Learning English in Non-English Countries Essay Example

Learning English in Non Learning English in Non-English Countries Essay Learning English in Non-English Countries Essay As long as English is spreading widely, its value, importance and usage are also in progress. From English as lingua franca to EFL (English as a foreign language), and from EFL to EMI (English as medium of instruction) English is growing and spreading rapidly. EMI is one of the global phenomena that has been debated across the world and carries many controversial ideas. While many countries accept EMI as a path to development, opponents believe that EMI is a form of language imperialism and undermines the multilingualism and the learning efforts of students. However, in past few decades EMI has succeeded to gain its position as a key factor of development. In this paper, the beneficial points of EMI (globally, economically and internationally), by providing evidence from many countries, will be argued. EMI is accepted as the best way of globalizing countries because English has become a global language among other languages of the world. As the global usage of English estimated, â€Å"Some 380m people speak it as their first language and perhaps two-thirds as many again as their second. A billion are learning it, about a third of the worlds population is in some sense exposed to it and by 2050, it is predicted, half the world will be more or less proficient in it† (The Economist). Globalization has also made English extremely important in many fields like, diplomacy, internet, entertainment, medicine, and mostly education and information. As experts say, â€Å"About 85% of the world’s important film productions and markets use English as well, and 90% of the published academic articles in several academic fields, such as linguistics, are written in English. In many cases, the increased growth in the use of the English language can be attributed to educational, econo mic, or cultural globalization†(Li and Ben-Canaan 1). Therefore, many countries with the aim of training their students in English and make them able to cope with global