"Eighty-five percent of international organizations now use English as one of their working languages, 49 percent use French and fewer than 10 per cent use Arabic, Spanish or German." (123) According to the same source approximately 370 million people speak English as a first language, 370 million people speak it as a second language and about 700 million speak it as a foreign language. (123, 139) .

             The spread of English as a common global language is not without its controversy, as the language continues to permeate many cultures it also leaves behind a legacy of dominance and in many cases oppression, as language evolves so do Western structuralist assumptions about the people who bring it to a culture and the cultures who receive it. Pennycook argues that to dominant discourse of English as a natural, neutral and beneficial adoption ignores and marginalizes its use in diverse cultures and contexts and is a form of overt and covert control, especially with regard to Britain and her colonies. (124) This argument is mirrored by those who assess the globalization of English with regard to the ignorance of social and diversity issues in its application, research and social and political judgment especially with the dominance of standardized English as a teaching and learning tool, often dismissing or ignoring issues of culture and native or cultural language. (121) "Politics and activism need also to be kept in mind. The spread of English was contemporary with colonialism and domination, and not everyone's feelings toward it are neutral, let alone supportive." (Gilsdorf 364) .

             The way in which English has become a dominant global language is reflected in the many contexts in which it is used, either in total or in fragments necessary for trade or communication.