However, as I progressed through primary education, in third grade learning English became compulsory. At first, it was challenging to learn the language, but with time I became familiar with some terms. I could read and write some basic terms but I could not communicate fluently in English. The classroom was the only avenue where I used English, after class most students communicated using Mandarin. Moreover, back at home, we only used Mandarin to communicate. As a result, it became difficult for me to communicate fluently in English since I had no avenues to practice apart from a few class sessions.
The more I progressed through primary and high school education, learning to communicate in English became a necessity. Moreover, our teachers begun to use English as the main language of instruction in science subjects. Although other foreign languages such as French and Spanish were taught in our school, learning these languages was optional. This goes to show that English is by far the most taught foreign language and its proficiency is increasingly required (Phillipson, 2006). In the course of my studies, I encountered numerous challenges when learning English.
As a result, I began to question the essence of learning English. I did not understand why so much emphasis was placed on learning a foreign language. With time, I began to understand that the world is increasingly becoming globalised in terms of people, cultural and economic relationships. Hence, there is need for common language of communication that unifies people around the world (Hui, 2001). It is worth questioning why English and not other languages has become a global language. Geographically, there are six continents which are habited by more English speakers than non-English speakers.
For instance, Australia and North America have a bigger number of English speakers than any other continents (Phillipson, 1994). In Europe, a good number of the population is made up of English speakers. Asia, South America and Africa comprise of countries colonised by the British. As a result, the English culture and English language spread in these countries. In addition to this, Britain and the United States are the two major economically and politically powerful and influential countries.
Their influence around the world has further heightened the use of English. It is thus evident that English is considered as a global language mainly because it is more geographically widespread than any other language (Hui, 2001). After doing Year 10 in China, we moved to Australia and I subsequently did my year 11 and 12 in a High School in Melbourne. Since then, I have made significant progress in communicating in English. I also gained substantial fluency when communicating in English.
In the course of my undergraduate program, my English has improved drastically, I understand English completely and I can write and speak English fluently. As I reflect on my experience in learning English over the years, I have gained more understanding on the notion of English and globalisation. The sentiments of Carl Marx make more sense to me more than ever. Marx once said; “If you sing ‘The Internationale’ you will be able to find friends everywhere in the world”. I find that these sentiments to be very true especially when it comes to English and globalisation.
As the world is continuously becoming globalised, it is essential for people to adapt to these trends by learning to communicate effectively in English so that they can be able to connect with people around for cultural and socio-economic purposes. Crystal (1997) observes that over 85 % of International organisations use English as the official language and over 85% of the film market around the world is in English. Similarly, Zai, Zheng and Zhang (1999) note that 80% of academic papers and scientific periodical are published in English.
Moreover, the world’s largest broadcasters such as ABC, CNN, NBC, BBC, CBC and CBS among many others air English broadcasts.
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