Globalisation: IELTS Writing Task 2 question

English has become the main language of international communication, and while some people welcome this as a practical benefit, others fear that it endangers local languages and cultures. I believe that English is genuinely useful, but that the threat to other languages is real and requires deliberate action.

The advantages of a shared global language are considerable. English functions as a lingua franca in business, science, aviation and tourism, so that an engineer from Brazil and a supplier from Korea, for example, can negotiate a contract without an interpreter. Much of the content on the internet, including many online courses and academic articles, is available in English, so people who speak it gain access to a vast amount of knowledge. For students in many countries, a good level of English opens the door to scholarships abroad and better-paid jobs, which makes it a valuable tool for personal advancement.

However, the spread of English can come at a high cost. In some communities, young people increasingly use English online and at work, and they gradually lose confidence in their first language. Local films, music and books may struggle to find audiences when global entertainment in English is so easily available. For smaller languages, the consequences can be severe: when a language is no longer passed down through generations, it may disappear entirely, taking with it traditional stories, songs and knowledge about local plants and farming. As more languages fade away, the world loses part of its diversity, and communities may lose an important part of their cultural identity.

In conclusion, English brings real benefits for communication, but these should not be gained at the expense of local languages. Bilingual education, in which children learn English while continuing to study in their mother tongue, offers a sensible way to protect both.