In the modern world, it is not surprising that a person’s social position and material well-being affect many aspects of their life. This applies to the mindset, appearance, and other attributes that determine the personality and way of life. In particular, external social facts also affect such an essential matter for any person as language. It is not that different social groups within the same society have a different language, although history knows such cases (for example, medieval students and priests employed Latin, while other people spoke their native languages). Moreover, different levels of wealth and other social factors affect the primary language in society, although this is only one variant of sociolinguistic development. As a result, dialects, pronunciation variants, jargon, and regional peculiarities of vocabulary appear. I will discuss the issue of the difference in the goal of learning English as a foreign language by academic and proletarian populations, which results in language consistency and variation for these groups accordingly. The need to study the differences in the goals and their consequences is relevant for further improvement of international language learning practices.
The mission of this opinion piece is to emphasize the importance of external social factors in the language and its changes. The influence of geography on transformations in the language and, consequently, in its speakers is also being studied. An example of the differences in English learning between ordinary workers and the academic community shows the main essence of the work. The workers have local variations of the English language, vocabulary, phonetics, and other things. This closes and isolates the newly appeared version of English in the local environment of the proletariat and the simple local population. Academic English, in turn, requires a change in the mindset and approach to the language on the part of an external learner who seeks to integrate into the academic environment. Thus, due to its strict rules, academic English is international and not influenced by regional dialects.
Furthermore, the issue of this opinion piece should be stated and described. In my opinion, people who learn academic English are usually more affluent since they plan education or carrier in educational institutions, which is expensive. In contrast, people who learn English for work (unrelated to educational sphere) often come from disadvantageous economic backgrounds and need it for more significant job opportunities. The consequence of learning language by the academic social group is that academic English is consistent and international. In contrast, English learned by a broad range of proletariat for the means of work retains the local peculiarities of a learner, producing more World Englishes. The issue under discussion in this opinion piece is relevant because it sheds light on the role of English in different social settings and the roots of their use.
Multilingual workplaces present situations in which people from various origins are required to collaborate and undertake professional duties, frequently requiring them to address difficulties of intercultural communication and linguistic practices. Language behaviors influence internalization and interpersonal interactions in multilingual workplaces where English is regularly used as a lingua franca, according to research on the importance of language in multinational workplaces (Friedman). Generally, due to the differences in the origins of the workers, the Englishes of various workspaces vary. However, I suggest that it might not be the case for academic English.
Academic English is instructed to students, generally in a higher education context, and aims to utilize language suited for study. Academic workplaces, like other enterprises, are undergoing globalization. Language practices impact not just teaching and learning in multilingual university environments but also employees’ capacity to engage informally and socialize (Friedman). However, since the mission of academic English is textual clarity for the whole multinational community, this variety of language is guided by strict rules of usage. As a result, academic English is learned and employed in accordance with the requirements (McKinley and Rose). McKinley and Rose mention that straightforward and concise English emphasizes the need for all authors to adequately communicate in an explicit language to explain their scientific discoveries. Subsequently, academic English is genuinely international, with some minor cultural imprints (Friedman). Thus, in my opinion, the uniformity of academic English lies in the specificity of the academic social group, which does not influence language by their national or ethnic background.
In contrast, English is learned for working purposes on a larger scale and by a larger sample of people. These include numerous populations of third-world countries. Foreign language study is frequently the primary educational goal for non-English speakers from disadvantaged backgrounds. For example, research from Lin highlights that English aids non-elite Cambodian residents (hotel workers) in their socioeconomic advancement. However, the workspace and learning circumstances differ from academic settings and produce a specific result. Namely, there are lesser requirements for workers’ English and, thereafter, greater variety. Thus, the working population produces multiple local variants of English.
To conclude, learning English as a second language is a goal for different social groups. The purpose of learning language might determine the methods and practices for mastering it. As such, academic English is employed by the academic social group, which has specific standards of English proficiency and attempts to keep it international. In turn, English for work is used by a greater range of people, often impoverished ones. This distinction results, for academic English, in internationality, and, for workers’ English, in language bifurcation.
Works Cited
Friedman, Debra A. “Language Socialization and Academic Discourse in English as a Foreign Language Contexts: A Research Agenda.” Language Teaching, 2021, pp. 1–15. Crossref. Web.
Lin, Evangeline. “English in the Socioeconomic Advancement of Cambodian Hotel Workers.” World Englishes, 2020. Crossref. Web.
McKinley, Jim, and Heath Rose. “Standards of English in Academic Writing: The Authors Respond.” Journal of Second Language Writing, vol. 44, 2019, pp. 114–16. Crossref. Web.