Given the unstoppable rise of China as a major economic power and the financial turmoil plaguing Western economies, Putonghua is becoming a fashionable language learned by many around the globe. Nevertheless, there remain up to 1.8 billion people worldwide speaking English today and, without a doubt, English as the world's lingua franca is nowhere near its expiration.
English is not important for people who do not want to travel internationally. English is not important for businesses that do not want to be part of a global network. English is not important for cities that do not want to be international hubs. English is not important for societies that do not want to leave the Industrial Age behind and move forward into a globalised, service-dominant society.
To understand why English is imperative for a business, city or nation that does want to evolve in these ways, one must understand three key concepts: competitor displacement, the distinction between a 'user group' and 'groups of users', and the processes that render manufacturing goods for a globalised world different from providing services for a globalised community.
A basic principle of business competition is that it takes a lot of time and ample mental and financial effort to dislodge a dominant incumbent competitor from its top position. Even then, some competitors simply cannot be extricated. In terms of our globalised world, English is unquestionably the dominant lingua franca. Even with worldwide resistance, it would take years, even decades, to displace English from its position as the leading language of trade, science, education and travel.
It is nonsense for fluent English speakers to argue that English is not important. This is as ridiculous as someone residing in a cosy apartment claiming that people who sleep in the street can live perfectly normal lives. To fully understand this argument, we must first come to know the difference between a 'group of users' and a 'user group'.
People who wear suits and ties are a group of users. They are completely free to stop wearing suits and ties and begin wearing open-neck shirts and trousers, if they wish. They may still work in the same office as the wearers of suits and ties, may still interact with them and can still relate to them on other levels. Groups of users are not connected solely by the product or service they use and do not make use of stringent in-group versus out-group divisions.
However, people who use Facebook, for example, are a user group. They are defined and connected by the product or service that they use - in this case, Facebook. If a man leaves Facebook, he cannot communicate with the Facebook persona of other Facebook users. He must be a Facebook user to communicate with other Facebook users in the Facebook-specific capacity. (Interestingly, the majority of Facebook users, more than 52 per cent, use English; Spanish is a distant second, used by 15 per cent.)