ENGLISH LANGUAGE AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

English language is one of the most internationally recognized languages across the globe. Other internationally recognized languages include French, German, Italian, Spanish, etc. English language originated from England. It is spoken by the people of England as both a primary language (mother-tongue) as well as an official language. A greater proportion of the world use English as a medium of international communication (lingua franca) than any other international language. All the countries that were formerly or are presently under the British colonization, speak English as a second language in addition to their local dialect.

All the countries that speak English as either a primary or a secondary language are called Anglophone countries. Thus, Nigeria is an Anglophone nation. There are other different versions of English language apart from the British English (BrE) which include: American English (AmE), Irish English (IrishE), Australian English (AustralE), Northern English ((NorthE), New Zealand English (NZE), Scottish English (ScotE) and Indian English (IndianE). The most formally acceptable version of English is the British English. The British version of English is called the Standard English. Though, the American version of English is gaining popularity but hitherto it is not used as a standard for judgment in an academic setting such as JAMB Use of English and literary studies. Therefore, for examination purposes, students are advised to adhere strictly to

the British English for a good performance.

No language is an Island to itself. Newer languages depend on the older languages for their development.  Many languages at a certain level of their development adopt some words from pre-existing languages to augment their vocabularies. When words from other languages are converted to English words, such words are said to have been anglicized. Some English words were borrowed from Latin and French.