English as a Medium of Communication
If one hasn't attempted visiting other people's father's farm, one's reply will remain: "My father's farm is the biggest!" This is the similitude of the language situation we find ourselves.
No language is unimportant; every language has a unique context in which other than it will be irrelevant. That's not to say that there isn't degree of importance about languages. The potentialities of English as a medium of communication between and among state and non-state actors in the international system as we have it today are not unnoticeable even to the blind!
As linguists, we consider how to assist people in making them to be willingly in control of their lives and not to become victims of forced submission. In a descriptive mode, we could show people the trends and dynamics of communication and consequently the need to upgrade to remain relevant without sounding authoritative!
There is much wisdom in avoiding being prescriptive; this will keep the field of applied linguistics higher on the rungs of the ladder of language disciplines...
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