English as a global language

English as a global language

See also: English in computing, International English, World Englishes, World language, and English as a foreign or second language

Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a "world language", the lingua franca of the modern era,^[19] and while it is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language. It is, by international treaty, the official language for aeronautical^[64] and maritime^[65] communications. English is an official language of the United Nations and many other international organizations, including the International Olympic Committee.
English is the language most often studied as a foreign language in the European Union, by 89% of schoolchildren, ahead of French at 32%, while the perception of the usefulness of foreign languages among Europeans is 68% in favour of English ahead of 25% for French.^[66] Among some non-English-speaking EU countries, a large percentage of the adult population claims to be able to converse in English – in particular: 85% in Sweden, 83% in Denmark, 79% in the Netherlands, 66% in Luxembourg and over 50% in Finland, Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, and Germany.^[67]
Books, magazines, and newspapers written in English are available in many countries around the world, and English is the most commonly used language in the sciences^[19] with Science Citation Index reporting as early as 1997 that 95% of its articles were written in English, even though only half of them came from authors in English-speaking countries.
This increasing use of the English language globally has had a large impact on many other languages, leading to language shift and even language death,^[68] and to claims of linguistic imperialism.^[69] English itself has become more open to language shift as multiple regional varieties feed back into the language as a whole.[6