Język wobec procesów globalizacji

The article focuses on the role of language in the globalized world and knowledge-based civilization. The author begins by presenting language as the basic cognitive tool and the carrier of cultural heritage. The question of the perennial search for the universal language is also raised. Later, the future of language is considered. The author forecasts that the language of tomorrow will be: 1. subject to global unification processes; 2. increasingly international; 3. highly anglicized; 4. less diverse as certain languages will become extinct