Shouting & Pointing: Lingual Isolation in The Global Community

Do native English speakers need to learn a second language? It is the one true question to ask oneself when being a member of a global community. In this light, a closer look at the dynamics of the global era - especially that of the shift of power within the global society - is needed, because of the effects that these power shifts have on lingual dominance. 
 In the European Union (EU), Great Britain is the only member with a native English speaking community. Due to the global economic power of their lingual sibling; the United States of America, native English speakers have the privilege of speaking the dominant language, which is also known under the name of lingua franca. With the Brits speaking the lingua franca, all other EU citizens are being taught English as a second language in school. Thereby, regrettably, reducing the desire of native English speakers to learn a second language. 
 But as power is shifting within the global community, so does the dominance of the English language. In his article Does it matter if we only speak English, Martin Jacques (2006), a journalist working for The Guardian, addressed the need for urgency with regard to learning a second language. He exemplified the rise of Asia as an economic power and suggested in its light that '(...) [Mandarin] should be made widely available'. He, apparently, needed to strengthen the sense of urgency by having to state the obvious '[w]e are not living in the age of Europe, but the global era, (...)'. 
 Richard Holt (2006), another Guardian journalist, who was concerned with the loss of a sense of urgency to learn a second language, addressed the dramatic drop in number of children signing up for French or German classes in his article called Why bother learning foreign languages. Combined with the steep decline in the ability to speak a second language (Jacques, 2009), both journalists raise awareness for the danger of becoming lingually isolated within the EU. Not to mention, the consequences of lingual isolation on a global scale, when, for example, the lingua franca becomes Spanish. Would shouting in English and pointing, mentioned in Holt's article, be all that is left to communicate with the new speakers of the lingua franca?  
 As a solution to the problem of British monolinguism, Jacques proposed to take advantage of already being a multilingual society, by getting '(...) our newer citizens [of whom] many (...) speak foreign languages' to share their knowledge. The take home message here is that of lingual reciprocity, which might be the magic words for helping both native and non-native speakers become less isolated in the global community.