English as an international language
English has become an international language with global significance. For some an
international language has the meaning of a language that has a large number of native
speakers. In this sense, English, Spanish, Hindi and Arabic, the most widely spoken
mother tongues in the world nowadays, might be considered as international languages.
However, although these languages are spoken by a large number of native speakers of
other civilizations, they cannot serve as a language of wider communication. It is in this
sense that English is the international language. In many instances it is the language of
wider communication both among individuals from different countries and between
individuals from one country. In this way, English is an international language in both a
global and a local sense. For these who want to know the main reasons for the spread of
English, they will be stated below.
Several geographical and historical factors, led to the initial spread of English. During
nineteenth and twentieth century both British and American colonialism and the migration
of English-speaking individuals to other areas were of central importance. In the beginning
of the nineteenth century Britain had become the worlds leading industrial and trading
nation. Most of the innovations of the industrial revolution were of British origin, resulting
in new terminology for technological and scientific advantages. As a result, these who
wanted to learn more about these innovations needed English both to understand the new
terminology and talk to English-speaking inventors and manufacturers. In tandem, similar
