English enjoys worldwide usage today. It is busy being employed by "just about everyone": diplomats; religious leaders; international businessmen; students and entertainers, to name a few.
Take the entertainer (actor) Jackie Chan, for instance. He had stardom in Hong Kong but wished to "reach for the stars" in the USA. Through thick and thin (unless it was part of 'the act') he appears to have made great headway in struggling for some degree of mastery of English. Hence his entertaining career has met with some success on his new acting frontier.
Foreign students wishing to be educated in English-speaking countries must also hone their English to achieve their goal. Economics causes international businessmen to learn English; diplomats and religious leaders to dialogue with it; and even science research largely to engage in its use.
English in its more proper 'standard' form is diminishing however. As more people of the world learn English as a second lg and add in all their respective countries' first language (L1) influence it gets altered and changed sometimes beyond recognition to the native English speaker.
Despite all that, the usage of English is decimating as more people in certain blocks of the world turn to other major languages (lg) in use in those sectors; such as Chinese, Arabic or Spanish regions. They use these lgs for basically the same reasons as English is being utilized in the economic, social, etc areas. All this in time, will lessen the number of users of English and although English usage is still important today, its decline can already be seen.
~ERC 2010~
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English still has a prominent place in the world today. Besides native English speakers, English is the second language (L2) lingua franca of many peoples around the world; it being largely needed for success in the economic, educational and social arenas internationally.
As for the future of English being so necessary---that is debatable. It has been noted that in certain sectors of the world other languages (lg) are coming into major usage.
Since China opened its doors for economic opportunities, businessmen and others are engaging more and more in the use of Mandarin. Thus, a bigger portion of the world is "converting" to Chinese lg usage.
There are also pockets of Chinese in other countries. Take in the USA, for instance, where many individual families still use their native tongue and do not see the need to change to the USA's national lg.
Vancouver, BC, Canada is another example. Large numbers of Cantonese-speaking peoples have moved there; from Hong Kong especially. They have created a "mini-Hong Kong" complete with shopping malls devoted to their own people using their own mother tongue for transactions. The English-speaking native, should she venture onto such turf, feels like the foreigner!
This is similar with blocks of Arab-speaking countries, Hindi sectors, as well as Spanish ones. It is even thought that Spanish may overtake, or at least be as prominent as, English in the USA, making it a Spanish-English bilingual country.
Those peoples who are learning English as an L2 and incorporating their respective countries' idiosyncrasies are changing the face of English. Even today's generation of native English speakers are simplifying English. This is radically seen with the advent of cell phones with all their worse than telegram-like short messaging abbreviations and deviations of spelling and grammar.
It appears then, that although English is still widely used, it's being "watered down" and beginning to take a backseat to other lgs. Therefore in several decades' time English may well NOT be the important 'lingua franca' it once was.
~ERC 2010~
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A global language (lg) is a lg which would be used worldwide. A nice definition thereof is "...it belongs to everyone who speaks it, but it's no one's mother tongue..." so said one chap named Rajagopalan as quoted by Jeremy Harmer in The Practise of English Language Teaching in regard to 'world Englishes'. So saying, a lg that is used in much the same way a pidgin variety functions among the lg communities within a country, functions instead, among the countries of the world and therefore, "belongs to everyone".
Will English be the global lingua franca of the future? English has already made much headway internationally in the realms of diplomacy and economics, for instance. The usage of English may escalate further to some degree as those parts of the world who deem it the global lg begin to become more fluent in English as a second lg.
On the other hand, the increase of English on the global scene is having competition. Other lgs such as Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic and Hindi are closing the gap in their respective blocks of the world. As international businessmen realize this they will arm themselves with those lgs instead and in so doing cast English aside.
Reverting to the other lgs, however, could still limit the users to those particular lg blocks. English seems to be the main link of communication internationally worldwide, for now. Therefore, the race for lg supremacy on the global front may still go in favor of the English language in the immediate, conceivable future.
~ERC 2010~
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Is any one language (lg) better than another? Linguistically speaking, as each lg has its own complete set of syntax, morphology and phonology, no one lg is superior to another. However, if the focus is in connection with the other parts of the world in such terms of economics, information exchange or travel, for example, one would have to answer in the affirmative.
On the home front, within a specific lg community there are dialects that are more preferred than others that are considered that of the more educated. If a person wishes to have social standing within a certain group of society or wants to apply for a better job, for example, their chances of success would be greater having that preferred "lingo of the educated".
Globally, much of the world is presently focusing on China for business and trade; therefore knowledge of the Mandarin lg has become more essential for those individuals or companies who wish greater economic survival, growth and success.
Economics leads, then, to information exchange. The more people know the main lg of the 'target country', the more the information will likely be presented in that particular country's lg; be it, for example, Mandarin in Mandarin-speaking countries, English in English-speaking ones, or Arabic in Arabic-speaking territories. All the better with which to understand each other.
Due to the world's increased interest in China, more tourists are traveling to that destination. Being able to read signs and maps, and having a basic knowledge of Mandarin would greatly assist the traveler in getting about.
In conclusion, English, Mandarin and Arabic have all been mentioned because they have become necessary lgs on the global scene in a more prominent fashion. Thus the increased need of one lg's importance above another. Where the demand is, so will that particular lg take precedence. When viewed in such a manner, then, "Yes!", one lg can be better than another.
~E.R.C. - May 2010~
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