Engleski jezik i globalizacija

Dominance of one language as a prime means of communication worldwide and too frequent usage of its words loan in many offi cial languages has been causing disputes among linguists and mother tongue experts especially in European countries. The process of globalisation through which one language has evolved into a global or world language has lasted for decades. In the paper the authors have tried to state their opinion regarding the topic of English as a lingua franca and its acquired label of being a language killer. The authors will also provide the comment on the infl uence of English on Croatian. English has been a widely taught and learnt foreign language in Croatia for decades. It is being taught in kindergartens, primary, secondary schools, in a large number of private schools for foreign languages and at faculties. Globalisation in the economic domain enabled many foreign companies the expansion of their business in Croatia. All of these companies require from their employees a good command of English. A fair knowledge of English has become a prerequisite for a professional and social promotion in Croatia. The fact that English has become a global language is not the only effect of globalisation when the language issue is analysed. Globalisation has fostered the promotion of some regional or minority languages in Europe as well as the promotion of some official languages in European countries. Therefore, it seems that there are not enough arguments to support the fear of English as a language killer or as a global threat.Uzrok mnogih rasprava među lingvistima i stručnjacima za materinje jezike, osobito u Europi, bio je prevelik utjecaj jednog jezika kao glavnog sredstva komuniciranja diljem svijeta kao i prečesto korištenje posuđenica iz tog jezika. Autori ovog rada će dati i svoj doprinos ovim raspravama s osvrtom na utjecaj koji engleski ima i na hrvatski jezik. U Hrvatskoj se engleski već desetljećima podučava u vrtićima, školama, privatnim školama za strane jezike i na visokim učilištima. U području gospodarstva, globalizacija je dovela do toga da su mnoge inozemne tvrtke proširile svoje poslovanje i na Hrvatsku. To je dovelo do toga da je engleski danas u Hrvatskoj jedan od važnijih preduvjeta profesionalnog i društvenog uspjeha. Činjenica da je engleski postao globalni jezik ili lingua franca nije jedini učinak globalizacije. Globalizacija je potpomogla promoviranje mnogih regionalnih i manjinskih jezika u Europi, ali isto tako i nekih službenih europskih jezika. Čini se da nema dovoljno argumenata koji bi opravdali strah od engleskog kao jezika ubojice drugih jezika ili kao globalne prijetnje