Section 4
　Today,/English spoken by the majority of the speakers/belongs to the second and third groups.// In other words,/there are more non-native speakers of English/than native speakers/in the world.// Under the circumstances,/English serves as a common language,/or a lingua franca,/on many occasions.//
　When people use English/as a lingua franca,/they try to do their best/to understand each other.// They focus on communicating their messages,/rather than speaking like native speakers.// They also respect the varieties of English/and the cultural backgrounds of others.//
　As we have seen,/there are many varieties of English.// Each of them is equally important.// With this concept kept in mind,/be confident/when you speak English.// Let’s communicate actively/with people around the world.//