among some countries, but we would like to persuade the developed countries to help those poor countries to develop together and finally create fortune together. Therefore, it seems clear that on the one hand, it could facilitate the multinational business and on the other hand, it may also widen the gap between poor and rich which would be solved in the future.

3. Cultural Exchange

Evidence suggests that the prevalence of English as a lingua franca promotes the emphasis on English learning which may kill the culture in some countries or even leads to the disappearance of other languages. (Crystal, 2003). Chinese poetry is a good example of paying less attention to traditional culture once English becomes an essential part in Chinese syllabuses. As a result, you could find children speak English everywhere, but it is very hard to find a child who can recite some Chinese poetry. Whereas someone refutes it enhances cultural exchange that make the world much closer. People are able to get known of what the world is getting on, through newspapers, internet, fax written in English. Their getting more understanding about the culture and customs in other countries does help them communicate much easier. For instant, a part of women in Iran wear sari to cover their hair in order to show their pious respect towards the Islamism. It is considered to be luring somebody into sin when women show their hair and face to the public. So when we are chatting with women from Iran, we should try to avoid to be involved into an embarrassing situation. Thus, it is both cultural exchange and risking of languages and culture disappearance that English as a lingua franca may bring to us.

4. Political Cooperation

It is true that English as a lingua franca would stimulate those native English speaking countries to own priority to dominate other countries. However, in contemporary society, there is no imperialism any longer to govern those weaker countries. Maybe those developed countries seem to be more powerful than those undeveloped countries, but it is their economic and military factors that make sense. English as a lingua franca actually brings a lot of benefits in political cooperation among countries. In 1945, the United Nations, an important international organization for political exchange was established. After that, a lot of other institutions were built one by one, such as World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Health Organization and so on. Those bodies have largely promote the development of politics all over the world when they negotiate and discuss together rather than using war to tackle the disputes. Thus, it is obvious that instead of dictatorship, what English as a lingua franca brings to us is a warmer and more harmonious world.

5. Conclusion

In brief, although English as a lingua franca has brought benefits in the above three aspects, it may also exert influence on widening the gap between rich and poor, hastening the vanishing of some culture and languages. Therefore, we would not say it is entirely beneficial.

References:

[1]Crystal,D. (2003), English as a World Language. Cambridge: CUP

[2]McArthur, Tom. (ed.) (2001) ‘World English and World Englishes: Trends, Tensions, Varieties, and Standard, Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press.