The worldwide dominance of English is being challenged by Chinese, Spanish and Arabic, a British linguist told Shanghai audience.

David Graddol, a British applied linguist and a renowned writer on global English issues, made his comments earlier this week as he discussed his new self-published book "English Next" at a lecture for English teachers and students.

The lecture, sponsored by the British Council, was aimed at raising people's awareness of the shifting importance of the English language.

"Every country puts special effort and resources into English learning," Graddol said. But, he said, people are realizing that English is not enough.

Mandarin, he said, has emerged as the new must-have language given China's surging economy.

To support his claim, he cited the growing number of overseas candidates taking the Chinese Proficiency Test, the national standardized test to assess the Chinese ability of non-native speakers.

The numbers have soared from 2,000 people in 1991 to nearly 40,000 candidates last year.

It's the only test recognized by the Chinese government to demonstrate Mandarin ability.

The Ministry of Education has reported that an estimated 30 million people are studying Mandarin worldwide in universities, community colleges, training courses and with tutors.

"That doesn't mean English is going away, but it means that the world is turning from mono-lingual to multi-lingual," Graddol said.

Editor: Wing