Paper 4 Section 1

 The spread of the English language started around the seventeenth century after being introduced by Great Britain. English originated in England and has spread to the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and numerous other countries. The World Economic Forum estimates about ‘1.5 billion people’ speak English while fewer than ‘400 million people’ have it as their primary language. Countries like China and India also have a sufficient amount of English speakers. According to a study published by Cambridge University Press, up to ‘350 million’ Chineses people have a basic knowledge of English, while India ranks at around ‘100 million.’

The future status of English in an international context is drastically shifting. With the introduction of the internet and its technological advances, English’s importance has decreased. Lingua franca – ‘the language people are most likely to turn to when they don't share a first language’ – is one of the root causes of this decrease. For example, a Chinese speaker is engaging in a conversation with someone who speaks French. Because of this language barrier, they are more likely to choose a language they are familiar with when conversating. In most cases, this is English. But thanks to the internet, this is rarely the case anymore. 

The internet gives users access to anything and everything they could ever search for. One application, in particular, is its computer translator and voice recognition technology. With this application, users can import anything they want to say and change it into another language with just a click of a button. These applications also offer voice recognition, allowing the user to simply speak into the mic and translate from there. Other advancements allow for an entire switch in language on any website. These applications allow for the user to merely change the set language to one they may comprehend. 

I personally use Google Translate when speaking to my Danish friend and learning how her language is written and pronounced. With Google Translate, you are able to import any sentence or word you want and then translate it into another language. This program also has the capability to show you how the translation is pronounced. 

Though these technological resources may seem helpful, they are extremely damaging to English’s title as being the most known language in the world, or as some may say, the ‘world’s favorite language.’ Because of how easy it is to switch languages back and forth on the internet, more people are becoming less fond of actually learning these languages themselves. Machine translation is slowly taking over, and the world’s top global language may be numbered. 

Wonkyum Lee, a South Korean computer scientist for Gridspace, has been working on developing voice recognition technology that could change the future forever. This technology is so advanced that when you call a customer service helpline, you won't be able to tell if you're speaking with a human or a computer. In addition, Stanford University Professor, Christopher Manning, has insisted that there is no reason why translation technology can't be as good or even better than human translators in the future. 

This raises the question; Can English remain the ‘world’s favorite’ language? With the rapid spread of technological development happening globally, English’s status has become threatened. The future of English is in the hands of the internet, and to me, that isn't a comforting thing. English has already begun decreasing because of the abbreviations and slang that have been produced via social media. For example, phrases like ‘what are you doing’ have been shortened to ‘wyd’, and ‘I love you’ has morphed into ‘ily.’ Now, with translation technology in the mix, the future growth of English is at high risk.