The Spread, Application, and Globalization of the English language in the World - Essay Example

?Global Englishes Introduction The term “global Englishes” is used “to locate the spread and use of English within critical theories of globalization” (Pennycook, 2007, p. 5). Language can be thought of as a living organism for the fact that it comes into being, grows and expands with the passage of time, and a time comes when it dies out. This notion of language is not accepted widely. However, most people agree to the notion that language is dynamic like a society as well as the fact that when a language stops changing or evolving with time, it is dead (Baugh and Cable, 1951, p. 2). English language has been spoken for more than 1500 years. Starting with the British Isles’ invasion by the German tribes of the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Angles, the English language has come a long way. English has undergone numerous transformations since its creation to date. Various historical events have played a role in its transformation that include but are not limited to Britain’s Christianization in the year 597, the Invasions of the Viking, the Conquest of the Norman, Bible’s translation, William Caxton’s introduction of the printing press, the Renaissance, and the British Empire’s expansion (Wilton, 2001). All of these events have helped English language be what it is today. English language also derives its popularity and power from the advancement of science and technology in general, and the emergence of the US as the world power. Given the popularity of the English language and its significance in the contemporary age, this paper makes forecasts about the future of the global Englishes discussing different aspects like the growing influence of the English language and its tendency to take over regional languages. In light of the findings drawn from this discussion, this paper discusses the implications of the global spread of English with a specific focus on how and what should be taught in the courses of English language and what should the criteria for evaluation be. English will Spread More in the Future In line with the growing popularity of the English language, its future has been prognosticated by many people in the past few decades. According to Barber (1993), “it is dangerous to extrapolate or toprophesy, and none of us can guess what the English language will be like in a hundred years time [and that] the history of the language in the coming century will depend on the history of the community itself” (Barber, 1993, p. 276). While Barber is right, English’s status today and the surfacing of the variety of Englishes all over the world have caused people to predict the future of this language. Changes in the English language’s status are influential upon a large population of the world in general and its linguistic choices in particular. Considering the profile of spread of English in the past, it can be estimated that English language would spread even more in the future than it has so far. Mori Arinori, in the 19th century, proposed to replace the Japanese language with another language that is stronger and better like French and English. He emphasized on the need to adopt one of these languages in these words: “The march of civilization in Japan has already reached the heart of the nation – the English language following it suppresses the use of both Chinese and Japanese. The commercial power of the English-speaking race which now rules the world drives our people into some knowledge of their commercial ways and habits. The absolute necessity of mastering the English language is thus forced upon us. It is a requisite of our independence in the community of nations. Under the circumstances, our meager language, which can never be of any use outside of our islands, is doomed to yield to the domination of the English tongue, especially when the power of steam and electricity shall have pervaded the land” (Mori cited in Kachru, 1992, p. 5). English cannot Extinguish Other National Languages Although English has attained the status of an international language, and is necessarily taught as a second language in most of the countries with non-English national languages, yet this world can never be an English-speaking world in its entirety because language is essentially a cultural trait, and cultural assimilation of such a magnitude is impracticable in the real world. If all countries make English a national language, it requires them to undergo a radical change in their cultures. Language is more than just a means of communication. The language spoken by a community reflects the community’s values, beliefs, trends, traditions, norms, culture, and the lifestyle in general. For example, people that are too technology savvy tend to use slangs too often in their everyday life. They use words like “ASAP” and “LOL” both in the virtual and the real world. Although these terms were initially made to facilitate discussion and chatting in the virtual world, yet over the passage of time, they have integrated into our language in the real world so much that sometimes, hearing complete phrases in place of these words seems weird. One reason why the whole world cannot speak English is because of the disparity of technological advancement between different countries across the globe. While such words and phrases are commonly known among the technology savvy educated community, they are not understood by every second language speaker of English in the technologically remote and underdeveloped countries. The fact that English is the most popular language today clearly speaks of the dominance of the English speaking nations like the Americans and the British over the rest of the world where English is not the national language. English speaking countries have a long history of ruling over the world at different points in time. For example, the Great Britain has ruled over many countries like India for a long period of time. Likewise, the US today has indeed, an extremely important and influential, if not the most, position in the contemporary international political scenario. This suggests that the popularity of a language around the world is, in a way, related to the power of the countries where it is spoken as a national language. If we take a closer look, English is more popular as a second language in some countries as compared to others. Coincidentally, these countries happen to be more influenced by the English speaking countries socially, economically, and politically. An interesting example of this is the fact that most Indians know and speak English, take pride in speaking English, and consider it as an essential skill that reflects their education and social status. On the other hand, while English is taught in and learnt by people in such countries as Iran and China, yet people of these countries most speak in English when they have to communicate to an English speaking foreigner. They don’t associate the ability to speak English with social status or take pride in speaking English rather than their native languages in situations where speaking English is not required. This suggests that English cannot become a common language everywhere in the world unless every nation accepts and approves of the power, higher status, and dominance of the English speaking nations. English cannot be the language of the entire world because it does not addresses the concerns of people belonging to the non-English cultures as efficiently and completely as their native languages do. Let’s compare English to Urdu for example. In Urdu, there are letters that when added to words help reflect respect of the speaker toward the person being addressed whereas in English, irrespective of whether one is talking to a younger or an elder person, the word used is “you”. If one means to show respect to another person in English language, one has to add words like “dear” or “respected” whereas in Urdu language, only letters are added to a word rather than supporting a word with a prefix or a suffix. However, English language does displace other languages both in the English mother-tongue countries and the non-English mother-tongue countries by taking over such important domains as government or education. Future of Global English in terms of Accent The likely future of all the Englishes in the world in terms of accent can be classified into two types; maintenance of pure English accent among the natives, and increased adaptation of the non-English to a mixed English accent. Here, the word “mixed” is used because while the native English-speaking people have defined accents of their own e.g. the British accent is different from the American accent and the Australian accent differs from both, the non-English people get influence from all these original accents simultaneously, thus developing an accent that is neither recognizable as purely American nor as purely British or purely Australian. The non-native speakers of English develop an accent of their own as a result of the constant contact between English and the regional languages spoken by the inhabitants of those regions (Kachru and Nelson, 2006). “Standard English in the non-native varieties diverges more noticeably from the native-speaker varieties in several markers of a formal spoken and written style” (Hall and Eggington, 2000, p. 73). The non-native variety of English is a bit of all original or native accents. This is because of the fact that the non-English speaking people learn English from a variety of sources including movies, media, and TV channels without consciously distinguishing between the different accents of the actors from different English-speaking countries. However, in their attempt to improve their English and make it sound more similar to the English of the native English people, the non-English people tend to imitate the native speakers and develop constantly modifiable accents. This leads to the creation of a “mixed” English accent that is distinguishable from the original accents of the British, the Americans, the Australians, and other English language speaking nations. Growth in the Influence of English Language The influence of English on the world is likely to increase with the passage of time. Although English can never completely substitute or replace other languages, yet the tendency of people to learn and speak English is quite likely to increase with the passage of time because of the status of English as an international language. One reason for this is the need to conduct trade of different types across nations. While Chinese is a national language only in China, Japanese is a national language only in Japan, and Hindi is a national language only in India, English happens to be a national language in several countries across the world simultaneously. These countries include but are not limited to the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. Fortunately, a vast majority of the English speaking countries are technologically, economically, and scientifically, much more advanced as compared to the non-English countries. This is one reason why “English is also important in securing higher status employment and in obtaining promotions, and English is widely used in literature and in the mass media” (Hall and Eggington, 2000, p. 69). This provides the English mother-tongue countries with an edge over non-English mother-tongue countries because people from other countries migrate to the English mother-tongue countries in search of better education, more opportunities of work, and an overall better lifestyle. In order to achieve this and really adjust into these foreign countries, learning English becomes a necessity rather than a choice. Even at a very young age when children are in schools in the non-English mother-tongue countries, they are taught English because they are expected to work in the international settings when they are grown up. As the trade between nations is increasing over the passage of time with the social media in general and the Internet in particular playing a special role in this, the influence of English on the world is likely to increase manifolds in the future. Less than a century ago, there was a time “when languages were viewed as having “made the grade” when they could boast of great poetry” (Kachru, 1992, p. 24). There has occurred a decline in the market of poetry over the passage of time. The availability or absence of the manuals of computer programming suggests whether or not a speech community would take its language seriously. In light of these values and goals of sociolinguistics, it is not a surprise that the local integrative languages are considered “Prince Charmings in overalls” (Kachru, 1992, p. 24) since these languages join the modicum of practicality and affect together. However, English still remains the real powerhouse because of the fact that English language works whether or not it is loved by a speech community. Considering the massive immigration of people from the underdeveloped and the developing countries to the developed countries, most of which are English mother-tongue countries, it can be estimated that in the future, the number of speakers of English as a second language would increase. However, it cannot be said that the speakers of English as a first language would outnumber the people who have other languages as their first language because other factors are also at play in this; one of them being the trend of growth of population between the English-speakers and the non-English speakers. Today, English is spoken in most parts of the world whereas minor languages like Pushto and Siraiki are spoken in very small areas and thus qualify as regional languages. What to talk of their popularity across the world, most people from the same country living in different cities do not know or speak those languages. For example, Pushto is spoken only in the province of Khyber Pukhtunkhwah in Pakistan whereas people from the other three provinces i.e. Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan speak other languages and mostly Urdu. Considering the matter from the standpoint of population growth, the number of English speakers would be more even if the growth rate of the English speakers is lesser as compared to that of the Pathans that speak Pushto because the number of Pathans all over the world as compared to the people who speak English as a first or a second language is negligible. Therefore, the number of people who speak English will be more in the future than it is today. Implications of the Global Spread of English One of the most fundamental implications of the global spread of English is the resistance to English. The English language has a long imposition history in a vast majority of the periphery communities particularly for the material and political reasons. This imposition has conventionally resulted from the competition between English and the native languages. “It is still deeply implicated in struggles for dominance against other languages, with conflicting implications for the construction of identity, community, and culture of the local people” (Canagarajah, 1999, p. 57). Students thus tend to make complex social and ideological choices in their attempt to learn and use the English language in their everyday life. The English language for the users from such communities embodies a strong controversial history that dates back to the colonial times. Since the perceptions of the users of English are influenced by these historical conflicts, it is imperative for the teachers of the English language to create a historical perspective on their language as well as their profession. Another implication of the global spread of the English language is reducing compelling customary authority of the English mother-tongue countries over the language. This trend can be witnessed in England already where the presence of American English as well as a variety of non-native Englishes have finished the compelling customary authority of the government or its institutions over the English language (Mair, 2003, p. 62). Suitable Methods for Teaching English For the second language learners of the English language, it is very useful to develop an ability to adapt the language in terms of its accuracy as well as style to the specific set of circumstances wherein the interaction takes place. “And, because learners inevitably engage in intra-speaker variation, it makes far more sense for pedagogy to build overtly on this automatic process in order to give them more control over it, instead of trying (and failing) to eradicate variation from their ILs altogether” (Jenkins, 2000, p. 54). Although teachers who are native speakers of English language are more proficient in the use of the language and have a wider vocabulary base as compared to the non-native speaker teachers, yet research has shown that the difference in competency and proficiency is more than balanced out because of the greater tolerance for and affiliation between the students of English language and the non-native speaker teachers (Llurda, 2006, p. 22). The increased tolerance and support of the students for the non-native speaker teachers also has a positive effect on the level of interest taken by the students in studies and their overall education. Besides, when a non-native speaker teacher teaches English, students can see the fruits his efforts and hard work in learning English language have borne and the teacher becomes a model for the students, which spurs motivation in the students to become like their teacher (Phan, 2008, p. 9). Students can also identify with a non-native speaker teacher because of the similarity of their skin colors because the color of skin does matter even if a teacher fully qualifies the criteria established for a native speaker (Sharifian, 2009, p. 27). Suitable Course for Teaching There is a large variety of things that can be taught in the English language class. The course for such a class must comprise English grammar and comprehension, phonology, and literature. Greatest emphasis must be placed on teaching grammar because once students understand the grammar, they are able to construct sentences. Ways to teach these things include but are not limited to writing essays and articles, reading literature books, doing grammar exercises, conducting debate contests, and holding group communication. Effective Ways of Evaluation A lot of attention is being presently paid to the numerous cultural and social issues related to the assessment of proficiency of the non-native English. The practitioners and researchers have, among their advances, successfully started to incorporate a range of teaching, contextual, and learning variables in the evaluation and design of the instruments of assessments. Nevertheless, not much attention has been paid to a variable which is fundamental to the proficiency assessment’s sociopolitical impact; “the linguistic norms for English against which proficiency in English is generally assessed, that is, the norms of Standard English” (Hall and Eggington, 2000, p. 67). Instead of that, a frequently explicit assumption that has been used in assessment of proficiency is that its universal target in the Standard English across the globe is certain norms that are endorsed and availed by the native speakers of the English language that are highly educated. In light of the contemporary world demographics of the English-speaking population, this assumption is no more valid since English is spoken by many more non-native speakers than the population of the native speakers. According to Strevens (1992 cited in Hall and Eggington, 2000, p. 67), the native speakers of the English language are no more than a fifth of the total number of English language speakers in the world. There is growing emphasis upon the introduction of local norms for the use of English language and for the purpose of its teaching. Especially considering the fact that the non-native speakers of English language in the world far outnumber the native speakers, the criteria of evaluation should be customized as per the individualistic needs and requirements of the English spoken in a particular region or culture, though the fundamentals of English like grammar should be evaluated only on the scale of Standard English. Conclusion English is an extremely popular and influential language, which is why, it has attained the status of an international language today. With a much greater population of the non-native speakers as compared to the native speakers, English has displayed massive growth in the past and is expected to spread even further in the future. While there is no doubt in that, English cannot altogether eradicate other minor languages because other factors like culture and politics are also at play to sustain other languages. The global spread of English language has numerous sociological and pedagogical implications. A non-native speaker teacher is better equipped to teach English as a second language as compared to a native speaker. The criteria of evaluation should also be customized to the regional needs and preferences. The techniques and materials used for teaching, recruitment of talented and highly skilled teachers, the desirability to get native speakers of English language as the assistants or instructors, and the kinds of tests depend upon factors that vary from one case to another depending upon the goals of learning and setting in which education takes place. Although the regional or local norms affect the decisions of the school administration, education ministry, and other concerned agencies, yet the use of English language in a variety of contexts is changing the language itself in different ways. References: Barber, C 1993, The English Language: A Historical Introduction, London: Cambridge University Press. Baugh, AC, and Cable, T 1951, A History of the English Language 3rd ed., England: Kegan Paul Lt. Canagarajah, S 1999, Resisting linguistic imperialism in English teaching, Oxford University Press, Oxford. 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