Lingua Francas Essay

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Jenna Beiswanger Exploratory Essay 11/28/11 English 111 James Whitton The English Language Through exploration, trade, and geographic history, people of different populations and communities are forced to come into contact with one another. Most of these people are from different countries, and therefore, speak different languages. This often makes communication between our societies difficult. Over quite some time though, languages changed to reflect such interactions sometimes causing these groups to develop into lingua francas (Firth 1996). Even in our own English language, communication is difficult. There are so many rules for what your linguistic rights are and what’s not, and they must be followed. There are both positives and negatives to lingua francas, and the topic of English as lingua franca is very controversial. A lingua franca is a language used by different populations to communicate when they do not share a common language (Briney 2011). The term lingua franca was first used in the Middle Ages, and described a language created as a combination of French and Italian languages. Arabic was another early lingua franca to develop because of the Islamic Empire dating all the way back to the 7th Century. During the Age of Exploration, lingua francas also played a big role in allowing European explorers to conduct trade and other communications in the various countries they went (Jenkins 2003). Today, lingua francas play an important role in global communication as well. The United Nations defines its official languages as Chinese, Arabic, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. The official language of plane systems is English, while places like Asia and Africa define several unofficial lingua francas to make for easier communication between ethnic groups and regions (Firth 1996). The term ‘English as a lingua franca’ (ELF) has emerged as a way
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