Pros And Cons Of English Killing Other Languages

In most cases, some people think that it is not important for them that several languages die out every year because they believe that if there are fewer languages in the world that means they need not to learn so many languages at all and their life will be easier to have a communication with foreign people. While others do not think so, which sound reasonable but ironical based on the fickle situation in society and history. Because for me, despite the adventure of being entitled as ‘absolutist’, I will consistently support that it is significant to prevent the truth that several languages die out every year.

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,”

The English language began its climb to world dominance with the rise of the British Empire in the 16th century. During this time English began to spread as the worlds lingua franca for business and trade. With the support of the United States, which at the time was one of the most successful nations in history, english was able to overthrow all previous lingua francas. However, english should not be considered as the “gateway to the world”. Although the english language is widely- spoken around the world, making english language the official language of the world will lead to diminishing cultural diversity.

English has become the most widespread and powerful language on Earth. The imperial English Empire spread English across the globe; from America to Asia. English’s position in the world was cemented by US cultural and diplomatic dominance; evident in American movies, fast food, and clothing. English has proven it is not moving anywhere anytime soon, as English only grows in use over time. Thus a debate has arisen: Should English be the official Universal Language? On one hand, English can harm other cultures, international relations, and scientific development; however, English is very flexible and widely used, making it the perfect candidate for a global language.

The reason for a language’s death having little importance is that it is just a tool for communication. Any tool can be replaced. For example, “The very thing that made it a mistake for the missionaries to try to stop people from speaking Native American languages…makes it a mistake to care whether people continue to speak (it’s not as if English is worse).” (Michaels, 2006) English became the tool for communication, replacing the Native American languages. This happens to places where a new language is introduced, and begins to grow more popular compared to the native language, for some type of need. This leads to the dominating language to become the lingua franca.

In Vanishing Voices by Russ Rymer, the author gives readers an in depth overview of the significant loss in the number of languages over the years. “One language dies every 14 days. By the next century nearly half of the roughly 7,000 languages spoken on Earth will likely disappear, as communities abandon native tongues in favor of English, Mandarin, or Spanish. What is lost when a language goes silent?” he asks. A major argument Rymer includes in his essay is that languages are seeming to “compete” with one another. Parents children who speak tribal languages encourage their children to break away and learn to speak major languages such as English, Spanish, or

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.

John McWhorter’s “The Cosmopolitan Tongue: The Universality of English” argues against a widespread belief that the death of a language signifies the death of a culture (2009). Recently, many linguists and anthropologists have begun to worry that cultures are quickly disappearing because of the death of languages. In fact, it is estimated that of the 6,000 languages currently in use, only 600 will still be in use by the year 2109 (McWhorter, 2009, p. 247). McWhorter questions whether this is an issue that will negatively impact society. McWhorter makes a somewhat convincing argument that the death of a culture does not follow by the death of a language. While many examples are compelling, he relies heavily on reasoning and personal examples and fails to analyze why English as the world language would pose problems for those who do not speak it.

‘English has unquestionably become a global phenomenon’ (Selvi, 2013) with approximately three hundred and seventy-five million people speaking English around the world with

Why does language die? A lot of language died because it stops with their native tribe or thoughts with their parents not teaching their kids their language in their background I feel that language can die all over the world because your language is that people are not wanting to nine so that's why a lot of language died because a lot of people don't know the background history on language. Language is the basic of all education. Reading writing is the basics of language, in order for you to read language you have to learn to write language or speak language is the importance because it is how people communicate communication is the number one key to my question I feel in order for you to continue so that language would not die is that you have to make sure that you teach your kids cause language all ties with the kids of the adults or the kids of the

English, which is spoken by 1.9 billon of the world’s population as their first language (Redman, 2004), has been spreading rapidly in the world since the British Industrial Revolution and colonialism in many continents such as Asia, Africa and North America during the 18th century (Lavot, 2000). As the influence of English is increasing, some linguists think that it is a natural process of successful international communication. However, many other languages are also dying out at an accelerating rate because of the expansion of the English language. In discussing the issue of the growing influence of English; arguments, both for and against, should be considered, particularly, in the economic, the information exchange, the linguistic

Of the more than 6,700 languages spoken in the world today, half are at risk of disappearing by the end of this century. Every two weeks, the last living speaker of a language dies, taking the language with him. The lingua franca that Global English has become, has a lot of disadvantages for our society and for our personal development. Approximately two billion people from different countries speak this language nowadays and as a result other languages become extinct. Not only do entire languages become extinct when everybody uses the same language to communicate, also languages harbour all kinds of human knowledge, which will be lost forever if the language will be forgotten. Furthermore, learning a new language helps the brain to perform more efficiently. Moreover, a whole culture with its unique traditions and celebrations will be lost forever.

Ever since the dawn of mankind, some form of communication has been used amongst humans. Language and the ability to speak to one another to get things done is what I believe makes humankind the most sophisticated species on the planet. However, over the last few hundred years, one language in particular has become one of the most universally taught subjects: English. With several hundred, or maybe even thousands of languages being spoken by nearly seven billion people today, English has become the method of communication across nearly every country and culture on the planet. If English wasn’t adopted as a globally respected language, then it would make communicating with other cultures very difficult.

It is everywhere. About 380 million speak it as their first language and perhaps two-thirds as many as their second. A billion are learning it, a third of the world’s population are in some sense exposed to it and by 2050, it is predicted, half the world will be more or less proficient at it. It is the language of globalization - English. Though defining globalization is a contested and divisive issue, according to the “Arab World English Journal,” “Globalization can create a world without boundaries in which people of this world can communicate with each other, interact and share their cultures, economies, and generally their lives via development in the fields of information technologies, communications, and transportations” (Alfehaid 104). Cultures have mixed and economies have become interdependent. Berube’s article, “From Mapping the Bilingual Brain,” exposed the connection between higher IQ levels and knowing more than one language; this investigation ignited a spark of curiosity, one which allowed me to observe the decrease in the memorization of foreign/native languages and the increase and dependence on English in the global community today. This overall aided in developing an extensive research question: In what ways has the globalization of the English language worldwide impacted society? Through exploratory research, the views of English language globalization is widely debatable; although a majority of linguists and

     “In the world were over seven thousand languages have exisisted, one language had become dominate. This dominant language is English.” “In the majority of countries throughout the world speak English as their second or first language, no longer just America or England.” English has taken many forms, American English, the Queen’s English, Australian, Canadian English, and several others. Even American English has taken several types of English, Jersey English, East Coast English, West Coast English, Southern English, slang English, and Ebonics. All of these languages have major variants between them, but are all of them are still understood aboard. Without English the world couldn’t operate,