Saving Languages

This means that language itself is not just a form of communication, but also a means of connecting to the culture shared between the adolescents and other Vietnamese people in the community. Vietnamese parents tend to enforce the acquisition of the Vietnamese language upon their children because they experience the phenomena of language loyalty and language maintenance. Language loyalty is “the tendency to remain loyal to the community language” (Danesi, 2016, p. 100), while language maintenance is “the tendency to maintain the language” (p. 100). According to Stoessel, these two factors are “critical for the survival of a minority language” (p. 100). Applying it to the participants in the case study, the minority language would be Vietnamese since the

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.

Contrary to unification, language can divide people. Finally, In “The Power of Words in Wartime”, Robin Lakoff shows how specific language makes it easier to kill the enemy while at war. Language is a beautiful gift that can bring people together just because they speak the same language. In, “Mute in an English Only World”, Chang-Rae Lee writes about his mother who is a Korean-American immigrant and, how she was not capable of doing everyday tasks because of her lack of knowledge of English.

Ken Wiwa presents several ideas pertaining to language and culture within his essay, Get Beyond Babel. Wiwa explains that every language has a chance of dying out over time. For any language to survive through years of societal changes, it must be adapted so it can be used to embrace other cultures, new technology and new perspectives. Wiwa presents the concept that language is the same as culture. I do not agree with this concept because I believe that culture is carried by the people, not by the language.

In the examining and writing my analysis of the article Mother Tongue by Amy Tan, I hope to appeal to an audience that wishes to expand their knowledge of the cultural use of various languages and their social impacts. In this case, the language would be English and the culture would be that of Asian-Americans. I would think that this work, and the analysis of, would primarily be of interest to those in academic or research fields of sociology and language. I would hope the reader of my analysis would be interested in gaining insight into how using a “broken” English system heavily influences one’s communication and feeling towards those outside of your culture. The analysis would benefit the reader by

Language and communication between different cultures is complex; the future holds many technological promises that will make these complexities easier to bear. This dialect decline can be credited to the industrialization of communication which exploits the human interest of entertainment, which in turn, expands and simplifies human communication. Billions of people of all walks of life have assimilated to the language of modern technology and billions more are left in the dusk. “Media exposure can spread new vocabulary and give people in different regions an understanding of the “standard American.” (PBS) The internet has allowed people to communicate farther than ever before, share knowledge at light speed pace. We feel that we do not have time to type “hey that was very funny” instead we type “LOL” we have simplified terms in speech and have become accustomed to the internet world: speed equals success. Society’s entrepreneurs and astute minds are constantly

Wallraff is concerned about the future of the English language and has started assuming what would happen if English became the global language. She further forecasted the situations that may occur if everyone started speaking English. The work, research and time Ms. Wallraff has devoted to the article demonstrate her attitude and concern about the English language and its future. The article that she has written basically targets people of new generation X who are firm believer of English being a Global language ignoring the fact that other languages are outnumbering English. Besides targeting the younger generation, the article is also targeting those for whom English is not primary

In the essay “Last Words,” published on the first of October in 2006, the author Walter Michaels instills an idea of what to do when a language is loss. Throughout the essay, he gives examples of how languages are (and how they could be) lost. He also points out, that even though many of those reasons have been eliminated, that languages continue to go extinct. Thus, the author brings up the point, “Why would it be a tragedy if English disappeared?” Although people mourn the loss of a language, Michaels argues that speakers of the dying language should exert effort to learn the dominate one.

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

In an ever changing world we have seen the number and complexity of languages become reduced. In a Wall Street Journal article entitled What the World Will Speak in 2115, John H. McWhorter advocates for the world to see these changes as necessary and a way for communication worldwide to become more efficient and simplified. McWhorter shows how language has been streamlined for centuries as a way for citizens to adapt rather than viewed as an extinction of culture. Modern English is likely to become the dominant language worldwide but more so for the fact that it can be easily learned and is open to transformation with the times. Despite the fears of a world where lingual diversity is reduced, McWhorter suggests that there will still be variation to promote culture and communication with people from all backgrounds will be easier. The following is a summary and analysis of McWhorter’s main points describing the simplification of language. Following the summary of main points will be a hypothetical situation in what the world language could consist of 100 years from now.

Among the more than five thousand known languages of the world, circumstances like colonization are putting hundreds of languages in danger of becoming dead. This means that these languages are no longer have a prominent group of speakers (Wurm 1). There are also many endangered languages known that are characterized by still having speaker, but these languages are no longer being taught as a mother-tongue to children (Krauss 1). In his argument, Michael Krauss stresses an urgency to either help take these languages out of the danger zone or record them, but Peter Ladefoged argues that not all languages have to be preserved as Krauss and his associates claim (810). Here I will discuss my own views on whether or not languages

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

The use of grammar has been my weakness on most of my papers. Since I start taking courses in Montgomery College, I have been working hard on my grammar usage. Although I have made some improvements, I still struggle with using the preposition and having missing words. Missing words are my main struggle throughout the course. For instance, on the Nature essay, before the draft due, I proofread it, and went to writing center a couple times; however, I still had some missing words on my paper that my instructor point out. Although I tried super hard to get the concept of it, I still have the difficulty of missing words on my essays. However, When I did the revisions, prof. Michael comments really helped me to see what I did wrong. My other area

Why should people nowadays see languages as a big prize? A person speaks more languages have more opportunities are skewed to him because he benefits the profit comparing to a person who speaks only one standard language. It is time for globalization and its effects on children for speaking other languages as a must. In two articles “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” by Richard Rodriguez and “Whose Voice Is It Anyway?” by Victor Villanueva, the two authors both expressed their opinions on native language and how the assimilation impacts a child. However, Rodriguez believed that the assimilation was beneficial for him as he had grown up in the English-speaking world and he disliked bilingual education which created many controversy.

One must take numerous things into account when developing a Website, one of the most important concepts would be the translating of the website into common languages. In reflecting at the countless product labels or manuals, restaurant menus, and even school enrollment forms; how many of these are available in multiple languages. The same should be considered with websites designed for a wide audience.