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English Is World's Lingua Franca
English Is World's Lingua Franca
English Is World's Lingua Franca
430532
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120729/opinion/English-is-world-s-lingua-franca.430532
The prestigious Politecnico di Milano, a world leading school of engineering, announced in April 2012 that with effect from 2014 all postgraduate courses and a large number of undergraduate courses will be taught and assessed entirely in English. According to the universitys rector: We strongly believe our classes should be international classes and the only way to have international classes is to use the English language. He asserts that other Italian universities will follow. In an age of globalisation and internationalisation of higher education, the only way to attract overseas students from the emerging economies of India, China and Asia, and fund ongoing research, is to have courses in English. As the Politecnico put it, there is no other choice. At the end of the day, the market place dictates. English is the lingua franca of commerce; a number of non-English companies adopt English as their company language; transnational companies and companies with international brands do likewise. Globalisation has witnessed an increasing number of mergers between companies domicile in different countries, these too, in large measure, have adopted English as the language of communication and as a global marketing tool. English gives them a global perspective, they no longer belong to or are associated with a particular nation or culture, they belong instead to the world; modernity is associated with English. Contracts between companies that do not share a common language are, more often than not, drafted in English. Furthermore, international tenders require applicants to submit their offer in English or to submit an English version. English is gradually becoming the language of diplomacy, with a new generation of diplomats being trained in British and American universities. Nowhere is this more obvious than in EU institutions and affiliated agencies which, while promoting plurlingualism, has established English as the supranational language of these institutions. The world is a village and English is the lingua franca; institutes of higher education have come to recognise this. Italys most prestigious business school, Bocconi University, has been offering courses in English for over a decade. Their reasoning: The lingua franca of business is English and you need to know it. Our students are very active on the international market and demand an international environment. The aim is to give students important tools to do work in a globalised world. A command of English is a prerequisite for employment in a globalised world. With the exception of Spanish and French in their former colonies, the other European languages are now parochial languages; what is to become of them? Clearly, they must be preserved for reasons of national identity and preservation of culture. In this regard a pass rate of 56.6 per cent in the Maltese Sec is inadequate for a national language; is it perhaps time for a radical unemotional rethink, considering the current formula does not appear to be the right one for a globalised world with a dominant language.