The spread of English - Article Example

The spread of English BY YOU YOUR ACADEMIC ORGANISATION HERE HERE HERE The spread of English Due to today’s globalised world,and the need to create a common language which unites widely-diverse communities of citizens, English is becoming one of the most accepted languages in many different countries. With the spread of English, this is giving many different members of global society to adopt a new language which will give them new opportunities in business and in education. It is sometimes argued that the growing global adoption of English as the primary language maintains the ability to negatively-affect language diversity and cultural identity. There is evidence that the spread of English does tend to create difficulty in areas of cultural identity and language diversity as well, therefore partial agreement to this statement would be justified. An expert in education offers that English media from developed countries, such as the UK or the United States, often “penetrates the media of developing nations” (Pennycook, 1994, p.21). When this occurs, Pennycook argues that this “one-way flow of (media) information erodes the sovereignty, cultural identity, and political independence of developing nations” (Pennycook, p.21). What this essentially means is that English media saturates the media of lesser-developed countries, thus imposing certain values or beliefs on domestic, non-English culture. Since English is becoming the preferred choice for global communications, it would seem a somewhat natural evolution that English values and lifestyles would maintain the ability to erode the existing, mother culture. In a developing country where lifestyle is not as sophisticated or as comfortable as Western living, English media may provide more incentive to adopt the foreign lifestyle values and reject the mother heritage. In this situation, English as the global choice of communications could create the potential for less-developed societies to stop the exploration of other languages and cultures in favour of English, which might appear to be more opportunistic in the long-term. However, despite the negative influences of English and English media, language diversity can actually be enhanced through the globalisation of this language. Language diversity includes the ability to successfully use more than just one’s mother tongue and also successfully apply these new language skills in areas of business, socialisation, education or even career. In Singapore, schools teach British English as a mandatory learning lesson, however on the streets of Singapore the use of English in this country has been called Singlish, which is a blend of English, Malay and Chinese (Farrington, 2008). Over time, local Singapore slang has been adopted which combines English words with other languages to create unique, diverse social discussions. For example, in the UK, when an individual pretends not to understand a situation, they are said to be playing dumb. However, in Singlish, this is translated “to act blur-blur” (Farrington, 2008, p.W.8). The alterations of British English into Singlish really does reinforce how societies begin creating their own, unique terms and syntax to create a wholly-new language variation. Even though British English is taught as the standard, younger generations begin deconstructing or reconstructing meaning in a way that is meaningful and beneficial for socialisation. It might also be a method of holding onto certain aspects of the more comfortable mother tongue so as not to give up certain aspects of cultural diversity. The use of Singlish in Singapore tends to show that language diversity and cultural identity are both enhanced through the teaching of English when citizens have the ability to create unique verbal communication loosely based on English and the mother tongue (or other tongues as well). Cultural diversity can also be negatively affected by the spread of English. In Nordic countries, such as Denmark and Sweden, there is a strong, cultural proficiency in the use of English (Black, 2003). Nordic people seem to pride themselves in being able to use English successfully, as it has opened many opportunities for expansion into the global marketplace for international trade and other global business ventures. However, despite the proficiency of English in these Nordic countries, many stereotypes exist about these people, categorising them as “hard-drinking, prone to suicide and socially reserved” (Black, 2003, p.9). Though none of these stereotypes can be proven or applied to all Nordic people, the spread of English has given these people more exposure in the global community as an opportunity to end many of these stereotypes. Thus, in this situation, the Nordic people use the common language, English, as a means to build a better reputation for themselves in non-Nordic countries and illustrate that they are professional, educated and ready to socialise with the global community. This enhances non-Nordic citizens (such as the UK) embrace of cultural diversity as English provides a means to end or reduce negative stereotypes about the international community by giving a common language to illustrate social and cultural similarities rather than being victimised by negative stereotypical thinking about Nordic citizens. If Nordic citizens were to reject English as their first language of choice, these stereotypes would likely continue to exist and non-Nordic citizens would not be able to embrace or understand certain aspects of the Nordic culture. Cultural diversity can also be negatively affected when preconceptions about a country’s values and lifestyles (or slang) is considered offensive or inappropriate by citizens in another country. For example, many French citizens and parliamentarians have begun raising an angry alarm about why many governmental speeches or reports on the European Central Bank are being continuously printed and presented in English, rather than French (Johnson, 2004). Recently, press conferences for the 2012 London Olympic Games were being criticised for their English presentation. What this represents is that the French culture does not necessarily agree that English should be used as the language to effectively represent French lifestyle and values. It appears that there is a great deal of social animosity, from many different citizen demographics, as to why the French language is consistently abandoned in favour of English. In this situation, French citizens may be losing out on opportunities to fully engage other non-French citizens and learn more about American, UK, or perhaps even Australian English cultures. The French people seem to believe that English as the international language is threatening the French culture and French self-expression, thus they reject learning more about the language as a matter of principle and pride in the French heritage. Another relevant expert in the field of linguistics offers that “education should raise awareness of the positive value of cultural and linguistic diversity” (Shaeffer, 2003, p.6). The spread of English has provided many teaching instructors opportunities to expose students to many cultural values which exist in other countries. In order to prepare students to become future, active players in the global community, in areas of career and business, students must learn to understand what drives various cultural ideals and principles for other English-speaking countries. For instance, in Saudi Arabia, a strongly English-speaking nation, there is a strong collectivist culture in this country, which essentially means that group consensus is valued more than individual contribution (Parasnis, 2005). Students who are learning English will understand the fundamental principles of style, form and syntax, but would not understand the cultural dimensions which exist in other countries around the world. As the world becomes more globalised and students will inevitably be given opportunities to work and socialise with diverse, international citizens, the spread of English gives a template or forum for instructors to teach how other English-speaking nations live among one another and respond in various social and professional situations. Therefore, the spread of English can also be given credit for changing teaching methods which focus not just on English, but on how to successfully interact with others on a cultural and lifestyle basis. The spread of English, as identified in this paper, can both negatively and positively impact language diversity and cultural diversity. English media, when superimposed over the media information in the foreign country, creates incentives to abandon the cultures and lifestyles of their mother country in favour of a more progressive or liberal culture, such as the UK or United States. Further, those in one country which strongly value their traditional language, such as the French people, might reject English as the global, common language because it is too closely synonymous with stereotypical views of other countries or they feel that it erodes their long-standing national heritage. However, being able to provide information about certain lifestyle and cultural aspects of different English-speaking nations gives teachers a new template to create unique and innovative culturally-diverse learning platforms in the classroom. Because of the many pros and cons identified in this paper, it would be appropriate to partially agree with the idea that the spread of English has negatively affected language diversity and cultural diversity. With English becoming the most widely-accepted international language in a variety of situations both professional and personal, it should be identified that the spread of this language both enhances and detracts from language and cultural diversity. References Black, Harvey C. (2003). Survey: sharp tongues. The Economist, London. 367(8328), p.9. Farrington, Timothy. (2008). Interpreting the evolution of English; Accents, dialects, slang and how we got from King James to hip-hop swagger. Wall Street Journal. 28 Jun, p.W.8. Johnson, Paul. (2004). Must the whole world speak English? Forbes Magazine, New York. 174(11), p.39. Parasnis, Ila. (2005). Human Resource Management, 7th ed. Pearson Prentice Hall. Pennycook, Alastair. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. Teacher Talking to Teacher, 3(3), pp.21-23. Shaeffer, Sheldon. (2003). Language development and language revitalisation: An educational imperative in Asia. UNESCO, Thailand. Read More