English as a facilitator

          In my first essay I talked about English’s bad effects in our lives and now, I’m going to talk about its good sides.     

                                       ENGLISH AS A FACILITATOR

           English has offered many things to people on its way of being a global language. It has been sometimes an adviser like a mum, sometimes a job opportunity like an employee, and sometimes the visa of going abroad like a freedom. However, whatever it is, it has been beneficial to us all the time and so, it has proved that the facilities and progress the spread of English has offered always been superior to the destruction it has led to.

            Some may see English as a threat to scientific, technological, literary or academic works. According to them, it annihilates the real meaning of literary and scientific works. Those people claims that English damages the aesthetic side of literary works while they are being translated to English. Apart from these, they also think that complete translation of scientific or literary works is so difficult that there is very small chance of it. They may be right to some extent; however the fact that English is a significant medium for accessing information in those fields should not be forgotten. As Zelander showed, more than %85 of the works in those fields is performed in English (2006, p. 6). So, it is an impossibility for all of us to get the significant information without it. Besides, English has an importance, because we should know it in order to interpret these works and to communicate them in a meaningful way to communities. According to Mackay and Mendoza (1995, p. 4) good communication is an important instrument in the design and successful implementation of any project or work, and they claim also that any success of this project depends on the effective transfer information. We can say here that ‘Projects are run by communications’ (Kenzer, 1994, p.284)

           While the spread of English offers many benefits to people, its only good sides are not those. It also offers to people an international link. Firstly, nowadays many countries can have a progress thanks to their link with other countries. For example, since 1993, Language and Development Conferences have been hold in many different places and they offer to people in those places a chance of exchanging experiences and ideas with each other. Philippines is one of those places where a training course as ‘English for Agriculture’ has been started, because they have decided that it is a language of the agricultural research community (Coleman, 2010, p. 4). Besides, nowadays many of the scientists or researchers use English in order to have the international communication. Secondly, English offers to people the opportunity of working together, also. Currently, people are having a chance of doing organizations together. They can communicate with other people in another country in order to make any organization. Thanks to its being a global language, people can also be more ready to any disaster, because it facilitates a disaster preparedness as Coleman claimed (2010, p. 12).

          Apart from its benefits as an international link, the spread of English provides development in economy and employment opportunities for people. Firstly, on its journey being a global language, it makes economy more alive. One place to start in this subject is international tourism. In the tourism industry, there has been always a need for English so, language training courses are being given a response to demand of that field. Moreover, countries also see it as an indispensable tool in order to have a place in global economy. The other opportunities it has enabled are for employers. As international language of business, it enables people to have a good career. Besides, like a passport, it can offer people to go abroad and have a job or a good career there, too. So, maybe naming it as ‘Freedom’ would not be wrong as Coleman has done in his book ‘English Language in Development’(2010, p. 9).

           All in all, being a global and dominant language, English facilitates our lives in numerous ways. By enabling us a visa to freedom, an opportunity for development and a link for communication, it does what it can do best. Even if, according to some people, it is a threat to our values, knowing English is a privilege of our world. So, before judging the spread of English, people should think its benefits one more time.

                                                         REFERENCES

Coleman, H. (2010). The English Language in Development. (1^st ed.). England: British

            Council

Mackay, R. & Hopkins, N. M. (1995). The Critical Role of Language and Communication in

            International Development Projects. TESL Canada Journal, 13(1), 74-87

Melitz, J. (2007). The impact of English dominance on Literature and Welfare. The Journal            

           of Economic Behavior&Organization,64,193-215

Zelander, E. (2006). English as a Global Language-Good or bad? Mid Sweden: University

              Press