The Story of English

Class: Ling 122

Words count: 1077

Reflective Paper 1 (Video: Story of English)

1. Descriptive:

The video "The Story of English" provides a comprehensive illustration of history, geography, sociology, language, and other aspects of English language. The video has several conversations and interviews with English linguists and ordinary people around the world to examine how English has influenced their individual lives, and our planet as a whole."The Story of English" illustrates how English has evolved and emerged into a global language for communication in every walk of daily life such as business, travel, education, politics, technology, and etc. It also describes many countries that have chosen English as their national official, second language, or the most widely taught foreign language. These countries are such as Singapore, India, Hongkong, Thailand, etc. English is a common language for people in the world.

The video begins with an Alitalia flight seeking landing instructions for Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome. In this scene, an Italian pilot and an Italian air traffic controller are communicating in English. This gives us an example of how English is used as the only language for airlines in 157 countries around the world. This episode provides a very effective opening highlight of the strong impact of English throughout the world.

Although the program has different personal opinions, the narrators provide a colorful, vivid picture of many aspects and varieties of English such as Irish English, Scots English, American English, Caribbean English, Australian and South African English. The audience also gains several fascinating perspectives from interview with individuals representing many different fields and countries: students from India, a president from Africa, a British TV presenter from "Follow me program"- Kate Flower, the executives from a multinational company - Iveco, and etc.

2. Personal/interpretive:

The video provides an invaluable insight of an unforgettable journey through the history of the English language. It was very interesting to watch the video because it was very easy to understand and very informative for the viewers. The video describes how important the English is for people around the world. The varieties of English used are linked not only to the geography of the people who use them, but also to their status, their identity, and their future aspirations. English has become the common language that children are most likely to be taught in their early years in many countries such as Japan, China, Nigeria, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. It is the most widely language, and will remain the prevailing world language for years to come.

3. Critical/Analytical:

This video has shown evidence to support many concepts or knowledge that I have been taught in this class or learned from my personal experience through reading or communicating with people from different countries. The series emphasizes that American English is a global language for many reasons.

First, English has achieved a genuinely global position and has been an indispensible language for progress in third world countries where it developed