| Did you realize that over a billion people in the world | | | | Nonetheless, with the millions of native speakers vying |
| now speak English? According to a report titled, | | | | for jobs in the global market, what chance is there for |
| "English Next" by language researcher David Graddol, | | | | ESL (English as second language) speakers to |
| "...two billion people [will] be speaking or learning English | | | | compete? ESL students take heart. As the Graddol |
| within a decade." [1] | | | | report demonstrates, the global spread of English... will |
| English is everywhere. The Economist says, "[English] is | | | | lead to serious economic and political disadvantages in |
| the language of globalization-of international business, | | | | the future.... A future in which monolingual English |
| politics... It is the language of computers and the | | | | graduates face bleak economic prospects as qualified |
| Internet... it is the dominant international language in | | | | multilingual young people prove to have a competitive |
| communications, science, aviation, entertainment, radio | | | | advantage in global companies and organizations. |
| and diplomacy...." [2] | | | | Given that English has acquired its world-wide |
| "English... is an important tool for operating on the world | | | | reputation due, in large part, to globalized power |
| stage," says John Whitehead, director of the British | | | | relations, those companies and governments |
| Council. The ability to speak and understand English is | | | | employing well-trained non-native speakers for their |
| mandatory in certain fields, professions, and | | | | international business communication needs will |
| occupations. In fact, English is so widely spoken, it is | | | | obviously see the advantage of hiring non-native |
| referred to as, the "lingua franca" [3] of the modern | | | | speakers of the English language with multilingual |
| era. | | | | talents. |