Dominance of English in International Organizations - Essay Example

Running Head: DOMINANCE OF ENGLISH IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS Topic: Dominance of English in International Organizations Lecturer: Date of Presentation: Introduction English has been identified as the dominant language of communication in most of the international organizations. This is due to the fact that it is ranked as the second most widely used language of communication that is practiced in six continents with most of the communities using it as their official language. As such, it is used in most of the curriculums to teach science and business subjects (Ammon 2001). Due to this and the need to develop a common ground for harmonizing the operations of international organizations, it becomes necessary to use a language that has a majority of speakers. This helps to reduce the constraints that arise from cultural diversity that makes it difficult to penetrate the international market. With a common language, it becomes easy to negotiate deals and share ideas due to the fact that communication is an important factor that enhances understanding and resolving of conflicts. International organizations, for example United Nations which incorporates personnel from various ethnic back grounds and also exercises its mandate across various geographical regions, could have a hard time in trying to manage their human resources (Knight 2003). This is because there would have to be intermediaries or interpreters to assist in passing and translating information. However, the UN promotes and respects multilingualism through its agenda item 114 of the General Assembly and as such, it tries hard to communicate to the different communities through their native languages which is believed to promote cohesiveness and positive attitude towards the operations of the organization (Knight 2003). However, due to the dominance of the English language over the other languages, most of the communication whether in the print or electronic media is mostly done in English. This essay is a critical evaluation of the costs and benefits of English as the dominant language in most of the international organizations. Costs and Benefits of the Current Dominance of English in International / Multinational Regional Organizations The use of English in international organizations has had both limitations and benefits to these organizations. Multilingualism and cultural diversity are among the various factors that determine the success of international corporations as well as business enterprises that have subsidiaries across the various geographical boundaries. This is due to the fact that in order to establish their influence and control on their target subjects, trust has to be developed between the locals and the foreigners and one way to accomplish that is through proper communication. It is time consuming and almost impossible for foreign officials to learn and be able to communicate using the various languages which are based on ethnical back grounds and cultures which may be too many to accommodate (Ammon 2001). An advantage which presents itself is the fact that English has established roots in most of the countries which use it as a second language used to conduct business as well as in conducting social functions and official communication. As such, it makes it simple for managers in these corporations to adapt to the surroundings and to accomplish their tasks without difficulties. Peace keeping mission is an example of such activities that require cohesiveness and harmony of the peace keepers so as to work out strategic plans aimed at negotiating peace deals. For this to be achieved, the military personnel have to have a common language to express them selves while they are out in the fields. Since the majority of the world’s population comprising of approximately 350 million people are able to communicate in English, the United Nations have no other better option than to make English the official communication language among its personnel (Shawcross 2000). That way, they would feel at ease with each other thus creating a good environment to conduct their operations. This also helps to neutralize any hard feelings between the personnel which could be as a result of conflicts that might be experienced between their home countries. As such, English acts as a unifying factor. While hiring its officials, one of the UN’s requirements is to have knowledge on both spoken and written English as a first priority where as French and other languages are considered to be an added advantage for the candidates. The UN has been in the forefront in dealing with hostilities within member countries which arise in various nations due to conflict of interests among citizens leading to civil wars and cases of genocide (Shawcross 2000). While at it, it cannot be denied that English has contributed a lot in solving the disputes through mediation. An example is the 2007 crises in Kenya which resulted from unfair elections as well as in Zimbabwe which had a similar predicament. In these two nations, the role of the UN through their representatives for example Kofi Annan who led the mediation process in Kenya, managed to unify the leaders through the use of English language which was the main language used for the discussions. This would not have been achieved even with the expertise of the UN official could there had been no common language for negotiation. It is in this spirit that the Peacekeeping English Project was initiated by the British government in order to train military and other security forces that are affiliated to the Soviet states which does not use English as their language of communication so as to enable them participate in UN and Nato peace keeping operations (Guardian Weekly n.d). This project was meant to empower the soldiers with the required skills which would enhance their cooperation with their English speaking commanders for it would be dangerous to send peace keepers who can only communicate in their native languages. The Common Wealth comprises of countries that are linked to the British legal system. Most of these countries were colonized by the British government and as such, they adopted their constitutions and legal systems which were assimilation of those of their colonial masters. Their education systems also incorporate English language, which is used to teach various subjects in schools (Mazrui 2004). It comprises of 53 sovereign countries which were British protectorates apart from Mozambique which was incorporated in a special case which resulted from it being affected by the British influence in southern Africa and its involvement in the struggles for independence. The use of English language in this international organization has promoted unity due to the fact that each country has a first language which they use as their national language where as English is used as a second language. If there was no common language between the various nations, uniting them and formulation of policies would have been a heavy task but the fact that the British exercised its cultural practices thereby assimilating their colonies into their way of life made it possible to accomplish their goals (Mazrui 2004). This factor also promotes international businesses between the member countries that are capable of negotiating business deals that would otherwise be a difficult task were it that there was no feeling of brotherhood which is promoted by the English language. It also enables investors from these countries to expand their business interests across the member countries where they find it easy to adapt to the different cultural practices. This is because once you have a common language it is easy to express your true feelings towards issues especially in conflicts that arise from misunderstanding of culture. The English language is simple to understand due to the few numbers of characters that make up words which are easy to pronounce. The British influence through its colonies had a major impact in making English the most widely spoken language all over the world (Legl 2007). This was achieved by the British missionaries who were based in the various colonies where they established educational and religious institutions which had all the materials and communication passed in English (Mazrui 2004). The exit of the British dominance in the world political influence saw the entry of US as a super power with a lot of influence especially through their Hollywood movies and music which penetrated to almost all the countries thus promoting the use of English language internationally. This also extends to the wide usage of internet services which are commonly provided in English which is in the British and American dialects. As such international organizations through their websites have to use English to pass their information knowing that the majority of the target groups who use the internet would understand the language. The only other option would be to use French which also has a substantial influence but which cannot be compared to the English dominance. In their international meetings which are held in one of the member countries after every two years, the common wealth leaders meet to strategize and to formulate policies that are beneficial to the member countries. In these meetings, the main language used is English and due to the fact that there are some members who are not conversant with the various dialects of the language, communication tools for translating which are controlled from intelligent terminals are used to help them understand and follow the proceedings (Ammon 2001). To improve this situation, the officials should ensure that their oral communication through the language is perfected by taking their time to study on the language using resources that are also available in the internet. The World Bank is one of the organizations that exercise their mandate over a wide geographical area across international boundaries. As such, it needs to have a common language through which it can conduct its operations. In most cases, the World Bank has had the support for institutions to teach first languages in schools which would serve the purpose of forming a foundation for teaching other languages such as English (Woods 2006). This helps to create a common language that could be useful to the world’s population which is now converging in one digital village through technology. Since the English language has the largest influence on the world’s population, it is thus well suited for the purpose of conducting international business. As such, it is easier for the World Bank and other international organizations to save a lot of expenses which could be incurred while translating the various native languages. However, the dominance of one language in the international level has its disadvantages. This is due to the fact that it makes people reluctant to study other languages since they would have the notion that it would not be of great significance since there already exists a common language of communication. This would be a threat to cultural diversity which is an important aspect promoted by most of the international organizations for example the United Nations and Common Wealth which support multilingualism (Jarf 2008). The first languages are important in preserving culture and promoting nationality. As such, they should be incorporated in the international level. The use of English as a common international language also disadvantages the societies that do not use the language in their communication. This is due to the fact that not all the word’s population gets an opportunity to study English as their second language (Jarf 2008). As such, those who stand to benefit are those whose native language is English. This denies the rest of the chance to participate fully in the activities of the organizations especially in leadership. Learning the language at a later stage in life is difficult and it may demoralize the person who for example would be applying for a job vacancy in these organizations. This may result to the requirements of the organizations’ hiring procedures which may require applicants to have skills in spoken as well as written English. However, this can be solved by efforts which can be made by these organizations to persuade and encourage teaching of the language in schools at an early stage through their subsidiaries located in the different member countries (Michael 2007). In addition, the greatest effort should be put towards facilitating the skills to some of the societies in the member countries especially third world countries which encounter challenges in the education sector due to high poverty levels which makes it difficult for the citizens to acquire basic education. As such, they face poor representation in the management of the international organizations. Else, the subsidiaries should be allowed to incorporate the local languages in their operations so that the views and contributions of the locals can be utilized in the decision making processes. This would also bring the organizations closer to the people thus acquiring the trust and good will of the people. The dominance of English language fails to acknowledge the other widely spoken languages such as French, German, and Spanish which could be endangered as a result. With the current growth in the tourism sectors, travelling has been noted to increase significantly and as such, all the major languages should be used concurrently to enable travelers to acquit themselves with the different societies in their destinations (Michael 2007). This is due to the fact that once the English language creates monotony in communication, international business would be affected especially tourist hotels which accommodate people from all over the world with different languages of communication. The international organizations such as Common Wealth should promote multilingualism so that the culture of learning different languages does not become obsolete. By doing so, the member countries would be able to improve their economies through international marketing. The languages would play the role of understanding the needs of the potential markets since once a person learns a different language other than his ‘mother tongue,’ he develops interest in the foreign culture as well as business interests. English as an international language denies the other language speakers a chance to excel in the international trade. For example, the movie industry is dominated by Holly wood movies which are distributed all over the world thus fetching a lot of revenue to the producing country. English book writers have also benefited from the sale of their books to institutions around the world to guide in teaching literature as well as grammar (Jarf 2008). As such, America and Britain can be said to be the beneficiaries of English dominance in international corporations and institutions. This in effect has denied the other investors for example in the movie and book publishing industries as well as performing arts, a chance to acquire global recognition though their products are as good as those from Britain and other English speaking countries. As an example, Indian movies are quiet good but they do not have an extensive market such as that of Hollywood movies reason being that, the language they use does not have a high percentage of people who understand it as compared to English. African culture portrayed in their songs is also good but due to the suppression of native languages at the international level, they cannot achieve great sales such as American Hip hop, country music etc which has a global market that is facilitated by the dominance of the English language across the continents (Ammon 2001). To enable equal market share and fair competition, other languages apart from English should be promoted in schools as well as at the international level. The dominance of English language in science and technology has also posed challenges to various societies around the world academically. This is because all people do not have the same skills involved either in written or spoken English (Michael 2007). The resources for example internet and academic books use English language which is also used to test the students. As such, students who use English as their native language are always at an advantage leading to their academic excellence as opposed to those who learn English as their second language. Due to this, they always find it easy to find jobs in the international corporations. Conclusion The current dominance of English language in the international organizations has had both benefits and costs. Having a common language of communication is essential since it enhances cross cultural negotiations which could be difficult to achieve under multilingualism. The English language is best suited for the purpose as it has a higher influence on the world’s population consisting of approximately 350 million people who are conversant with spoken and written English. The operations of international organizations for example the United Nations would be faced by many challenges were there not a common language through out the subsidiaries in the member countries. This is due to the fact that every member country contributes to the provision of personnel for peace keeping operations which are mostly led by English speaking commanders. As such, the personnel due to their safety must be acquitted to the language so as to understand the instructions given to them in order to prevent possible mistakes that could result to accidental death or injuries. In times of crises which may occur in the member countries like in the case of Kenya and Zimbabwe, where the UN played a major role in the mediation processes, foreign expertise can be of great significance due to their neutrality on the issues leading to the conflicts. As such, a common language can be the greatest asset which can foresee the success of the mediation process. However, the dominance of English has its disadvantages especially due to the creation of monotony in the cultural dimension. This is due to the fact that it dominates the affairs of almost all sectors in the economies of the world ranging from movie industries, performing arts as well as book publishing thus denying the non English speaking entrepreneurs a chance to explore the world market. As such, America and Britain are perceived to be the beneficiaries of the English dominance. In order to support the growth of various economies around the word, the English language should be used together with other major languages or still, multilingualism should be appreciated to protect the endangered languages. References Ammon U. (2001) The Dominance of English as a Language of Science: Effects on Other Languages and Language Communities, Mouton de Gruyter Guardian Weekly (n.d) Peace Keeping English under Threat, Retrieved 02 November, 2009 From Jarf R. (2008). The Impact of English as an International Language, Retrieved 02 November, 2009 From Knight A. (2003) Multilateral Evolution and the Quest for Global Governance, St. Martins Press. Legl H. (2007). English as a Global Language – Good or Bad, Retrieved 02 November, 2009 From Mazrui A. (2004). English in Africa: after the Cold War, Multilingual Matters Limited Michael P. (2007). Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective, Pine Forge Press Woods N. (2006). The Globalizers: The IMF, the World Bank, and Their Borrowers, Cornell University Press Shawcross W. (2000) Deliver Us from Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict, Simon & Schuster Read More