The Preference Towards the English Language - Essay Example

Are certain languages or language varieties better suited to certain forms of communication? Introduction According to Steven Morris of The Guardian, the younger Welsh generation has become more fluent in English as compared to their native language, Welsh. Only two thirds of the Welsh generation is able to communicate fluently in Welsh and most try to communicate through English. This trend increases when one considers the written form of English as most of the younger generation has a preference towards English when texting friends or family (Morris, 10). This trend is not just limited to the Welsh population but can be observed throughout the world. The Arabs prefer English over the Arabic script while communicating through text messages; the Indians too prefer English over Hindi; and this trend can be seen in many part of the world. This then raises an important question with respect to language and written communication. The widespread acceptance of English as the preferred language for text messaging needs to be evaluated further. It brings forwards the implication that English is perhaps more suited to written communication than other language forms. Here we define the scope of the paper. This paper attempts to evaluate whether the widespread acceptance of English for text messaging has occurred as a result of the orthographic nature of this particular language. The paper will consider the reasons why English has become the preferred text language and the challenges presented by the language for its adaption in text messages or other forms of written communication. The Preference towards English Language Lingua Franca The main reason that English has become the preferred language for text messages is that it is the lingua franca. As the lingua franca, English enjoys power over the other languages. It would be quite hard to ignore the fact that English is a powerful language. English has precedence over other languages because it is the language of today’s ruling class. The ruling class or the superpowers are America and also Europe to a certain extent. These countries predominately support English and therefore people in other countries have started to conform to this language. Most people, even illiterate people have some basic understanding of English. They know some words of English such as ‘Thank you’, ‘Welcome’, and ‘Sorry.’ Such words have become universal words to express emotions. For instance, sorry has come to represent regret of the user. This word and other such words have been able to overcome language barriers around the world. English, therefore, has been able to become a universal language in many situations and this trend has been on the increase. Gradually, English is seeping in as the universal language. More and more ESL users either have some basic understanding of English or are trying to become proficient at the language. This then suggests that English would continue to replace other words and become part of the native language in many cases. Even when most people are not aware of the grammatical structure of English, they are able to form sentences that communicate the message across. Such sentences may have missing articles, the wrong tenses, etc. but they serve their purpose. The person getting the message is aware of the incompetence of the sender and therefore makes the necessary allowance. The situation can be reversed. The receiver may have problems in English comprehension. For this, the sender would formulate the message keeping in mind the condition of the receiver. English Literacy Another reason why English has become the preferred mode of communication for the younger generation is that they are more fluent in English than they are in native language. Communication mediums and languages have adapted over time to suit the people rather than the other way round. Technology plays an important role in this adaption. In this case, the internet has made the younger generation more fluent in English. Their exposure to English has increased in direct proportion to their exposure to the internet. This can be compared with the time when the Guttenberg Press was invented. Most people in those times could speak in English but they could not write or read any word. When the press was invented, the British Aristocracies’ fear were realized as 94 percent of the males became literate in 1981 compared to 60 percent in 1800; and 93 percent of the females became literate in 1981 as compared to the 45 percent in 1800 (North, 283). The rise in literacy occurred as a direct result of the invention of press and printing. People were more exposed to written language and therefore they had little difficulty in acquiring the written prose. Thus, it was not surprising that literacy increased during that time. Similarly, it should not be surprising that the younger generation is more attuned to English than Welsh or any other native language. The younger generation uses the internet at several points of the day and their use of internet is increasing with time. With this increase in exposure to the internet, the younger generation is also more exposed to English because English being the lingua franca is used widely over the internet. Most communication over the internet is done in English which further makes the average user more fluent in both speaking and writing the language. Perhaps the users would be more fluent in writing English because internet favors the written medium more than the spoken one. Left to Right Script The English Alphabets are written in the left to right script. There are other alphabets in languages such as Arabic, Hindi and Urdu that are written from the right to the left. People having such languages as their native language face additional barrier in trying to express their messages in their native script. For such users, it takes time to type messages in their native language. They need to change the orientation of their cell phones in order to type their messages in their native language. Even then, the original keypad shows English typeface which places additional difficulty for the users. Most users, therefore, prefer to use the English typeface over their native language. Some users have also tried to adapt the English typeface to their native language. Adaption of English into written conversations Other than the problem of left to right script, ESL people prefer to use English because English has been adapted to text messaging better than any other language. The adaptation of English into the written form of communication in text messages and other written conversations is discussed in detail below: Easier to Skip Alphabets People using text messages commonly would find it quite convenient to read the following message: ‘Thanx 4 not being l8 2day!’ Even though there are many mistakes in the above sentence but such a sentence is a standard form of communication in written conversations. The logographic symbol, 4 here do not refer to the number 4 but rather to for. These symbols or short forms are used commonly in order to increase the efficiency of typing. Most people who use text messages, Facebook or other forms of written conversation are aware of such symbols or even abbreviations. The English language in this manner has been able to adapt to the changing form of communications. Written conversations, rather than face to face conversations, have become increasingly common in today’s world. People would rather communicate through their smart phones or Facebook rather than physically going and meeting someone. English has been able to understand this change and conform to it. Many phrases in English have become mere words and this makes English rather suitable for conversations. The following words are examples of such phrases: Phrase Word Be right Back Brb Oh my God! Omg Laughing out loud Lol No problem Np Talk to you later Ttly Rolling on the floor laughing Rofl Even those who type their text messages in their own native language commonly employ the use of such words or phrases. These words have become increasingly common among the younger generation and the younger generation is expected to know most of these terms if it wants to keep up with the current informal language of communication (Cook, 200). Function words and Content words Another reason why English language has become more suited to text messaging can be the fact that while writing text messages, most users skip through words in the same way that they skip through alphabets. This can be likened to the way a child acquires language. Most children acquire content words first and later with time complete these content words with function words. For instance, a child in the first phases of acquiring language would say, ‘want milk’; instead of ‘I want a cup of milk’. Research on this subject shows that children use content words before function words. This is because mostly parents or other people in proximity with the child stress on these content words and therefore make sense to the child before any other word. Similarly when most people use English language in text messages, they do not usually write complete sentences. Their focus is also on content words rather than function words. For example, a common message to a friend would be ‘coming in ten min, b ready’. While children overlook function words because they have not acquired them, these words are overlooked in text messages because most users are able to make sense of their speech without these function words. If these people use function words, it would take time to type and send a message. Most users on the go do not have time for this and want to process their messages quickly. The Challenges of English Language While English has been widely accepted as both a formal and informal means of communication, it cannot be ignored that there are some inherent flaws in English. While English has become commonly used in both spoken and written communication, most people with English as a second language face difficulties in correctly adopting the written form of the language. The main reason behind this is that fact that English has adopted the symbols of the Roman alphabet. English language came much later than the Roman language and with time, the database of sounds in the English language increased. The English language has 45 sounds while there are only 26 alphabets in the Roman language. In the case of vowels the situation is even more difficult as there are only 5 vowels but 20 sounds related to these vowels. This has then resulted in irregularities in English spelling and pronunciation (North, 101). This can be explained better through the use of examples. Consider the following words: Cat, Cell In the above words, the alphabet C has a different sound. Cut, But, Rut, Put The first three words in the above series are pronounced with the same sound, but the last word, put uses a different sound for the vowel u. Such irregularities in the English language make it difficult for people with ESL to spell or pronounce words correctly each time. Most people with English as their first language understand that even in these irregularities, there are patterns that allow people to use the right spelling. However, this requires an awareness of the part of the users and there is a good chance that people with ESL would have difficulty in spelling words accurately. Considering this, it is surprising to note that English has been able to replace many native languages as the written form of communication. In this case, the written form of communication is text messaging. Other languages, such as Welsh, offer a wider range of alphabets to the users but English is still the preferred mode of communication. Conclusion The use of English language as a form of communication has become increasingly common. While English has seemed into people’s lives worldwide, it has become more favored in modern forms of communications or written conversation such as text messaging, tweets, Facebook etc. The main reason English has become the language of choice for such conversations are that English has adapted itself to the changing form of communication. For written conversation, users have shortened entire phrases into words. The use of vowels has been dropped to a great extent and users merely depend on content words to get the message across. However, the preference for English as the language for written conversation is surprising given the orthographic nature of the language. The irregularities in English spelling and pronunciation make the language especially difficult for non-native speakers to understand. Despite this, English has come to dominate the written conversations. Works Cited Cook, Vivian, “The English Writing System”, NY: Routledge, 2014, Print Morris, Steven, “Welsh voices grow lonelier in language’s heartlands as web tightens English grip, Guardian, 12 August 2013 North, Sara, “English: A linguistic toolkit”, UK: The Open University, 2012, Print Read More