Page 5 - 633 102 Professional English for Pharmacists E-Course book

Why is it important to have a good English proficiency?

From world history, English is a West Germanic language spoken originally in England, and is now
the third most common native language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish
(Wikipedia.org, 2020). In fact, it is spoken as a first language by a majority of the inhabitants of
countries in different continents, including the United States and Canada in North-America; the
United Kingdom and Ireland in Europe; Australia and New Zealand in Australasia. Also, English is
an official language of the European Union (EU), many commonwealth countries, in many leading
organizations like the United Nations, the World Health Organization, as well as among ASEAN
communities. In fact, it is widely learned as a second language in several countries including
Thailand.

Evidently, English has become one of the most widely used languages in the world, thereby,
pharmacists can easily communicate with people around the globe through their proficient
English skills, which can help their patient regarding pharmaceutical care services and likely lead
to a significant catalyst to success in their own career path. In fact, based on Work Bank Report,
English proficiency is positively correlated with several key measures of innovation, including
public investment in research and development, and researchers and technicians per capita as
shown in Figure 1 (EF, 2020). Additionally, for those who have English skills at a premium level,
they are often promoted to managerial positions as well.

Figure 1: Correlation between English proficiency and R&D innovation

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