Reflecting on you experience as a learner or teach.doc

Reflecting on you experience as a learner or teacher has the emergence of English as a Lingua Franca has been an entirely beneficial phenomenon for both native and non-native English speakers? Class 7 Shemmy XiIn present-day society, people from different countries become closer and more related with each other in terms of business, politics and culture etc. As a result, it is virtually an urgent need for us to find a language as a Lingua Franca. As a language spoken by people from the most countries all over the world, English is easily chosen as a Lingua Franca(LF). Michael Toolan refers to English as the only truly global language (Toolan 1997 cited in McArthur 2001). However, whether English as a Lingua Franca is entirely beneficial for both native and non-native English speakers (NS and NNS) may trigger heated debate. Indeed, this essay aims to argue that English as a lingua franca may not be entirely beneficial for both NS and NNS if English serves as a Lingua Franca and it may be more beneficial for NS than NNS. In order to demonstrate this, it will be illuminated that English as a Lingua Franca is beneficial for general communication among nations. Whereas there are more benefits to native speakers such as more job opportunities, easier communication between English-speaking countries and more international attention. For NNS, communication is the only benefits. Whats more, as it is not entirely beneficial, some of the drawbacks such as conflicts for English standard and disappearance of minority languages will also be discussed.Apparently, English as a Lingua Franca could ensure communication for both NS and NNS. According to Crystal (2003) lingua franca was strongly needed in the twentieth for political communication. There are numerous examples, like the UN, the WHO and UNESCO etc. (Crystal, 2003: 12). In these international organizations, English can be used as a most spoken working language for international meetings which would boost efficiency and make the process more smoothly. Furthermore, in academic and business areas, a lingua franca is also needed. For individual communication, as it is more frequent for people to travel and easier for people coming from different countries to chat online, with a lingua franca, people may feel more comfortable and easier to live (Crystal, 2003: 13).However, evidence suggests that there are more benefits to native speakers. First and foremost, they can have more job opportunities all over the world. As far as my own experience is concerned, there are really lots of native speakers who serve as language teachers for people with different English levels in China. More importantly, they could always get themselves well-paid. Another point I would like to point out is that as NS, it is easier for them to communicate in areas of politics, culture and business instead of struggling to learn a language whose system may be totally different from their own like NNS do. In China, more and more job opportunities go to people who master English well. In this circumstance, people who would like to get a more smartly-paid job should spare no effort to pass seemingly unfinished qualification examinations. What is also balanced significant is that English as a lingua franca has attracted more international attention to English-speaking countries. This can be exemplified by the example of how people respect a language teacher from English-speaking countries in China. Frankly, these teachers are always very popular as they have a really decent accent regarded by people in China.The downside of English as a LF is that as is spoken by so many countries, the issues of Standard English have raised much discussion. As a result, conflicts for the orthodoxy of English would cause huge confusion about which standard to choose. For example, whether American Standard English(AmSE) or British Standard English(BrSE) should be used in other countries has been decided by many territories. In 1900, people might say it was the Queens or Kings English(McArthur, 2001:1). However, the US is also reluctant to show weakness. With the spread of computers, US print and writing are taking advantages of this in order to pursur its orthodoxy (McArthur, 2001: 7). Whats worse, nations like Australia and Canada also seek to find its own place in this conflict. The more intense the combat is, the more confused NNS would be. Another drawback we should not neglect is that English as a LF may result in disappearance of minority languages. As is known to all, diversity is very significant to most kind of things. If more and more people get used to speaking English instead of practicing their own language every day, many small languages may die out. This may ruin the diversity of languages. On balance, this essay has demonstrated that English as a lingua franca may not be entirely beneficial for both NS and NNS and it may be more beneficial for NS than NNS. Frankly speaking, there are various kinds of benefits for people if English serves as a lingua franca. However, the drawbacks of it should also not be denied. On one hand, English as a lingua franca has contributed to internation