Question

dominant, differences, mother tongue, status, varieties, lingua franca, frequently, native, influence, immigrants, forms, circumstances, interlocking reasons, a vital linguistic tool, communication (2)

English is the national language in such countries as the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It is the 1) …………. of nearly five hundred million people. 

600 mln use English as an official second language in people in 60 countries (India, Pakistan Japan, China and African countries). As the fastest-spreading language in the human history English is spoken by 1.75 billion people worldwide that is one in every four world citizen.

Although English is not the language with the largest number of 2) …………….. or “first” speakers, it has become a lingua franca. Lingua franca can be defined as a language widely adopted for 3) ………………. between two speakers whose native languages are different from each other’s and where one or both speakers are using it as a “second” language. Many people living in the European Union, for example, frequently operate in English as well as their own languages (where these are different). The economic and cultural 4) ………………. of the United States has led to increased English use in many areas of the globe. Like Latin in Europe in the Middle Ages, English seems to be one of the main languages of international 5) ……………….. .

There are a number of 6) ………..…..for the popularity of English as 7) ………….. . Many of these are historical, but they also include economic and cultural factors which have influenced and sustained the spread of the language. As a consequence of its lingua franca 8) ……..……., English sometimes finds itself with conflict with more local languages, such as Welsh in Wales, or French in Canada.

English can even have negative effect on the languages it comes into contact with, downgrading them so that their use becomes restricted, and in extreme 9) ……………….., bringing about their decline.

English, much like other languages, can take many 10) ……………... . Depending on who speaks or writes it and where they do this, there can be great 11) ……………….. in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. There are 12) ………………..of British English and American English, Black English, Hispanic English, East Coast English, Chinese English, etc. among many others, and the future waves of 13) ……………….. will appropriate the language for their own uses and in their own ways.

It is not clear that English will remain 14) ……………….. among world languages. However, there is no doubt that it is and will remain 15) ……………….. for many business people, academics, tourists and citizens of the world who wish to communicate easily across nationalities for many years to come.