Reflection Paper On English As A Trojan Horse

Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” and Dennis Baron’s “Who Owns Global English” both highlight important points in regards to language. While Amy Tan discusses her own mother’s native tongue in a more reflective manner, Dennis Baron compares the use of English on a global standard. Though both have similar messages, the two pieces also differ in their overall themes/arguments.

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.

In their opinion in countries that English is not their native language it has negative impact on culture and mother tongue. However, there are many reasons that demonstrated that use of English as a medium of instruction have positive impact on everyone’s life. As a study clearly says that student has the ability and skills to learn many languages (Begg, 2012). He adds that teaching a language in schools as a first or second language qualitatively vary because if all higher-study materials are in English so students to needs to be proficient in that language and that transition is smooth from school to college or college to university. In addition he clearly mentioned that” Junking English as a medium of education will only push us back”. For instance, there are many people he studied in English that now became successful in their life, Indira Gandhi, Jyoti Basu, Ratan Tata, Sunil Gavaskar, Amitabh Bachchan and a million of people who are leaders and successful (Begg, 2012). Therefore, all of these researches widely declare that English as a medium of instruction has benefits to improve educational system of and to develop a country that English is not their native

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.

As we all know that, English is a global language. Language is a familiar feature of our daily life. It is a human and social activity without which human beings cannot function in the society. It is one of the basic needs, and one has to learn it. It is the flesh and blood of our culture. According to Leonard Bloomfield (1935), “Each community is formed by the activity of language.”

In this context, English language inherits the credential of a Universal language that can be nearly understood almost each and every part of the world. The English Language; that has been evolving over centuries, has found its spot under the beam light and is used all over the world as a mode of communication. However, just like any other spoken

Schools around the world teach English to their students. In Europe especially 85 percent of students learn English as their second language (Source B). Why spend time learning another’s language while they already speak your own? There is no concrete justification. English is already one of the most spoken languages around the world and it continues to grow diminishing the value of other languages. Responses to this may include that while English is very widespread the future of languages is unpredictable, English may not in fact become the ‘global language’ it aspires to be(Source F). Mandarin is a language spoken by many people, it’s reach isn’t as far but China is an emerging superpower so who’s to say Mandarin won't become the ‘global language’. But, for now we must live in the present and not be ignorant of the fact that here and now English is the one at an upward

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

The continual spread and reach of the language brings cause for concern for those who feel that the impact it has on culture, history and traditions of minorities due to its tendency to dominate all aspects of societies if allowed. However, the usage of the native English language has not gone unaffected due to cross dialect influences and the need to accommodate others by using non-conventional structures. The positive aspects are too many to mention, especially in the modern times of globalization and I believe that the case for English as a lingua franca may always be

There are 6,909 languages spoken in the world today (Anderson). As of 2009, roughly 328 million people speak English as their first language, coming in third to Chinese and Spanish (Languages of the World). This essay will describe the geographies, politics, and arts that contributed to the evolution of the present English language, as well as the different pronunciations, dialects, and varieties that have risen up throughout the world.

Though English has many uses, and plays important roles, it has also been used as ulterior means to promoting a (destructive) hegemony.

     “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,