English as a global language

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English as a global language
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See also: [/i][/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_in_computing][i][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]English in computing[/i][/u][/color][/size][/url][i][size=21], [/i][/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_English][i][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]International English[/i][/u][/color][/size][/url][i][size=21], and [/i][/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_language][i][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]World language[/i][/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21]
Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a "[/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_language][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]world language[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21]", the [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_franca][i][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]lingua franca[/i][/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] of the modern era.[/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language//lcite_note-Graddol-7][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff][8][/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] While English is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_language][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]second language[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] around the world. Some linguists[[/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_words][i][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]who?[/i][/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21]] believe that it is no longer the exclusive cultural sign of "native English speakers", but is rather a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it continues to grow. It is, by international treaty, the official language for aerial and maritime communications.[[/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed][i][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]citation needed[/i][/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21]] English is an official language of the [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]United Nations[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] and many other international organizations, including the [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Olympic_Committee][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]International Olympic Committee[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21].
English is the language most often studied as a foreign language in the European Union (by 89% of schoolchildren), followed by French (32%), German (18%), and Spanish (8%).[/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language//lcite_note-33][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff][34][/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] In the EU, a large fraction of the population reports being able to converse to some extent in English. Among non-English speaking countries, a large percentage of the population claimed to be able to converse in English in the [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]Netherlands[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] (87%), [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]Sweden[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] (85%), [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]Denmark[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] (83%), [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]Luxembourg[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] (66%), [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]Finland[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] (60%), [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenia][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]Slovenia[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] (56%), [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]Austria[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] (53%), [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]Belgium[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] (52%), and Germany (51%).[/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language//lcite_note-34][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff][35][/u][/color][/size][/url] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]Norway[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] and [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]Iceland[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] also have a large majority of competent English-speakers.[[/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed][i][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]citation needed[/i][/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21]]
[/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]Books[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21], [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]magazines[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21], and [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]newspapers[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] written in English are available in many countries around the world. English is also the most commonly used language in the [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]sciences[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21].[/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language//lcite_note-Graddol-7][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff][8][/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] In 1997, the [/size][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Citation_Index][u][size=21][color:6a35=#0000ff]Science Citation Index[/u][/color][/size][/url][size=21] reported that 95% of its articles were written in English, even though only half of them came from authors in English-speaking countries.

H.A[/size]