English is the most widespread language in the world due to its use in business, government, aviation, maritime industries, and popular culture, even in countries where it is not the primary language. While Mandarin Chinese has more native speakers, English is spoken more internationally. English is dominant in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, and is used as a secondary language in Hong Kong, Singapore, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Malaysia to communicate between various local languages. The importance of English stems not just from the number of speakers but from its roles in global news, information sharing, and popular entertainment that spread its influence worldwide.

1. Why Do We Teach English?
Kenji Kitao
Doshisha University (Kyoto, Japan)
k.kitao@lancaster.ac.uk
The Importance of English
English is not the most widely spoken language in the world in terms of the number of native
speakers – there are many more Chinese speakers than native English speakers – but Chinese is spoken
little outside of Chinese communities, so English is the most widespread language in the world.
In some countries, English is the exclusive or dominant language. It is dominant in the United
Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland.
English is widely used as a second language 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.
However, even these numbers do not really indicate how important English is as a world language,
because less than 15% of the world population uses English. The importance of English is not just in how
many people speak it but in what it is used for.
English is the major language of news and information in the world. It is the language of business
and government even in some countries where it is a minority language. It is the language of maritime
communication and international air traffic control, and it is used even for internal air traffic control in
countries where it is not a native language. American popular culture--primarily movies and music – carries
the English language throughout the world.
Text Comprehension
1 – Retire do texto:
a) As palavras cognatas
b) As palavras chave
c) As marcas tipográficas
2 – According to the text, match the columns
(1) Native speakers ( ) Cultura popular americana
(2) Chinese communities ( ) Falantes chineses
(3) Chinese speakers ( ) Falantes nativos
(4) Foreign language ( ) Comunidades chinesa
(5) American popular culture ( ) Língua estrangeira
3 – Cite:
a) os países onde a língua inglesa é dominante:
b) os países que adotam a língua inglesa como segunda língua:
4 – Por que se diz que a língua inglesa é importante?
5 – De acordo com o texto como podemos perceber tamanha importância?
6 – Onde, principalmente, o inglês é usado como língua principal?
7 – Quem é o autor do texto?
8 – O referido autor do texto pertence a que Universidade?
9 – Qual é o assunto do texto?
10 – Qual é a ideia principal do texto?