The Geographical spread of English

6 becoming more and more necessary at work even in newly industrialized nations like China, Japan, and India. As Warschauer 2000 observes, “many non-native speakers of English need to use English daily in workplaces for presentations, negotiations, and international collaboration” Focho, 2011, p. 5. In many countries, people who are bilingual in the indigenous language plus English are required in international companies, industries, and organizations that usually pay best salaries . Like Cortazzi and Jin 1996 said, “in China, for example, proficiency in English helps in getting well paid jobs, especially those with international connections”. Kossoudji 1988 also added that “the United States deficiency in English has a negative impact on migrant workers; they tend to have lower earnings and less job mobility compared to those with greater competence in English” Focho, 2011, p. 5. Considering the large number of people who are proficient in English, today, the job market for both migrant and international workers is more competitive, moreover there is an increasing emphasis on English in the workplace, especially for various professionals businessmen, medical doctors, nurses, and those who working in technology, agriculture, aviation, etc.. In the other hand, the growing demand of English proficiency opens thousands of job opportunities for English language teachers worldwide Focho, 2011, p. 5. The third role of English is ‘English for international communication’. Kirkpatrick 2006 just said that English is spoken in every continent of the world in one form or other and giving rise to many models such as native speakers, nativised speakers, or lingua franca users. That justifies its status as a global language. Moreover, as Seidlhofer 2003 points out, “bilingualism is a popular 7 trend and English has a stabilization role in bilingualism since most people speak their language and English ” Focho, 2011, p. 6. Jenkins 2006 also added that English is a way to communicate internationally across linguistic boundaries, because it is a shared foreign language that people of different nations and background languages use to communicate with each other Focho, 2011, p. 6. The last English role is ‘English for global education’. Focho 2011 stated, “Knowledge is often equated to power, is a catalyst for gaining positive self image and confidence”. A global education is key to such knowledge gain since it informs the students in some areas like cross-cultural awareness, global issues, universal values, critical thinkingleadership skills, and experiential learning. According to Roux 2001, “students must be aware of traditions and beliefs which are different from their own. Such understanding fosters cross- cultural co-operation, tolerance and peace, and helps minimize hatred, tribalism, racism, and violence which inevitably lead to war” Focho, 2011, p. 7. Global education providers should help the students to develop social responsibility and global citizenship in order to provoke the building of a culture of peace and respect the human rights. The students‟ participation in global issues discussions generally builds their self-confidence and a feeling of being well informed. Focho 2011 points out that “the English class is an ideal location for developing such knowledge because there are few constraints on the subject matter discussed during language learning activities ” Focho, 2011, p. 7. From that all, we can see that English give many advantages for students. Focho 2011 concludes that “it helps them to achieve academic success, make it 8 easier for them find employment, enables them to communicate internationally, and gives them a broader perspective on the world in which they live ” Focho, 2011, p. 8.

3. English in Indonesia

English as a global language has some roles and also influences in many nations in the world. In Indonesia , English has some important roles, that are : “as a means of international communication in practically all fields or walk of life; as a medium through which scientific knowledge, and new technologies can be accessed implemented with a view to succeeding in the global marketplace; as a source of vocabulary for the development and modernization of Indonesian; and as a way to get to know native speakers of English, their language, culture and literature, or as a means of expanding one‟s intellectual horizons” Lauder, 2008, p. 12-13. According to Halim 1976, the reason that English is needed in Indonesia is that “a large proportion of the books and other information resources which deal with modern knowledge and technology which are needed for national development are published in English, and because these sources can be of use in developing term banks in Ind onesian” Lauder, 2008, p. 14. Besides that all advantages, some educators in Indonesia also worried about the widespread of English that would give a negative impact on Indonesian culture, values, and behavior. Some negative impacts that perhaps English give to Indonesian for examples are western „liberal values‟ that on the opposite side with 9 Indonesian values; higher prestige for those who able to communicate in English; sprinkle English words in their use of Indonesian which may signaled a decline in nationalistic idealism that could endanger the spirit of national unity; and the wrong unders tanding about „modernization‟ that has similar meaning with „westernization‟ Lauder, 2008, p. 13-18. Because of that, would be better if English is used as an „additional‟ language rather than a „foreign‟ language or may as a second official language in the country after Indonesian language. As the second official language, it could be used as a medium of instruction in education and in the workplace more frequently, and giving Indonesians more opportunity to develop their communication skills in order to be more competitive in the global marketplace Lauder, 2008, p. 17.

4. Previous studies

Previously, there are similar studies about the perception on the importance of English. One of them is Jezifai‟s study 2012 about students‟ motivation and attitudes toward learning English in an English course in Bandung. Her research showed positive attitudes of the students toward the importance of English and the use of it in educational context. Her finding indicated that English is important to the students for their future career, education, and social interaction. Then, Othman 2005 also conclude the finding of his study about English language use among EFL learners in Sunway University College. He said 10 that English is used by the students in academic activities to read academic text and in daily activities to socialize with friends. Other study is from Verma 2005 about learner‟s attitude and its impact on language learning. She said that there were many factors which demand the people in India to be proficient in English. She also conclude that English has bright future in India because the students aware about the usefulness of English as the target language. The next is Bani- Khaled‟s study 2014. It is about the role of English as perceived of applied English at the University of Jordan. After analyzed the students‟ perceptions on English in seven areas professional concerns, personal development, education experience, social status, cultural interest, travel immigration, media technology, he conclude that the result showed majority of positive attitudes of the students toward the role of English plays in their lives. In her study about English as a global language phenomenon and the need of cultural conceptualizations awareness in Indonesian ELT, Tantri 2013