Exploring the main issues and criticisms on the spread of English in Language Planning and Education

This paper will examine to what extent the spread of English has had negative eff ects on people across the world.In the fi rst and second parts of the paper, I will discuss fi ve main issues concerning the widespread use of English.This discussion will be illustrated by examples of the eff ects in Japan and in other parts of the world such as Singapore and Africa.In the last part of the paper, I will provide a brief summary of my conclusion on those issues.To begin, Phillipson (1992Phillipson ( , 2000) ) , one of the best-known contemporary critics of linguistic imperialism, claims that the dominant and widespread use of English has caused the maintenance and aggravation of inequalities in communication between those with greater and lesser levels of profi ciency in English or between native speakers and non-native speakers in many countries.I believe there is a considerable amount of truth in this claim, and there is no disagreement with it on this matter.Many writers such as Wright (2004) and de Swaan (2001) demonstrate that non-native speakers face disadvantages, particularly in scientifi c and academic communication.It is unfair that, while native speakers of English acquire the language naturally in childhood, non-native English speakers Exploring the main issues and criticisms on the spread of English in Language Planning and Education