Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2020 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7, University of Duisburg-Essen (Institut für Anglophone Studien), course: Global Issues in the EFL Classroom, language: English, abstract: This paper deals with the question of what a ‘Global Language’ is and why English rose to be one and the most dominant of them. After a defining what the term ‘Polycentrism’ refers to and after explaining the core aspects of a what makes a global language, we will take a look at the historical events and developments that caused English to gain the status of the ‘first lingua franca’.Following this, we will deal with the topic why teachers and educators should care about the special status of the English language and why global issues connected to that should be integrated into teaching classes. For doing so a look will be taken on the recently scientifically discussed concept of ‘Global Education’ and how it can be implemented into learning and teaching processes. An analysis of how far the concepts of Global Education and global issues themselves are incorporated into school curricula will subsequently follow. At the end of this paper I will reflect on the previously discussed topics and describe how I personally stand towards global issues in English classrooms and how I plan to deal with them.
