Rhetorical analysis - Essay Example

The article is in response to the issue of globalization and the need to for a common language to facilitate it. This relates to the concept of culture and its influence, as well as difficulty in communication using non-standard native language. This is by revealing the need for the global society to communicate with ease whether it is in business or cross cultural as seen in the case of Sweden. This is also in terms of other languages having increased numbers of native speakers, as Chinese, but the need to communicate on a cross-cultural basis.

Ergo necessitating a common language a position English has proven capable of filling as is demonstrated in the discourse. Concerning ethos, Seth creates credibility in his article by showing accurate command of the topic at hand and citing credible experts in the fields of linguistics and English. The experts include linguists and skeptics such as Nicholas Olster and David Crystal who give expert opinion on issues regarding English as a global language (Mydans). Nicholas Purports that while Latin might have appeared set to dominate the world in the 15th century, English is the language to watch in post-20th century times.

Crystal on the other hand agrees that English is no doubt dominant in the world than any other language has ever been; nevertheless, he does not commit himself to predict its relevance as interminable. In addition, the author pays attention to other aspects of different language such as Hindi, Phoenician, and Chinese to show cultural differences and their impact on English as a global language these work towards building a strong base for making his claims and facts solid. This is because he presents them as languages that could have a claim to global dominance by virtue of the number of native speakers.

He however explains that many parents teach their children English as a second language “to help them become citizens of an increasingly intertwined world.” Basic knowledge of linguistics is sufficient for one to understand that a language gains prominence not due to its intrinsic structural or lexical configuration but the number of people accepting and learning it as a second language. By conceding to this fact, and undertaking to provide a rational explanation as to why they are not global languages, he appeals to the reader’s sense of logic and hence earns himself credibility points by his objective explanations.

Moreover, the writer’s objectivity portrays the writer’s attitude as neutral and unbiased since he evidently is supporting the dominant status of English because of empirical evidences. Based on the writer’s seemly skeptical point of view and the fact that the article appeared on one of America’s prominent newspapers and is available online, his primary audience was no doubt skeptics, and anyone looking for information on the future of English and its globalization. The article’s global outreach makes any global citizen with access to the paper online possibly accidentally (as they may not have been looking for the information), or in related linguistic research a conceivable secondary audience.

The attitude or stand of the writer is that of a skeptic as it is based on plenty of speculation, especially on the issue of its