English And English Linguistic Imperialism

Robert MacNeil, a writer of many great historical articles, was once, a journalist and news anchor. In his article, “English Belongs to Everybody”, MacNeil responds to the fear of many Americans who believe that Spanish will soon sweep over English. He argues that English can not be diluted by any other language as “it has prospered and grown because it was able to accept and absorb changes,”

“Intrinsic arguments describe the English language as providential, rich, noble and interesting. Such arguments tend to assert what English is and what other languages are not”. As mentioned previously, notwithstanding that the english language is widely-spoken around the world, diversity is important and for many individuals language is the basis of their culture. Making english the global language is essentially

Colonialism brings drastic changes in the Political, Economical and Social conditions of the colonized countries. It also sows the seed of English education among the colonies which attempts to transform the indigenous people into ‘human’. The emergence of English language education and colonial rule dominates the native tongue in various spheres and in due course surpasses it. Initially, the purpose of English education is to assimilate indigenous people into the dominant mainstream English speaking society and its culture. Indirectly, the aim is to lose their Native culture and language. Besides, those attempts, later in the twentieth century English language revitalizes the strength of Native people to voice out their experiences, to register their oral tradition, folklore and history which are accessible globally now. Moreover new strategies have been evolved to improve the foreign tongue (English) as a second language like TPR-S. Such techniques not only help them to master over the language English and

Nowadays, English is the global and technology language. English play an important role in the world and it works like a passport because it has improved a lot and became the language of technology and the language of internationals. As result, most of people developed based on English language through global businesses. In all over the world there are many opportunities that changes people life to make it better and its English language. There many non- English speaking countries that uses English as a second language and they teach subjects like science and mathematics and etc. in English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) to provide more opportunity for their development.

With the globalization, the English Language became the main language of the communication in the world. In this perspective, Dennis Baron discusses in his article Who Owns Global English” the omnipresence and the prevalence of the English in today’s society. For Dennis Baron, English has become the key success in the world platform.

English as we know it is indeed the dominant language, but does that mean everyone should learn it? Should English be the global language? Should you have to know English to communicate if you are someone that lives in a place where the native language is something different? The answer is no. However, first you must consider the statement “It is a fact that English is the dominant language in the world today. Everyone, in every country, in order to participate in the modern world, should learn English. After all, a language is just a random collection of words, so how hard can it be”. Personally, I believe it is tremendously difficult to learn a new language as an adult, but in order to make the world go round, we all should know more than one language; no one language should rule. Barbara Wallraff, David Crystal, and John Tagliabue share a few words that connect to the statement to show their personal mindset behind English being a global language. In this essay, I will extract statements from each of the authors that explain their views on a global language to support my overall perception.

The growth and domination the English Language has seen globally is not only unprecedented, but comes as no surprise; "The spread of the English language and its culture over the world is a major event in human history"(Algeo, 2005, pp.6). As the Lingua Franca of the developing world and a third of the world’s population speaking English (Crystal, 2006), its importance, appeal and prestige cannot be undermined. Maybe it is because of its "richness and variety" (Gooden, 2001), inherited and adopted after colonialism (Algeo, 2005) or simple, a tool for international development (Erlin and Seargeant, 2013).

The way English is taught around the world contributes to linguistic imperialism. Other countries’ English programs are “a vital site for social and linguistic reproduction, and the inculcation of relevant knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and therefore particularly central in processes of linguistic hierarchism” (Phillipson 245). In other words, proper education is key when it comes to learning English. ELL students rely on receiving outstanding education in order to contribute to the success of the English speaking world. Without proper education, these students may not be able to keep up with how fast the English language is becoming the standard of the world. They could fall behind along with their country if they do not live up to that standard. EFL programs vary in English speaking countries and consist of different methods of teaching students to learn the language. One of these methods is the dual-language method, which consists of learning English alongside a student’s native language. This is not always ideal for parents, who “advocate English-only classes, hoping for a fast-track approach. Although English-only classes may help with spoken fluency, it has not been proven effective for learning the written aspects of the language” (Lynch). The desire for their children to keep up with the English speaking world is behind these parents’ criticism of the dual-language method. However, English is not easy to teach, especially alongside another language.

David Cookie argues that English is a ‘Trojan Horse’ which is intriguing from outside but there is a latent danger inside. He claims that English is the dominate language around the world in the contemporary society and he thinks that the spread of English is an appropriate, welcome, positive development for developed countries, but for developing or Third

French is the eleventh most widely-spoken language in the world. It is the official language of 33 countries in the world and it is spoken in two of the G7 countries. 200 million people around the world understand, speak, read or write French and the language is the mother tongue of 75 million people. French is the official language of postal services across the world and is one of the official languages of the International Red Cross. The French-speaking Africa represents an area larger than the USA. French is the most widely taught second language after English and over 20,000 English words have their origins in French. In terms of number of words, French is the second largest language after English. In the humanities and the social sciences many of the most important writings have come from France.

Emerging from a colorful history, to its Darwinian capacity to evolve and adapt and changing almost beyond assumption along the way, English has come of age as the ‘global common language’. It is constantly moulded and altered by new communities of users, whether geographic or digital. But as English advances to become a key basic skill for millions around the world, the world will need to invest in its own competitive advantage by sending more of its best and brightest young people out into the world to share and teach the language.

Can you imagine that about 100 years ago that many educated people learned and spoke French when they met people from other countries? however, today a lot of people speak english when they communicate with foreigner. English has become a new global language that can not be denied. some countries use english as a second language and the number of students who are going abroad to study english continues to increase. Linguists debate whether English use is essential and worthwhile. Of course, at this time, English is dominant economically, culturally, and technologically, but it should be considered whether it is sustainable. Some experts and authors claim that English will dominate in the future, but there are many factors that suggest the decline of English.

English for Academic Purpose (EAP) has become an expanding discipline in higher education worldwide. Universities are center of intellectual gathering for international scholars. The development of EAP is stimulated by the internationalization of higher education and increasing number of international courses taught in university around the world as well as the students’ mobility to universities around the world. In addition , foreign students contributes to the economy of Western countries , as an evidence UK receives up to 80 billion British pounds during 2013 ( NEF consulting , 2013).

In this paper, I argue if our modern-day society needs a global language such as English. English as a global language is necessary because it is more efficient, globalization, and most people already have some knowledge of English. English is of great importance in many places around the world, for this reason, it would be an excellent candidate to be the world’s lingua franca, or a global language.

Globalization has also contributed to an increasing interest in English-language education worldwide. In response to the emergence of English as a world-linking, global language, an increasing number of schools have stepped up English–language requirements, even at undergraduate levels. The argument is that a universal teaching language is necessary as a natural consequence of globalization.