The Use of English in African Countries - Essay Example

Chinua Achebe and Ngugi Wa Thiong’ O, are entitled to their own perceptions of the effect of the English language on the African people. Achebe correctly states that using the English language does not automatically equate to being subservient to the foreign culture (Achebe 434). The African people must include the English language as one of the tools to unite the people of Africa and the African people’s cooperative contribution to global unity. Clearly, the use of the English language ensures cooperative exchange of cultures and technology between the African people and the rest of the world.

Further, Ngugi is also right that the English language is not a necessary tool to unify Africa. However, Ngugi wrongly states that using the English languages automatically equates to abandoning one’s native African tongue or language (Ngugi 7). Ngugi should accept that the use of the English language can allow exchange of information and culture between the African people and the rest of the world. Furthermore, the third essay correctly affirms that both Achebe and Ngugi present opposing views on the African people’s assimilation of the English language.

The writer correctly states that Achebe does not equate learning the English language as being forced to accept a foreign culture or concept. The writer correctly states that Ngugi proposes abandoning the learning and use of the English language, fatal logic, as unnecessary to Africa’s survival. The writer correctly affirms that the English language should be an intrinsic part of the African culture, in order to keep abreast of the global economy. Cited WorksAchebe, Chinua. The American Writers and the English Language, 1964. Print.Wa Thiong, O, Ngugi.

Decolonizing the mind,