英语全球化对当地语言存续之影响.docVIP

PAGE 3 Impact of English Globalization on Vernaculars’ Survival 英語全球化對當地語言存續之影響 二水國中教師蕭建峻 1. Introduction: English Globalization 1. 緒論：英語全球化 Because of the influences of former British Empire and the USA’s political/economic power, English nowadays is used in a lot of areas around the world. Once called as the “sun-never set country” in the 19th century, the British Empire owned about 1/4 land of the world. At that time, the language of the ruler, the English, was the language chosen for communication between different colonies and within the British Empire. However, the power started shifting from the British Empire to the USA during WWII as the USA became the armory of the whole free world. After WWII, the USA successfully grabbed the opportunity to become the super power of the world in politic and economic stages as the European countries worked hard to recover from the war. While the British Empire and the USA stretched their power to the world, both countries also brought the language, English, to the whole world simultaneously. English now is the official language for more than 80 countries ( HYPERLINK /wiki/List_of_countries_where_English_is_an_official_languge /wiki/List_of_countries_where_English_is_an_official_languge 2009) and becomes the most favorite language for international communication. With the globalization of English, English is popular in many fields, such as academy, international political meetings, entertainment, business, and even personal social interaction. (Buck, 2005) In the field of mass media, English is the most favorite language. Take the TV news as an example. CNN and BBC are good choices to get information about the current international news. The possible reasons are not only the giant organization of these two news agencies but also the language CNN and BBC use for spreading news, i.e., English. In the entertainment industry, English has an unparalleled position. In the movie field, Hollywood plays an important rol