The Role of English Language in Global Communication - Literature review Example

Variants of English spoken in the UK and the USA are more than local languages; they establish world standards, support global media system and become a lingua franca for non-natives who want to join world community. While the necessity of English for non-native speakers cannot be questioned, the high value and power of this language limits the access of people in the UK and the USA to "texts created beyond their cultures" (Squires 408). Such a situation is not accidental; it becomes real due to historic, political and social factors where the UK and the USA generate more texts than other communities and create norms applied to global culture that become limits for local communities.  It is not a secret that people use English as a lingua franca; it is considered to be normal for people from absolutely different backgrounds and cultures to learn English in order to find their place in English-speaking global community. Non-native speakers who use English as their second language get the access to English texts which can be challenged only by Spanish and Chinese in their quantity (Sergeant). At the same time, people can use their native languages to live a local life in their community, but they will be limited in their life opportunities. They will struggle to have normal live beyond their community because they will not be able to communicate with other people effectively. English history in the world is based on colonialism with its all consequences. English colonies were obliged to accept the culture of their metropolis as a high standard of aristocracy, power and civilization while their local traditions and languages were oppressed and sometimes forbidden. It is believed that destroying local cultures, colonists made colonized people more obedient and less capable of rebelling against their power. For instance, in India, which was the biggest English colony, people still treat colonial style with great dignity as their own past.  The rule of colonies was simple; colonized people had to know language and culture of their colonizers while they were not obliged to speak primitive languages of their colonies.  Even though colonies do not exist today, the rule remains the same and it applies to relations of non-English native communities and the USA & UK. For instance, nobody would even talk about Haruki Murakami if his texts were not translated into English. French comedies will never be popular with world audience without being translated from their original language. Another example is Eurovision song contest where singers from whatever country would rather sing in English to be understood than in their own language. English hegemony strongly impacts local culture introducing new trends and fashions to them. In countries other than the USA or the UK, knowledge of English is a competitive advantage of each employee. This situation is especially true considering the growth of outsourcing which stimulates economic development of third world countries and drives their labour to a whole new level by bringing progressive work strategies to their local communities. In India, Ukraine or China which host many outsourced industries, almost all employees are obliged to speak English. Bourdieu offers a term «linguistic capital» in order to describe the situation when investment in learning languages pays back twice (Sergeant 20). English becomes more than a way to communicate; for some people it becomes the only way to cope with poverty and earn money. People who know English get their chance to find a better job and build their career faster than their colleagues who do not know any other language.  In well-developed societies which do not use English as their first language people are motivated to learn it due to a number of life opportunities they get when they know it. For instance, in Japan English is actively promoted on terms of campaign which is aimed at improving countries global standing. English is needed for travelling as there is no guarantee that receptionists speak all top 20 languages (Sergeant 22). Overall, it becomes a lifestyle choice and the language of international communication. Even if everyday life in a country does not require people to know English, they still have enough reasons to learn it to have the access to various world resources which are in English.  The situation is radically different for developed communities where English is the first language. English is spoken by "world dominant societies" which have the power to make others adapt to their norms and rules (Sergeant). As long as English is a language of pop culture and globalization, English speakers do not face the need to know other language because they already have the access to the largest database of information in the world. They can be motivated to learn other language only due to their personal reasons, but there is no contextual must to know it. Only individuals who need to know more languages to be employed or meet their everyday needs in their communities so they treat other languages as linguistic capital. Some people marry representatives of other cultures who speak other languages in their family circles. Overall, there is no reason why people should learn some other language if they are not interested in it or do not need it for their professional development. For people born in the UK or the USA, English is enough to survive and succeed. World dominion of English texts causes inequality between English and other world languages. Phillipson argues that this inequality between English and other world languages can be called "linguistic imperialism" (Sergeant 22). Under such life consequences, English and cultures which host it become more powerful than other world cultures and languages. The spread of English and culture of English speaking nations stresses political and economic inequalities between dominant societies and developing once. English is perceived as a language of priviledged while local languages are inferior to it because they do not give people the same opportunities.  UK and US governments stimulated spread of English investing in its teaching in developing communities.  Internet only makes the situation more topical as English dominates on the web. English online resources dominate the world; it is a standard that the most popular local sites need to be translated in English to develop their audience and grow globally (Allington). Such social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram are created by English-speaking people for English-speaking world population. Internet forums motivate the use of English as lingua franca in multilingual online communities. Distant education opportunities also require knowledge of English for students from different countries.  Even though people in the UK and the USA have the access to translated texts originally written in other languages, it cannot be equated to the access of their originals. Language is not only a way of exchanging information; it is a way of thinking and a code which is tied to certain culture (Cook). Not all Russian or Japanese words have full equivalents in English; many of them can have only half-equivalents or no equivalents at all. Problems may arise at different levels as source language and target language (English) can have totally different grammar. People use their local languages to express their identity and the way they thinking. When they start using English, they should alter their thinking and structure their thoughts in a different way to sound clear for other speakers.  One more challenge to translation is cultural nature of all texts. For instance, world cultures have different formulas of politeness which are not necessarily present in other cultures. In the process of translation, some information is lost due to translators in ability to render traditions of source culture in target language (Cook). Text becomes both translated and adapted to perception of speakers of the target language. Considering confident standing of English in world culture, the adaptation and generalization of source text can be intentionally increased in order to expand audience and make the text suitable for global culture. As a result, texts translated into English present its ideology which is not typical for native speakers of the source language (Tagg). In the global book market English also has a primary place. As any other market, it is aimed at commercial success which is impossible without translating texts into English. According to Kovač et al., almost all most prestigious book awards target books in their English translation, the analysis of top 20 books shows that only 8 of them are originally written in English (249). Translation market becomes vital for those authors who want to move their texts from national market to the global one. At the same time, there is significant inequality in text representation in the global market. Cultures with "Western" backgrounds are more likely to become commercially successful in global market than representatives of Asian and Eastern European countries (Kovač et al., 250). Commercial nature of media market motivates underrepresentation of texts written by communities which are less integrated in pop culture than others.  The consequences of English dominance in the world are obvious. Among estimate 6000 languages, it has a primary position and makes people value English more than their first languages. In developing countries, language policies and investment in learning English oppress local languages which become less important in terms of opportunities people have when they use them in everyday life, at work or during vacation. World popular culture influences local cultures and motivates the rise of mixed cultural genres such as K-pop in the South Korea. Some archaic local languages become dead because they are not used by their speakers who are swallowed by global culture. Attracted by life opportunities, many people decide to migrate to the USA or the UK to find better jobs and settle down with their families in more developed community. Second and third generation migrants who live in English speaking countries study language they speak in a family only in random cases. Generally, English becomes the only language they use in communication even though they do not fully adapt English culture. In the USA where multilinguism and multiculturalism is a real issue, new cultural identities appear. For instance, Chicano people, who live in border lands with Mexico, do not speak either English recognized as a standard by Americans or standard Spanish used in Mexico. Their hybrid identity is conditioned by lasting contact between two cultures and languages which finally merge in one.  The future of English is indefinite because it depends on many political, economic and social factors (Sergeant 339). Growing potential of China challenges economic and political supremacy of the USA and UK. Market liberalization and globalization trigger nationalist movements in different world communities which try to save their cultures from inevitable influence of pop English culture. For example, recent elections in Italy have resulted in the majority of nationalists in newly formed Italian government. The same can be said about post-Soviet countries which want to separate from global community and form their political and economic structures independently from the UK or the USA. Recent cold war between Russia and the West weakens English influence in the Eastern Europe and changes attitude of the world to these regions. Gradually English loses its influence in some world communities and gains it in other ones. Evidently, English will not disappear from global communication soon because it is already deeply rooted there. At the same time, it can be less influential when new developed economies enter the world arena. Long history of English hegemony in the world will not vanish easily; only if world pop culture totally transforms into a multilingual one, it is possible to think about significant changes in language use and distribution. The UK and US media markets are the biggest in the world; these two countries dictate the rest of the world what music they should listen to and what books to read. It is even difficult to imagine the world where English will just one of the world languages which are spoken locally in their native communities. At the same time, nobody can predict the future; maybe people can advance their translation technologies so they will never need to use lingua franca again. Works Cited Allington, Daniel. «English in Global Media». In Hewings Ann & Caroline Tagg eds. The Politics of English. Conflict, Competition, Co-Existence. Routledge. 2012, pp. 219-244. Cook, Guy. «Translation in and out of English». In Hewings Ann & Caroline Tagg eds. The Politics of English. Conflict, Competition, Co-Existence. Routledge. 2012, pp. 259-284. Kovač, Miha et al. «Literary Translation in Current European Book Markets». In Hewings Ann & Caroline Tagg eds. The Politics of English. Conflict, Competition, Co-Existence. Routledge. 2012, pp. 246-252. Seargeant, Philip. «The Politics and Policies of Global English». In Hewings Ann & Caroline Tagg eds. The Politics of English. Conflict, Competition, Co-Existence. Routledge. 2012, pp. 5-30 Seargeant, Philip. «Afterword: Imagining the Future of English». In Hewings Ann & Caroline Tagg eds. The Politics of English. Conflict, Competition, Co-Existence. Routledge. 2012, pp. 339-345. Squires, C. The Global Market 1970-2000: Consumers. 2007. in Eliot, S. and J.A. Rose. A Companion to the History of the Book, Oxford, Blackwell, pp. 406-417 Tagg, Caroline. «Ideologies of English». In Hewings Ann & Caroline Tagg eds. The Politics of English. Conflict, Competition, Co-Existence. Routledge. 2012, pp. 297-323. Read More