Global Spread of English Causes, Advantages, and Disadvantages - Assignment Example

GLOBAL ENGLISHES Name Institution Professor Course Date 1. What Caused Global Spread Of English A language attains an authentically global status when it establishes a unique role acknowledged in every nation. Although not all nations around the world speak English as a mother tongue, mother-tongue utilisation by itself cannot give a language a worldwide status. A language must be embraced by other nations and must be given a special place within the community in order to achieve a global status. According to Arndt, Harvey and Nutall (2000, p.212), English is at present the most widely utilised language in the globe. In most countries around the world, English hold an official status, and it is the principal foreign language taught in schools. A BBC broadcast analysis in 1998 stated that by 2000, there would be one thousand million persons learning English and four hundred million speaking English as a mother tongue. The analysis also indicated that four hundred million speaking English as a second language (Arndt, Harvey and Nutall 2000, p.212). It is, therefore, common to hear English being referred to as a global language. There are two major causes of the global spread of English and constant development of English-speaking world. These causes include British colonial history that saw the movement of British English speakers to other regions across the world. The second cause of the global spread of English is the economic and political power enjoyed by the United States of America in the twentieth century (Arndt, Harvey and Nutall 2000, p.212). However, there are other contributory facets to the global spread of English. Besides political and economic aspects of colonialism, European education style and Christianity Promulgated through English medium contributed to the global spread of English (Tollefson 2000, p. 9). Nations, where English is the mother tongue and welding economic power, hold considerable influence in every cultural aspect and technological development areas. Northrup (2013, p.46) asserts that the acquisition of English as the second language gives English an official status in nations where English is not the first language. Industrial revolution initiated and led by Britain is another major factor that caused the global spread of English. Other countries that required the knowledge of the industrial revolution could get it through the English medium. The spread of industrial knowledge via English medium made English attain a powerful position in the world. Other factors that caused the global spread of English include broadcasting, advertising, popular music and education spread through the medium of English. 2. What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of this Spread English has become an important language in the globe because it provides a universal medium of communication for all people in the world. The augmenting importance of English is the upshot of globalisation. The English language is not only utilised in politics, literature and business but also in academic and science research. According to Galloway and Rose (2015, p.52), the spread of English language by powerful nations has not always implied the replacement of other languages used in the conquered communities. One of the main disadvantages of the global spread of English is the language death and language loss. However, Galloway and Rose (2015) assert that there are scores of other factors that contribute to the death, integration, adoption and reduction of languages. These factors include the ruling power’s expectations, geographical distance, population size, policy and prestige attached to the language. Advantages of the global spread of English include good international relations. Apparently, the global spread of English has made it an official or co-official language in scores of nations. This spread benefits major political gatherings and diplomacy besides enhancing international relations. The use of English as a global language allows delegates from diverse nations as Japan, India, China, Russia and the USA to discuss major political and economic issues without the need of numerous interpreters. The global spread of English promotes businesses and business relations. Scores of international firms enjoy the benefit of having a global language that facilitates business dealings across international firms. Scores of international companies use English as their working language. The global spread of English enhances communication by making international communication more effective and efficient (Mollin 2006, p.20). The use of English as a global language implies access to wider information source, and the development of internet-based media means that English is most preferred language of most electronic information. The global spread of English promotes efficient access to popular media. In addition, English as a global language assists communication for transportation industries. The global spread of English facilitates effective scientific and education advancement. English as a global language facilitates speedy and extensive communication of scientific discovery and knowledge. The use of English globally lowers the historical utilisation of languages as an obstacle to information access. More importantly, the global spread of English promotes political unity among nations, supports economic development and facilitates interactions between people in different regions (Mollin 2006, p.20). Besides promoting social relationships of neighbouring nations, English promotes relations amid the mobile populace around the world (Galloway and Rose 2015, p.56). Although the global spread of English holds clear advantages, there are several disadvantages of this spread. The disadvantages include reduction in the learning of other foreign languages, homogenisation of cultures, lowered diversity of global languages and language death. Apparently, there are around 6000 languages spoken in the modern world, but English has overtaken all these languages. Galloway and Rose (2015, p.56) claim that English poses a major threat to other foreign languages. For instance, in ASEAN nations English is an integral part of the curriculum from primary schools. Schools in ASEAN teach English at the expense of other ASEAN languages (Kirkpatrick 2012, p.337). In addition, the augmented utilisation of English in Singapore has prompted decreased utilisation of other languages by younger generations. In this regard, English appears as a killer language where it destroys other foreign languages. According to Galloway and Rose (2015, p.58), with the development of English, the world loses languages and traditions, cultures and knowledge that surround these languages. The language loss is a mental loss for society because it loses an approach to looking at things. As regards the reduction of foreign languages through English speakers, importance and globalisation of English prevent native English speakers from studying other languages. 3. What is Lost When a Language Disappears? According to Ng and Wigglesworth (2008, p.72), large numbers of languages have disappeared because of the global spread of English. When a community stops using its traditional language and stops passing it to its children, there is looming danger of the language being lost. Language is not genetically but culturally acquired, and human beings can be multilingual. A compelling argument indicates that scores of communities use language to express their identity. As a result, when a language disappears, people’s identity also disappears. Language does not only concern communication; but also people use language to express their identity (Seidlhofer 2009, p.239). More so, people use language to differentiate themselves from their neighbours, to express who they are and to group themselves with individuals of similar background and identity. When a language disappears, the culture and history of a given community also disappears. Stuckburgh (2008, p.89) asserts that language is a crucial repository of culture and history. Every language and speakers of a community hold an oral culture and oral history such as records of the ancestors, stories and songs, mythology and tales of people's origins. When language is lost or disappears, culture, knowledge and history are also lost. Apparently, knowledge of oral tradition is crucial to the subsistence of a community. Linguistic diversity is essential given that language is a portion of collective human knowledge. Every language presents a distinctive way of viewing the world. In addition, linguistic diversity is crucial scientifically because languages form the foundations for pronunciations, vocabulary and grammar (Schuckburgh 2008, p. 89). For future generations to continually protect the historical milieu of their cultural evolution, people need to preserve one cultural aspect, which is the language. The greatest achievement of humankind is language evolution. Language makes culture possible and shares and archives history via stories. When language is lost or disappears, people lose years of human thinking. Disappearance of the language leads to loss of cultural variations because distinct culture cannot survive without the distinctiveness of its language to preserve its history and protect its evolution. Shuckburgh (2008, p.89) asserts that when a language disappears, people lose their cultural knowledge and its expression mode and perceptions. As a result, language is a cultural fabric, and when a language disappears or dies, the culture that gave birth to the language also dies. Disappearance or loss of language instigates loss of evolution of the cultural ritual, myths and logic of the language. Precisely, the disappearance of the language leads to loss of culture, identity, history and knowledge of people. 4. Is English Responsible for Language Death? According to Galloway and Rose (2015, p.59), English has always been comparable to monsters that bring destruction and death. Some scholars describe the global spread of English as hydra and imperialistic (Phillipson 2008, p.26). The spread of colonialism and English wipes indigenous cultures and languages. History has it that even after years of rule and repression, when people decide to uphold their language, the language stays alive. Northrup (2013, p.20) asserts that numerous spoken languages in the globe are shrinking with the postulation that is principally because of the spread of English in the world. Phillipson argues that by becoming the prevalent second language in Europe, English puts at risk the survival of other European languages (Phillipson 2008, p.26). However, this assertion is based on the embellished postulation of Western malice and Western power and inconsiderate ignorance of the facts. According to Northrup (2013, p.20), it is impractical to assert that the global spread of English is entirely accountable for the prevalent death of language. However, it is also impractical to claim that the massive English teaching practices of the English-speaking countries do not hold a crucial role in language death. While English has a hand in the death of language, there are scores of other factors that contribute to the death of language. These factors include population redistribution and dislocation caused by religious persecution, revolution, economic development, urbanisation and war. Another factor that contributes to the death of language is the spread of world languages apart from English. These languages include Japanese, French, Chinese, Spanish, Russian and Portuguese to mention but a few. In defence of English, Galloway and Rose (2015, p.59)| claim that Spanish was the leading cause of language death. The growth of ‘supralinguistic’ functions such as banking, science and technology, tourism and global aviation also contribute to the death of language (Ammon 2001, p.16). Another major contributor to language death is the speakers. Galloway and Rose (2015, p.59) confirm that languages do not kill languages, but the speakers of these languages do. When speakers give up their languages, the languages end up dying. In this view, language speakers hold the definitive decision to continue or abandon a language. The prestige attached to a language is another factor that contributes to language death. When the position of a language in a given community is greatly inferior compared to other languages, parents become disinclined to pass their language on to their children. When parents believe that a language will not benefit their children in future because of the reduced prestige status linked to the language, they fail to pass it on to their children. According Aronoff and Miller (2003, p.527), there are numerous reasons for language death and shift. These reasons include educational background, ties with the homeland, settlement patterns, exogamous marriages and government policies regarding education and language. In this respect, it is not reasonable to claim that English is completely accountable for language death because there are other practical factors that contribute to language death. References Ammon, U 2001. The dominance of English as a language of science: Effects on other languages and language communities. German: Walter de Gruyter. Arndt, V, Harvey, P & Nuttall, J 2000. Alive to language: Perspectives on language awareness for English language teachers. UK: Cambridge University Press. Aronoff, M & Miller, J.R 2003. The handbook of Linguistics. UK: John Wiley & Sons. Galloway, N & Rose, H 2015. Introducing global Englishes. UK: Routledge. Kirkpatrick, A 2012, ‘ English in ASEAN: Implications for regional multilingualism’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Vol.33, no.4, pp.331-344. Mollin, S 2006. Euro-English: Assessing variety statuses. India: Gunter Narr Verlag. Ng, B.C & Wigglesworth, G 2007. Bilingualism: an advanced resource book. USA: Taylor & Francis. Northrup, D 2013. How English became the global language. UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Phillipson, R 2008, ‘ The linguistic imperialism of neoliberal empire’, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, Vol.5, no.1, pp.1-43. Seidlhofer, B 2009, ‘ Common ground and different realities: World Englishes and English as a lingua franca’, World Englishes, Vol.28, no.2, pp.236-245. Shuckburgh, E 2008. Survival: The survival of the human race. UK: Cambridge University Press. Tollefson, J 2000, ‘ Policy and ideology in the spread of English’, in JK Hall & W Eggington (eds), The Sociopolitics of English Language Teaching, Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, Great Britain, pp.7-21. Read More