Mandarin is an economic necessity

The argument

Proponents of this view argue that world languages are not chosen on cultural grounds but adopted because commerce makes them unavoidable, and that Mandarin is now acquiring exactly that status. As China grows its businesses and its economic influence, the number of people who need to deal directly with Chinese business owners grows with it, and those people learn Mandarin for the practical reason that the transaction goes better in the other party's language. Learning follows trade, on this account, and trade is moving towards China. The evidence offered is that states, and not only individuals, now treat the language as infrastructure. Several countries see Mandarin as an important language to learn for business and international affairs. The United States government classifies it a 'critical language', meaning one its citizens should learn in order to help national security – a judgement made by a government about capabilities it expects to need, rather than a consumer preference. Several African nations, including Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Kenya, have added Mandarin as an optional subject in elementary schools, and Uganda has made it mandatory. Curricular decisions of that kind carry weight in the argument because they are slow and forward-looking: a state that puts a language into primary education is betting on which language its children will need as adults, and several have now placed that bet on Mandarin, with one prepared to compel it. The conclusion is framed conditionally. English holds its position, on this reading, because the English-speaking economy has been the status quo of international business, not because of anything intrinsic to English itself. If the Mandarin-speaking economy surpasses it, the same logic that installed English will install Mandarin, and Mandarin will replace English as the language of business and become the next world language.

Context

China is among the world's fastest-growing economies,,makes up 15.5% of the global economy, and is currently the world's 2nd largest economy. China's continued economic development (through initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative to develop routes connecting China to 152 countries) will maintain its position as a global economic superpower for years to come.

Premises

Counter-arguments

Mandarin may be an economic necessity, but English will still be more beneficial in fields of business, science, and technology.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Study driven by trade is instrumental and follows economic ties rather than displacing a lingua franca, and a designation as a "critical language" states one government's strategic priorities rather than measuring global use. The premise also offers no figures for how many people are learning Mandarin or reaching fluency in it. [Rejecting P2] Adding a subject to a curriculum records a policy decision, often alongside investment agreements, and says nothing about uptake or attainment; several of the countries listed are in southern rather than East Africa. A world language is defined by use between third parties who share no other tongue, and nothing here shows Mandarin being used that way — while the conclusion is itself stated as a conditional, which leaves the question open.