English - A global language and its implications for students

Interview Studv i» ìntercuỉturaĩ Comuttfiicolioii.[r]

VNU Journal of Science, Foreign L anguages 24 (2008) 260-266

English - A global language and its implications for students

N g u y o n T h u y N g a *

F aculty o f En<:;li$h, Hanoi iln iv e rsily o f Education,

136 X u a n V iu ự Street, Cau d a y , Hanoi, Vietnam

R e c e iv e d 15 M a rc h 2008

A b s tra c t T h is iirtic lc w r ite s o n t h e f a c to r s w h ic h m a k e a la n g u a g e b c c o m c 'g lo b a l l a n g u a g e ' and

d is c u s s e s a b o u t h o w E n g lis h a c h ie v e s lh a l s ta tu s T h e im p a c ts o f E n g is h a s a g lc b n l la n g u a f tf o n

V ie tn a m e s e l o j m c r s , scik^ncc, b u s in e s s , te c h n o lo g y , e d u c a t i o n a r c a n a ly s e d W ith ihc‘ tic v e lo p m c n ỉ

o f te c h n o lo g y , m e d ia , s r ie n c c , e d u c a t i o n e tc E n g lis h w ill h e l p s t u d e n t s b r o a d e n k n o w le d g e , c h a n g e

th e w a y o f th in k in g a n d b r i g h t e n c a r e c r p r o s p e c t.

1 In tro d u c tio n

TodaV/ English is b e c o m in g m o re an d

m ore p o p u la r all o v er th e w o rld It is n o t

only considered as th e m o th e r to n g u e of

cibout 60 m illion sp e a k e rs in m a n y co u n trie s

bu t also used w id ely in th e w o rld as an

lan g u ag e of the U nited N a tio n s, in te rn a tio n al

business, to u rism , m cd icin e etc, A s th e m ean

of com m unication, E n g lish b rin g s p e o p le on

Earth to g eth er an d h e lp s th e m u n d e rs ta n d

each o th er a n d ex ch an g e m a te ria l, c u ltu ra l

an d sp iritual v alu es o f ỉh e ir o w n co u n tries

indispensable p a rt o f o u r lives; th e term

"global lan g u ag e" is n o w u s e d for English

w ith w id e acceptance

In my wriHng, Hrstly, I w ill d isc u ss ab o u t

Ihe ỉerm "global la n g u a g e " a n d h o w a

• T e l : 84-4-7565992

E -m a il: m i r ứ ia n d n g a ể y a h o o c o m

lan g u ag e becom es a global Innguage Som e

d iscu ssed Secondly, w h y English d o m in ates

as a "glữbal lan g u a g e" w ill be analyzed,

T hirdly, the linplications for stu d e n ts arc

p re se n te d In th is p art, the a d v an tag es nnd

H i f f i r n l t i o * ? n r o p r o v i i H n H T h ế ' f i n n l p i r t

p re se n ts th e su m m n ry of the slu d y

2 T h e (erm '^global la n g u a g e '' a n d h o w a

la n g u a g e b e c o m es a ''g lc b a l la n g u a g c '7

“ The term "<iỊlobaì l(ììĩ‘Ịua<ịe'':

F rom C ry sia l's [1] p o in t of view , a lan g u ag e can achieve its role as a ''global

w h ic h is accepted in every co u n iry , Crystal [1] also claim s th a t th ere a re tw o m ain wayt>

to m ak e it p o ssib le to m ak e a language

"global lan g u ag e" T h e first w ay is official

w ay, th a t is, a la n g u a g e can be choscn lo be

260

Nguycỉĩ 77ír/y N^a / VNU journal of Scicìĩce, rorcÌỊỊtì Uìtiguages 24 (2()08) 260-266 261

la n g u ag e'' in a co u n lrv 'ĩh ereío ro , ih c choson

Icinguage w ill be Iisod in al! k in d s of

g o v ern m en t A la n g u a g e can iilso have

"o fficiar' role, ''sem i-o fficiar' sta tu s o r stan d s

ãs foreign lan guage A s C rystal [1| p u ts it "

being used only in a*rUiin dom ains, o r Liking

second place to otht*r liinj^unges w hile stiil

p t'ffo rm in g certain official! ro les'' As a FL'siilt, to

survive in these societios I ho n iv d to ma.stor I ho

language is very im portant if ni)t essenliủl

The second w ay to lichieve th e s ta tu s is

by receiving e d u c a tio n p riorily A lth o u g h a

lan g u ag e is not an ''official lan g u ag e", it is

tn u g h t in school as a c o m p u lso ry subject for

c h ild ren o r even for elduIts w h o need il Take

R ussian for exam ple, that lan g u a g e roccived

ed u catio n p riority n o t only in th e c o u n trie s of

form er Soviet U nion b u t also th e co u n tries

u n d e r its sp o n so rs as V ietnam , M ongolia

H ow ever, ed u catio n p riv ileg e for a lan g u ag e

IS n ot a lw a y s fixed, o n e la n g u a g e c a n rep lace

the o lh cr in the process- V ietnam is a d e a r

illustration of the rep la ce m e n t p ro c e ss since

Victnnm W ar, R ussian wns used as Ihc m ain

subject in schools a n d u n iversities Sincc 90s,

universities, m agazines, books ctc

In s h o r t a la n g u a g e is called cl ''global

language" w hen it achieves ỉhe official sta lu s

and edu catio n p rio rity in alm ost every

nation, as a r e s u lt th.it la n g u ag e "will

than any o th er lan g u ag e" Ị1Ị

How a latiguage becomes it ''global Ian<^ua<ịe"

There exit severol ex p lan atio n s ab o u t

how a lan g u ag e achiovc>s a "'global status'"

Som e believe thal e a sy g ra m m a r siru ctu rcs,

fam iliarity in vocabulary, a n d th e rich in

culture, etc m ake a "global lan g u a g e " and

language can exit in d e p e n d e n tly H ow ever,

ihe sa id re a so n s nbov'c o n ly c an n o t m ake a

la n g u ag e "g lo b al", m an y Lm gudges are easy

b u t Ihey are n o t "g lo b al" H ere; I ngree w ilh

C ry stal in re sp c c t of liis p o in t lhat a language

c an n o t ex ist in d cp c n d e n U y w ith o u t a strong

he p u ts it 'la n g U tig e ex its o n ly in th e b rains and m o u th s a n d c a rs kind h«inds a n d eyes of its u sers W h e n th ey succcc'd, on the

in to rn aỉio n al stag e, Ihoir lan g u ag e succeeds

W hen th ey fail, th eir L m guage fnils"

Tlic essential reoson to miike a language

"global" o r "inlcrniitionar' is the pow er of its pcx)plc- Cr^'Stal assum es the pow er here includes

Ux^k back at the history of G reek and Lntin language w hich wore used as international language in M id d le Knst an d Europe, w e can find o u t that they becam e so popuLir not because of ỉhcir scholars or scientists but boCciuso of their miliUir)' pow er [1 ]

To a c h iev e th e "g lobal ' role, m ilitary

p o w er is n e e d e d , h o w e v e r to keep and

d e v e lo p th e sto tu s, polilical an d econom ical

l i u i i n U i i n i h c ii l o i i g u a ^ L * Jicu'cib (Ỉ

S tro n g b a s e a n d force lo p o p u ljiri/0 iisclf

w eek cind p o o r nil Hon w iih n o intern atio n al political sta tu s

N e e d le ss to say, m ilita ry pow er, political

p o w e r a n d eco n o m ic p o w e r arc I he three

in d isp e n sa b le factors to m ake tT lan g u ag e

"globol" a n d to k eep iLs statu s

3 W hy E nglish d o m inates as a "global language"?

E nglish is u sed as an official o r sem i­ official la n g u a g e in o v er 60 countries, an d has

a p ro m in e n t p la c c in a Íu ríh c r 20 n is eith e r

d o m in a n t o r wt»ll o stab lish ed in all six

262 Nguyệtì V iu ỳ Nga Ị VN U Ịoumai o f Sciena, Foreign LanguíìỊỊes 24 (2008) 26()'266

continents It is th e m ain la n g u a g e of books,

new sp ap ers, a irp o rts a n d air-lraific control,

conferences, science, technology, m edicine,

com petitions, p o p m usic, a n d ad v ertisin g

O v er tw o -ih ird s of th e w o rld 's scientists

w rite in English T h re e -q u a rte rs of the

w o rld 's m ail is w rilte n in English O f all the

systems, 80% is stored in English English radio

program m es are received by o v er 150 million

in 120 countries O ver 50 m illion children stu d y

English as an additional language at p rim ary

level; over 80 million stu d y it a t secondary level

(these figures exclude China) In any one year,

the British Council helps a q u a rte r of a million

foreigner sh jd en ts to learn English, in vario u s

parts of the w orld In the USA alone, 337,000

foreign stu d en ts w ere registered in 1983

C rystal [1Ị Cited in Penny cook (2)

'"English is u se d a s th e m ain d isco u rse in

fields such as science, economics^ politics an d

technology a n d th is h a s c em en tcd its place as

the lan g u ag e of global co m m u n icatio n "

F r o m tK o i n f o r m a t i o n abovấ> h a r d t o

d en y th a t English has achieved b o th official

sta tu s and e d u c a tio n p rio rity in m a n y

countries, 400 y e a rs ago, th e n u m b e r of

English u sers w as a ro u n d sev en m illion

people b u t th e n u m b e r n o w increases

d ram atically P h ilip so n [3] A cco rd in g to

C rystal [1], in th e late 1990s, a ro u n d 1,2 a n d

1,5 billion p eo p le use English W hy English

c a n a c h i e v e i t s " g l o b a l s t a t u s ' ' Cân b e

explained in te rm s o f its m ilitary m ig h t

econom ic a n d politic p o w e r B ritish m ilitary

w o rld 's lead in g in d u stria l a n d tra d in g role

a n d its political im p e ria lism h a d ''se n t

English a ro u n d th e g lo b e" a n d ''a lan g u a g e

o n w hich th e s u n n e v e r sets" [1] M oreover,

m ed ia, s h a re m a r k e t m ed icin e th e n e e d to hav e a c o m m o n la n g u a g e is required T h e reaso n w h y E nglish is choscn m ay lie in the fact th at th e in te rn e t lan g u ag e o r b u sin e ss lan g u ag e, a irp o rt lan g u ag e a n d also the

la n g u a g e b e h in d th e u s d o llar is English [1],

F u rth erm o re, e d u c a tio n syslcm s in E nglish

sp e a k in g c o u n tn e s are d ev eloped, each y e a r

h u n d re d s of th o u sa n d s s tu d e n ts ap p ly for

e d u c atio n tra in in g there O n e of the m ain

la n g u a g e s used in U nited N ations conferences

is English, also, the laiiguage in w orld su m m its

C u lp ep p er (1997), cited in Russell [4] claim s that today English is used as the chief language

in every single w ay of life such as com m era», diplomacy^ p o p m u s ic publishing an d so on

E nglish is n o t o n ly the "in tern atio n al

la n g u ag e " in b u sin ess, a ir p o r t to u rism b u t

a lso (he m ain la n g u a g e used in e d u ca tio n or

m ed icin e etc, therefore, to m aster English, in

a w ay, w ill affect th e fu tu re of a person

P h ilip so n (3] also sh o w s that a s books u se d in

u n iv e rsity 's p ro g ra m s arc w ritte n in English,

quaiiiicaU ons, s tu d e n ts m ubt ỉ>ucce:»bíuUy

o v erco m e th e p re-req u ire m e n t: English

A fter all, vviỉh th e p o w er in m ilitary, politic to ach iev e th e "global statu s" an d

s u p e r p o w e r in econom ic to m ain tain an d

ex p a n d , E nglish n o w stro n g ly co n firm s ils

la n g u a g e " in b o th academ ic com m unicatìon

a n d ev ery d a y fields

4 T h e im p lic a tio n s fo r s tu d e n ts w h o use

E n g lis h a s a fo re ig n lan g u ag e

In th is w ritings firstly, I w ill took back at

th e lan g u ag es, w h ic h once w e re th e official

la n g u a g e in V ietnam Secondly^ I w ill discuss

Ih e im p licatio n s of English to stu d e n ts in

N ^uỵen Thuy Nga / VNU lounial ofScừnce, Foreign Languages 24 (2008) 260-266 263

V ietnam w h o u s e English as a foreign

lan guage In th is p art, a d v an ta g es a n d

d isa d v a n ta g e s w ill b e p resen ted

Since th e e a rly 90s, the o p e n d o o r policy

foreigners to in v e st in to V ietnam , for to u rists

to v isit the c o u n try A s a result, English is n o t

o n ly an in te re st b u t also a practical a n d a

g re a t d e m a n d for m a n y people Especially in

so m e recent y ears, English h a s b eco m e a

c o m p u lso ry su b jec t in cu rricu lu m a t m a n y

seco n d ary sch o o ls as w ell as u n iv ersities in

V ietnam , a n d its s tu d y has b een co n sid e red

as an acad em ic p u r s u i t Books, m ag azin es

a n d in tern e t la n g u a g e are w ritte n in English

F u rth erm o re, m o s t of u n iv e rsity p ro g ra m s

a re stro n g ly co n n e c ted to English lan guage

Therefore, th e n e e d to learn a n d m a ste r th at

lan g u ag e is esse n tia l to stu d e n ts w h o w a n t to

g ain success in fu tu re H o w ev er, the n e e d to

g et the co m p eten ce level of English is n o t

special if w e lo o k back a t th e histo ry of

languages, w h ic h once d o m in a te d as the

official lan g u ag e in V ietnam A la n g u a g e can

achieve th e official s ta tu s in o n e c o u n try if its

p eo p le h av e g re a t in flu en ce (econom ic,

m ilitary; politic) o n th at country

For a long tim e, V ietn am w as u n d e r the

c o n q u er of C h in a , C hinese w as th e official

l a n g u a g e in V ietnam , the w a y of th in k in g

an d the acad em ic sty le in e v e ry fields as

w ritin g , law s, m e d i a a re d o m i n a t e d b y

C hinese w ay T h in k in g styles, lifestyles of

V ietnam ese p e o p le w ere n early e d u c a te d in

C hinese w ay To le a rn a la n g u ag e is lo access

a n d absorb its c u ltu re , a s a r e s u l t V ietnam in

a w ay becam e a ''sm a ll p a rt" in g reat C h in ese

f a m i l y F r o m 1854^ b e i n g o n e o f F r e n c h 's

colonies, V ietnam accep ted French as official

language, w ritin g system s, m edicine, a n d

science, etc c h a n g e d acco rd in g to F rench

w ay H ow ever, V ietn am ese w a y s of th m k in g

w ere deeply in flu en c e d b y C o n fu cian w ay

the p o w e r of French la n g u a g e a s w ell as

p o w er of France w as n o t stro n g e n o u g h to

m ak e a d ra m a tic c h an g e in p e o p le 's m in d at

th a t tim e A fter th at p e rio d , R u ssian w as once

V ietnam W ar a n d sev eral fo llo w in g decades

inform ation, science w e re b ro u g h ỉ in by

R ussian expertb A l th a t tim e (1980s) the

m ain b u sin e ss p a rtn e rs o f V ietnam cam e from R ussia o r c o u n trie s o f fo rm er Soviet

U nion, as a r e s u lt s tu d e n ts as w ell as ad u lts

s tu d ie d R ussian b ecau se it w as th e o n ly w ay

to access to tech nology a n d science a n d to

m aster th a t lan g u ag e w a s th e in su ran ce for their fu tu re e d u c a tio n o r career R ussian w as

ta u g h t in schools, u n iv ersities, h a rd ly could

w e find a p e rso n w h o c o u ld n o t p ro d u ce

so m e R ussian w ords

Since "doi m o i'' w ith " o p e n d o o r" policy,

V ietnam ese p e o p le h a v e m o re chances to

inform ation, books, h ig h technology and science (w hich are in E nglish) F urtherm ore,

V ietnam h as m o re chan ce to d o b u sin ess w ith

o th er countries^ to u rism dev elo p s, m ore foreigners v isit V ietnam a n d th e lan g u ag e often u se d is English; as a co nsequence, the need to u n d e rsta n d a n d u se the "'global lan g u a g e " is essential W h a t's m ore, w ith the

w id e sp re a d of in te rn e t a n d s u p e r p o w er of English sp e a k in g c o u n trie s in eco n o m ic politic (th e USA, the UK, C a n a d a ); it is

n atu ral for English to re p lac e R ussian an d becom es offirial languagG in V ietnam

The im plications o f E n g lish can be seen clearly in ev ery fields in V ietn am as science, business, m ed ia, a n d tech n o lo g y , education These days^ p eo p le u se English as an

im p o rta n t tool to access in io rm a tio n a n d to gain k n o w le d g e for th e ir n e e d s For stu d en ts, English also h a s in ip o rta n t im p licatio n s to

th eir s tu d y as w ell as th e ir fu tu r e career

264 N ^uỵen Thuy Nga Ị v ^ ư ]oumal o f Science, Foreign Languages 24 (2(X)S} 260-266

b ro ad en th e ir know ledge T h ro u g h in tern et,

books, m ag azin es, m ed ia, s tu d e n ts h a v e

good ch an ce to access to v a rio u s in fo rm atio n ,

lifestyles a n d k n o w led g e a ro u n d the w o rld

Today, a b o u t 80% of n ew a n d u p d a te

in fo n n a lio n can be lo ad ed d o w n from

internet, th u s, sỉu d e n ts can th ro w th em selves

in the w o rld of inform ation, an aly ze, use the

k n o w led g e th ey acquire for th eir o w n

p u rp o ses W ith th a t k n o w led g e, s tu d e n ts can

a p p ro ach th e n deal the issu es they h av e

Critical, in d e p e n d e n t an d o p e n th in k in g ,

therefore, a re b u ilt u p a n d d ev elo p ed

T h an k s to th eir b ro a d e n k n o w led g e, stu d e n ts

w ill th en ev a lu a te th eir w ays of th in k in g a n d

change o r d ev e lo p it in a su ita b le a n d b e tte r

w ay T he ch an g e in stu d e n ts ' th in k in g can be

seen in th e ir stu d y S tu d e n ts b eco m e m o re

o p en a n d stra ig h tfo rw ard ; th ey can ex p re ss

their o p in io n s, m ak e their voices h e a rd by

sh o w in g th e ir a ttih id e to issues o r ev en a rg u e

w ilh teacher, w hich w o u ld b e co n sid e red

w ay of th in k in g , V ietnam ese p e o p le fo r a

long tim e follow th e C o n fu cian w a y of

th in k in g w h ic h alw ay s ask for o b ed ien ce a n d

'teach er- c e n te r' o f stu d en ts S tu d e n ts h a d no

chance to ex p ress th eir ideas, th ey h a d to use

the in d irec t w ay to talk a b o u t a m a tte r or

issue, fu rth e rm o re , w h at te a ch e r said w as

co n sid ered "perfectly rig h t" a n d th e " p o w e r

distan ce" w a s so stro n g in V ietnam ese

cu ltu re P h a m H a [5] For th e d e e p influence

of C o n fu d a n , s tu d e n ts " m ig h t be seen as

w estern p e o p le Ellis Ị6]

positive c h a n g e in V ietnam ese s tu d e n ts '

th in k in g a n d b e h a v io r in recen t y ea rs w e

c a n 't n o t m en tio n th e im p o rta n t ro le of

E nglish in th a t "w in d of ch an g e"

im p licatio n can be realized in s tu d e n ts '

a m b itio n , th a t is â g o o d p o sitio n in fu tu re career A s E n g lish p lay s a vital role in ev ery field (business, tourism , p o litic eco n o m ic

etc.), success o r failure in English m av’ be

d e c isiv e in th e ir fu tu re ca re e r p ro sp ect If a

s tu d e n t m a ste rs o r has th e co m p etcn ce level

in E nglish, s /h e will su re ly h a v e m o re chan ce

to h a v e a b e tte r job o r a c h an ce to receive

g o o d tra in in g in o th e r c o u n trie s o r ev en

p o w e r o v e r so m e m a itc rs th a n o th e r w h o

d o e s n o t If a s tu d e n t w a n ts to receive

sc h o la rsh ip o r ap p ly to school, u n iv e rsity in

o th e r co u n try , b esid e s th e s tu d y g rad e, o n e of

c o n fid e n c e an d activeness A rm od w ith

k n o w le d g e an d the global lan g u ag e ih ey can

e v e ry w h e re , s tu d e n ts su re ly h av e confidencc

to d e a l w ith th e issue o r p eo p le th ey m eet

a n H r o a d y t o A h s o r h n o w t h i n g s ^ u r r o i i n H n H

b y w e ste rn lifestyle, V ietn am ese stu d e n ts

a b so rb th e practical a n d activ e w a y of

d e a lin g a n d a p p ro a c h in g n e w th in g s W ilh

E n g lish s tu d e n ts can g et m o re info rm atio n ,

k n o w le d g e in th e field th ey a re in terested in

T o g e th e r w ith confidcnce, activeness, thus,

th e d o o r of n e w w orld, g o o d job w ill open

w id e r for them

b ro a d e n k n o w led g e, ch an g e the w ay s of

th in k in g a n d b u ild u p con fid en ce and activ en ess, b rig h te n ca re e r p ro sp ect for each

s tu d e n t

A lth o u g h English h a s m a d e positive

Nguyen Thuự N ịịo ị V7VU Ịoumal o f Scieĩỉce, Foreign Languages 24 (2008) 260-266 265

le a rn in g an d thinkings It also goes w ith

d isad v an tag es

English is o n e of th e m ain factors, w h ich

tra d itio n a l c u ltu re A s m en tio n e d above,

V ietnam ese ideology w as stro n g ly influenced

by C h in ese's philo so p h ical trad itio n s T he

id eas o f obedience, politeness a n d k n o w led g e

w ere built u p u n d e r C o n fu cian system s

S tu d e n ts sh o u ld alw ay s place th em selv es in a

lo w er position to th e teacher, th ey s h o u ld n o t

a rg u e o r contradict th eir teach er p u b licly [3],

[2Ị, th ey sh o u ld follow th eir teach er fin d in g s

o r follow w isely th e a lread y -k n o w n " p ro p e r

m oral n o rm " [3] Therefore, th e ch an g e in

s tu d e n ts ' thinking to d ay h a s m a d e a terrib le

shock to people, w h o io r a long tim e are

C o n fu cian 's follow ers, w h en s tu d e n ts can

â rg u e w ith te a c h e r an d fight for th e ir

o p inions N ew a n d som etim es too d ire c t

w ay s of ap p ro ach in g an d d e a lin g an issue of

stu d e n ts can cause th e in su ltin g feeling to the

know ledge, new th in k in g w ay, ov er-o p en

lifestyle, and practical m in d , y o u n g p eo p le

a re obsessed by an idea of do^iiroyinR th e olH

to b u ild the n e w one M orality, fam ily

relations, an d h u m an relatio n s can be

ig n o red to fit w ith the lifestyle they learn t

from w estern iilm s, books etc M any y o u n g

p eople becom e m o re aggressive, th ey a re too

far practical to deal th in g s w ith h e a r t so rro w

an d h u m anity, w h ich w as incredible in the

past T h e relationship b etw een p eo p le is no

longer in close contact as th ey are b u sy

p rep arin g p lan s for their fu tu re They ig n o re

ỉhe tru e fact th a t th e so-call '"old c u ltu re " or

'b a ck w ard ' tra d itio n s m u st h a v e positive an d

stro n g base to su rv iv e th ro u g h o u t n early a

th o u san d year T he change in y o u n g p eo p le'

th in k in g and b eh a v io r has led to th e sa d fact

that th e y are ddy b y ddv lo sin g th e ir iden tity

The co n ccp t of m orality , tra d itio n a l behavior,

cu ltu re is serio u sly d a m a g e d

com petitions W hen English is b a d ly in need

in V ietnam , p eo p le are n o t exam ined w ith their real ability b u t d eg rees a n d English

P eople w h o d o n o i h av e c h an ce to leam English can n o t g et the su itab le job or position w h ile o th e r w ith o u t ability b u t fluent in English g et all the chances M ore

an d m o re p eo p le e n ro ll in E nglish class to get

th e certificate in o rd e r to h av e p ro m o tio n in job o r to keep th eir sea ts in com pany

C onsequently, th e tre n d to h a v e English certiiicale becom es p o p u la r, a n d people seem

to care a b o u t q u a n tity n o t q u ality A large

n u m b e r of p eo p le h a v e d e g re e of com petence level o r ad v a n c e d level; h o w e v e r, they can

English sen ten ces or utterances

To su m u p , to g e th e r w ith ad v antages English also cau ses u n so lv ed pro b lem s as

d eg rad atio n , w rcck in h u m a n relationships

a n d in eq u ality in certain form of econom ic

Af\<i oducíìHnn

W ith th e w id e sp re a d an d its usefulness

in m an y fields of life, E nglish has helped people closcr in "global v illag e" w ith in te r­

b e n e f i t s c i e n c e , t e c h n o l o g y , m i l i t a r y a n d its role as "global lan g u ag e" is undeniable

T h an k s to th e d o m in a n c e a n d w id e use of the lan g u ag e in m ed ia, books e t c people have

m ore chan ce to get to k n o w ab o u t o lh er countries^ c u ltu re s, lite ra tu re w o rk s etc, thus,

b ro ad en th eir k n o w le d g e w ith the h elp of

F u rth erm o re, E nglish w ith th e dev elo p m en t

of technology, science, m ed ia, will h elp

d y n am ic w orld

266 Nguỵen Thuy Nga / VNƯ journal of Sãaice, Foreign Uinguaf;e$ 24 (2008) 260‘266

5 C o n c lu sio n

In th is w ritìn g , 1 have d iscu ssed a b o u t th e

term "global la n g u a g e " a n d tw o w ay s to

m ak e a la n g u a g e "global", they a re official

s ta tu s an d e d u c a tio n p riority I also h av e

g i v e n e x a m p l e s a n d c i t e i d e a s o f [1]

e x p lan atio n to th e w a y a lan g u a g e achieve

th e statu s To ex p lain h o w a lan g u ag e

a ssu m p tio n a b o u t th re e factors th a t play vital

role, th ey are m ilitary , politic an d econom ic

p o w er In th is p a rt, I h av e p resen ted so m e

e x a m p le s to m ak e th e a ssu m p tio n clear To

p u rs u e the issu e w h y English d o m in a te s as a

global lan g u ag e" I use th e factors th a t are

p ro v e d in th e first p a rt to c o m p a re to English

role By c o m p arin g a n d a n a ly zin g the role 0Í

E nglish, it is s h o w n th at English has m e t all

th e re q u ire m e n ts o f "global la n g u ag e " w ith

ihe m iiilary, p o litic p o w er lo achieve Ihe

sta tu s a n d eco n o m ic su p e r p o w e r to m ain tain

a n d e x p a n d it To illu strate th e ro les of

E nglish, 1 p re se n t th e im plications of English

to V ietnam ese stu d e n ts I h a v e an aly zed a n d

co n firm ed th e a d v a n ta g e s in term s of

pro sp ect to stu d e n t, o n th e o th e r side,

d isa d v a n ta g e s o f th at im p lic a tio n s u c h as tra d itio n ch ao s an d in eq u ality in c o m p c litio n

a re also lo o k ed into

R eferen ces

(1 | D, C r y s t a l as fì global ian^ua<ịc Cambridge, C a m b r id g e U n iv e r s ity P re s s , 1997,

|2 j A- P o n n y a x > k , The Cultural Politics o f £n^»l/5Íí

ÚÍ Interniitional ỈMnguíĩge, L o n g m a n T u b lis h in g ,

N e w Y o rk , 1994.

(3 | R P h illip s o n , Lm^*ui5/ics imfyerialism, O ỉk ío rd

University Press, Hung Kong 1992

|4 | B R u s s o l l Hơĩo can real intercuỉtural communicotion be achieivl, U n p u b lis h e d

M a n u s c r ip t.

[5 | P h a m H a , H o w d o C u l t u r a l l y s i t u a t e d n o tio n s

o f " p o lite " fo rm s in flu e n c e th e w a y VietnamiiSL*

p o s t g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t s w r i t e in H n p lish ,

Austraỉian journal of Education 3 (2001) 296 [6] c E llis, Vie Appropriateness of thv

Interview Studv i» ìntercuỉturaĩ Comuttfiicolioii

M a s te r T h e s is , L a tro h c U n iv e r s ity , 1992.

Tiếng Anh - Ngôn ngữ toàn câu

và tác động của nó với người học ở Việt Nam

N g u y ễ n T h ú y N g a

Khoa tiếng A n h , Tneờng Đại học Sir phạm H à Nội,

136 X u â n Thủy, Câu d a y , Hà Nội, Việt N am

Bài viêí n ày v iế t v ể n h ữ n g y êu tố g iú p m ộ t ngôn n g ữ có đ ư ợ c vị frí to àn cẩu v à n h ữ n g điẽu kiện đ ế g iú p ch o tiến g A nh có đ ư ợ c vị íh ế đ ỏ N h ữ n g tác d ộ n g c ủ a ngôn n g ữ to à n c ẩu v ó i ngưòi học ớ V iệt N am c ũ n g đ u ọ c đ ẽ cập đ ế n tro n g b à i viết n ày Tác đ ộ n g của tiếng A n h v à o n h ic u lĩnh

v ự c cù a V iệt N a m n h ư khoa học, k in h d o a n h , tru y ề n th ô n g , c ô n g n g h ệ và g iá o d ụ c c ũ n g đư ợc xem xét và p h án tích C ú n g với s ự p h á t triển củ a công ng h ệ, tru y ể n Ihông, k h o a học tiến g Anh

sẽ g iú p m ò cán h cử a ciia m ộ t th ế g ió i mód, tố l đ ẹ p và n ăn g đ ộ n g h ơ n đôì với sin h viên