Discuss the ethics of global English
Use a source text and wider study to discuss language shift, cultural influence, equality and global cooperation.
Section P4-A · English in the world
Exam scope and assessment notes
These original lessons support study of the official syllabus; they are not Cambridge materials. Practice is self-checked and does not award Cambridge marks or grades. Extended writing and analytical essays need qualified subject-teacher review. Full timed papers and examiner-marked learner responses are not provided here. Interpret language choices in context and qualify claims about audience response.
Before you begin
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
A source reports English use in international science. What is a relevant next step?
What you will learn
- Select relevant claims and examples from an unseen source.
- Connect source details to researched issues in English in the world.
- Develop a balanced essay and qualified conclusion.
Read the source as a prompt
Paper 4 Section A provides an unseen text of about 400–500 words about English in the world. Candidates discuss the issues raised in relation to a specified aspect of English's role or status, using source details and wider study.
Separate the source writer's claim from its evidence. Select details that answer the specified aspect, then connect them to multilingualism, language policy, cultural influence, language shift, equality or future use.
Balance opportunity, power and evidence
English may support communication and access to institutions, but histories of colonialism and unequal resources affect who can participate and which languages receive support.
A discursive response considers different settings and groups rather than declaring global English simply good or bad. Use examples accurately, explain limits and reach a conclusion tied to the source and question.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
What makes a conclusion well-supported?
Worked example
A source says English supports international cooperation but can pressure communities to abandon local languages. How might an essay discuss both?
Show the worked solution
- Use one precise source detail for cooperation and one for pressure or shift.
- Discuss conditions such as access, education and policy.
- Conclude with a qualified view of how cooperation and language support can coexist.
Answer An essay could recognise English as a shared means of exchange while examining whether local languages remain available in education and public life. Outcomes depend on policy and resources, so cooperation and language maintenance need not be mutually exclusive.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Invented source claim: 'Online English connects young people worldwide.' Give one supporting point and one critical question.
Give me a hint
Separate possible connection from unequal access and local effects.
Compare my reasoning
- Recognise the claim about connection.
- Ask who has reliable access and which languages are visible.
- Consider how users adapt English rather than assuming identical use.
Online English can let users communicate across distance, but benefits depend on access to devices and connectivity. It is also worth asking how local languages and locally shaped English varieties appear in those spaces.
Look for these in your work
- Engages with the claim
- Raises access or ethics
- Avoids a universal assumption
Plan a paragraph on whether English education promotes equality of opportunity.
Give me a hint
Consider access to institutions and unequal access to English instruction.
Compare my reasoning
- State a conditional claim about what English education may enable.
- Give a relevant example such as study or employment information.
- Balance it with unequal teaching access or local-language needs.
English education may widen access to some higher-education and employment pathways where institutions use it. Unequal access to skilled teaching can reproduce advantage, while local-language education also matters. Effects on equality depend on provision and available opportunities.
Look for these in your work
- Develops a clear point
- Connects education to opportunity
- Recognises unequal provision
A source says English will replace most smaller languages because it is 'more useful'. Identify two assumptions and a better research question.
Give me a hint
Ask how usefulness is defined and what evidence supports the prediction.
Compare my reasoning
- Question who benefits from the stated usefulness.
- Question the scope and evidence for 'replace most'.
- Frame a research question about policy, transmission and community choice.
The claim assumes usefulness is universal and language shift follows automatically. It predicts a broad outcome without a defined period or evidence. A stronger question asks how education, work, policy and community preferences affect transmission in a specific setting.
Look for these in your work
- Identifies assumptions
- Challenges scope and evidence
- Poses a focused question
Common mistakes
- Repeating a source instead of discussing it
- Generalising from one community
- Treating cultural influence as one-way or inevitable
What can you explain now?
What should connect a source detail to wider research?
Compare with the explanation
An explanation of how the detail relates to the specified issue
The task requires discussion, not a separate summary and fact list.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
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Make it stick
How do you make a Paper 4 response source-based and informed by wider study?
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.