ABSTRACT

In December 1990, the European Commission published the results of a sixteennation survey which affirmed English to be the dominant language of international business.1 The results are hardly surprising: many technical and business terms are English. English is the global language of the computer and is even challenging French as the language of international diplomacy. It is quite feasible to get by in daily life throughout most of the world while speaking and understanding only English. Easier travel means that many more people now visit other countries, but this has not generally brought about any noticeable improvement in awareness of foreign languages and culture. The fact that so many other nationals can speak our language has done little to disturb our natural complacency and insularity.