English language is not the most widely spoken language in the world in terms of the number of native speakers - there are many more native Chinese speakers than native English speakers but, Chinese is spoken very little outside of Chinese community yet English language has spread all over the world. English did not, like other languages, escape having varieties and the major varieties include, Cockney slang within the British English, Newfoundland English, Anglo-quệbercer within Canadian English, African-America vernacular English (ebonies), Southern-America English within America English and the Bostonian dialect in the United States.
English language is also by international treaty the official language for aircraft/airport and maritime Communication as well as being one of the official language of the European Union (E.U), in the United Nations (U.N) and many International athletic bodies including the Olympic committee.
British Spread of English Language
The worldwide expansion of English language between the 17th century and 20th century was due primarily to British colonialism, which took the English language to North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Australia/New Zealand and the Indian sub-continent. In many former British colonies, English is still used in government and as a medium of communication among people who do not have another language in common. English is often used in India, because it is neutral, is a civil language, and accepted by the society. In Singapore, English is a second language but it is necessary for living because many companies there are using English. Sixteen countries in Africa retain English and standard English is taught in these countries because it is necessary for their careers.
American Spread of English Language
On the other hand, the emergence of the U.S (a former British colony which had adopted English as its official language), as the world's major superpower over the past sixty years explains why English has eventually become the dominant language of international Business and Science (before that, it was competing with French and German especially in diplomatic and scientific forums). Japan and Korea were both heavily influenced by the U.S. After world war II, Japan was controlled by the U.S.A for a time. The American Military forcibly introduced English and the result was that Korea and Japan also partially adopted the English language. American popular Cultures mainly movies, books and music carries the English language throughout the world and one reason that students give for learning English is to understand these songs, movies and books as American movies are seen in almost every country including even countries where very few people actually use English.
General Use of English Language
From an European perspective, though it be, apart from economic and political factors, one of the reasons why English is widely adopted as a second language is that it is relatively easier to learn hence it is accessible to both Romance (French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese etc) and Germanic (Dutch, German, Scandinavian etc).
While English language is not an official language of many countries, it is often taught as a second language around the world and those who hold a great command in English are usually highly regarded in their societies. For an example, Professor Wole Soyinka of the Nigerian society. Both British and American government sponsor and subsidize English-for-foreign-language-speaker courses (e.g TOEFL exams) all over the globe and these spurs up individual interest of people to learn the language. English is also studied as a foreign language in countries where it is not used generally as a medium of communication. In Japan, almost all junior high, high school students and colleges study English. In China, English language lessons are popular TV programmes. About two hundred and fifty million Chinese (more than the population of the U.S.A) use English language and because it is so widely spoken, it is often referred to as a “global language” - the linqua franca of the modern era.
English is an international language of news and information in the world. Publication of books, even those published in other languages, often have abstract in English. English is also commonly used in sciences for example in 1997, the citation index reported that 95% of it's articles were written in English, even though only half of them came from authors in English-speaking countries. Even in tourism, English language is generally used hence, English language is important in international travels because much of the information countries send out about themselves outside of their border, is in English language. English is spoken in hotels and tourist attractions, at airports and in shops that tourist frequent. Tours are always almost available in English and even in countries where few people speak English language on the street, people who work as tourist guides, to tourist, generally speak English to avoid the use of interpreters.
In countries with many indigenous languages, as in the case of Nigeria, the English language is used mainly as a neutral language in order to avoid giving one of the many indigenous languages too much prestige and importance over others.
International Diplomacy
According to the Longman Active Study Dictionary (2000), the meaning of; international “is” connected with or involving more than one country while Diplomacy “is” the activity of dealing with political relations between countries. Therefore from the above definition, international Diplomacy can be said to be the activity of relating between more than one country.
Having seen the many advantages of English language all over the world, it will be noteworthy to add that English speaking Nations (and nation who use English language in international diplomacy) has enormous economic, scientific and cultural advantages over those who use other languages. It therefore will also be worthwhile to say that for an advantage to be secured in international Diplomacy, the understanding, knowledge and use of English language is always of great importance. English language is the language which a French-speaking Belgian and a Dutch-speaking Belgian, a French-speaking Swiss and a German-speaking Swiss, a native of Tokyo and a native of Seoul, an Igbo-speaking Nigerian and an Ibibio-speaking Nigerian, will use to speak to each other and transact business together hence, it is a "unity language" and unity is required in diplomacy.
Conclusion
In several countries, English is the sole or dominant language. Most of these countries are former British colonies. In other countries English is widely used, for example it is widely used in Hong - Kong, Singapore, Nigeria, the Philippines and Malaysia. In such countries, it is often used as a means of communication between people who have different native languages. English language is a major language of international business, science, professions and diplomacy.
