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The Only Language Widely Used

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The Only Language Widely Used Language plays a significant role in defining who we are. It is a method of communication in a structured and conventional way. “Language reinforces feelings of social superiority or inferiority; it creates insiders and outsiders” (p. 242) states Robert MacNeil (2012) in his article “English Belongs to Everybody”. 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,” …show more content…

According to MacNeil, language classifies our ranks in the society we live in reinforcing “feelings of social superiority or inferiority” (2012, p. 242). By this the author suggests how changes in language test the patience of individuals of which “some are good humored and tolerant of change, others intolerant and snobbish” (2012, p. 242). Throughout the article MacNeil provides extracts from various books to support his argument. He quotes Otto Jesperson, a Danish scholar, who in his “Growth and structure of the English language” who talks about two languages, French and English, comparing one to a garden and latter to a park. Jesperson describes the relation between a language and a man’s free will. MacNeil also quotes Churchill who states that many languages combined, produced English as a language. By quoting Churchill and Jesperson, MacNeil supports his argument with ethos and logos. On the other hand, the main point MacNeil talks about, English being the only language used commonly does not seem to be valid. Chinese, Arabic and French including Spanish as mentioned by MacNeil are languages widely spoken and learnt. The way MacNeil supports his argument using limited sources discussing them several times gets the reader to lose interest. MacNeil also fails to present a counter argument in his essay in order to convince the reader towards his point. Counter argument is one of the most important components of an argumentative essay as it lets the reader relate to a

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