Teach English in Zhongtang Zhen - Tianjin

english as a Global LanguageThe origins of the english language date back to the 5th century AD when three Germanic tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes invaded and settled in England. [1] This early Germanic language was later influenced considerably by Latin, Old Norse, and the Anglo-Norman french but by around 1500, after the end of the Great Vowel Shift, modern english had emerged. [2] With the rise of the British Empire in the 18th century and the emergence of the usa as a super power in the mid 20th century, english was dispersed around the world. Now as globalization and technology connect the world like never before, the english language continues to assert itself as a global language. It is the common language in almost every endeavor, from science to air traffic control and maritime communication to business discourse and popular entertainment. Books, magazines, newspapers, movies and television programs written or spoken in english are available in countries all around the world. Its dominance has been further consolidated by the Internet, where some sources say 80 percent of the world's web content is in english. [3] The deep prevalence of english in all facets of society means that people are wanting to learn the language at unprecedented levels. Although english is spoken natively by about 370 million people in the world, a further 1.1 billion people speak it as a second or foreign language. [1] Some scholars say that now about one-fourth of the world?s population can communicate in english to some degree. This number continues to increase as regions like Europe and China fuel an ever-increasing demand for english. Within the European Union, 89% of school children study english as a foreign language. [1] In China there are now over 300 million people learning english. Within the next 5 years all state workers under the age of 40 will have to have mastered a minimum of 1000 english phrases and all kindergartens will be required to have started teaching english to their children. [4] In japan, South Korea an India too, english is an essential part of the curriculum and growing rapidly. This demand means that english language centers in developing regions are multiplying at unprecedented levels. Pearson Education, the world?s leading education and information company, has plans to open 50 new english language centers in China, almost doubling their current tally of 66. With this target they will reach around 100,000 students daily. [5] John Fallon, Chief Executive of Pearson International, said: ?We?ve opened 6 new centres this year and now plan to step up the pace of expansion. This is just one of many ways in which we will continue to help meet the rapidly growing demand for high quality education across China?. They now employ more than 3,000 people in China, the largest group of Pearson colleagues outside the US and UK. [5] The rise of english as a global language has many people wondering how it will shape the world in the future and what will become of the language. Many believe its dominance as a global language is here to say. John McWhorter, a linguist at the Manhattan Institute and the author of a history of language called "The Power of Babel," is clearly of this opinion. "english is dominant in a way that no language has ever been before," he said. "It is vastly unclear to me what actual mechanism could uproot english given conditions as they are." [6] But many other language professionals also believe the future will be a bilingual one. By 2020, native speakers will make up only 15 percent of the estimated 2 billion people who will be using or learning english. [7] There is little precedent to help us understand what will happen to english when the majority of its speakers do so as a second or foreign language. Already as foreign speakers increase new dialects and varieties are evolving and are being fed back into the language as a whole. Perhaps in the future, as India develops commercially and economically, indian english might have an impact beyond it?s own border. Whatever transpires it seems inevitable the language will continue to evolve just as it has done over its 1500 odd years of existence. For now, teachers of english as a foreign language are in record demand and that?s not going to change for some time yet.