International English the sphere of influence of English-speaking countries. Here English may serve as a useful lingua franca between ethnic and language groups. Higher education, the legislature and judiciary, national commerce, and so on, may all be carried out predominantly in English. The "expanding circle" refers to those countries where English has no official role, but is nonetheless important for certain functions, e.g. international business and tourism. By the twenty-first century, non-native English speakers have come to outnumber native speakers by a factor of three, according to the British Council. Darius Degher, a professor at Malmö University in Sweden, uses the term
Mixed ability Mixed ability Mixed ability is a proposed new term to be used in place of the terms disabled, handicapped, abnormal, and crippled. Mixed ability refers to any person who has a different or "mixed" physical "ability". It can also refer to anyone who has a different emotional or learning ability. Words like disabled, crippled, and handicapped have negative connotations throughout history. Mixed ability contemporizes the label placed on those who have a different or medically documented physical or mental abilities and attempts to relieve any social or conversational stigma. The objective in changing the term is to eliminate stereotypes that