雅思写作素材Language culture.doc

Language culture 类 语言类 Some people think the advantages of the spread of English in the world outweigh its disadvantages. To what extent do you agree or disagree? In the contemporary world, the English language is prevalent in the international political, economic and cultural scenes. Apart from that, it has consolidated its status as the most-studied instrument of communication in hundreds of thousands of educational institutions. The dominance of English has been a breeding ground for spirited debate not just within the linguistic academic, but also in the press as well as the general public. As I see it, the boons brought about by the spread of English far outweigh the banes. Granted, the proliferation of English does not come without drawbacks. First, it renders a host of indigenous languages obsolete. According to a study conducted by UNESCO, over 200 ethnic languages went extinct in 2004, primarily due to the linguistic assimilation of ethnic minorities into the English language. These languages had crystallized and conveyed unique indigenous traditions, rites, rituals and mores and their extinction constituted an anthropological disaster. Secondly, the encroachments of English erode the cultural identity of other races. The prevalence of English has a chilling effect on the purity of other languages and it can aggravate the sense of cultural inferiority among the non-native speakers of English. However, the proliferation of English can generate even more benefits. To begin with, English as a global lingual Franca facilitates cross-cultural communication. Today, eight in every ten international conferences designate English as their chief working language; and ninety-eight percent leading scientific journals in the world are published in English or have an English version. Further, the extensive use of a common language has a unifying effect on people who do not speak the same mother tongue. Language barriers naturally engender a measure of distrust or alie