The Use of English As The Global Language Is Interfering With National Identity Issues. Discuss and Give Your Opinion

5.
The use of English as the global language is interfering with national

identity issues. Discuss and give your opinion.
Structure: Talking about English as global language. Why is it? And Influences
What can it be dangerous for a national identity issues.
Conclusion.
Why is a Global language? A language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a
special role that is recognized in every country. To achieve such a status, a language has to be
taken up by other countries around the world. There are two main ways in which this can be
done. Firstly, a language can be made the official language of a country, to be used as a
medium of communication in such domains as government, the law courts, the media, and the
educational system. Secondly, a language can be made a priority in a country’s foreign-
language teaching, even though this language has no official status. In reflecting on these
observations, it is important to note that there are several ways in which a language can be
official. It may be the sole official language of a country, or it may share this status with other
languages. In reflecting on these observations, it is important to note that there are several
ways in which a language can be official. It may be the sole official language of a country, or it
may share this status with other languages. The statistics collected in chapter 2 suggest that
about a quarter of the world’s population is already fluent or competent in English.
Why do we need a global language?: In communities where only two or three languages are in
contact, bilingualism (or trilingualism) it’s a possible solution, for most young children can
acquire more than one language with unselfconscious ease. But in communities where there
are many languages in contact, as in much of Africa and South-east Asia, such a natural
solution does not readily apply. The problem has traditionally been solved by finding a
language to act as a lingua franca, or ‘common language’. The need for a global language is
particularly appreciated by the international academic and business communities
Examples of English as Global language: Television programmes and series, politicians speaks
in English from all over the world. Whenever your travel, you see English signs and
advertisements. Whenever you enter a hotel or restaurant in a foreign country, they
understand English. Advertising, international relations, cinema, popular music,
What are the dangers of a global language?: The benefits which would flow from the
existence of a global language are considerable; but several commentators have pointed to
possible risks.8 Perhaps a global language will cultivate an elite monolingual linguistic class,
more complacent and dismissive in their attitudes towards other languages. Perhaps the
presence of a global language will make people lazy about learning other languages, or reduce
their opportunities to do so. Perhaps a global language will hasten the disappearance of
minority languages, or – the ultimate threat – make all other languages unnecessary. The
present global status of the language as a ‘happy accident’. There are many who think that all
language learning is a waste of time. And many more who see nothing wrong with the vision
that a world with just one language in it would be a very good thing.
Effects: Will those who speak a global language as a mother tongue automatically be in a
position of power compared with those who have to learn it as an official or foreign language?
The risk is certainly real. It is possible, for example, that scientists who do not have English as a
mother tongue will take longer to assimilate reports in English compared with their mother-
tongue colleagues, and will as a consequence have less time to carry out their own creative
work. It is possible that people who write up their research in languages other than English will
have their work ignored by the international community. It is possible that senior managers
who do not have English as a mother tongue, and who find themselves working for English-
language companies in such parts of the world as Europe or Africa, could find themselves at a
disadvantage compared with their mother-tongue colleagues, especially when meetings
involve the use of informal speech. There is already anecdotal evidence to suggest that these
things happen. (However, from the time that children begin their full-time education, and if it
is maintained continuously and resourced well, the kind of linguistic competence which
emerges in due course is a real and powerful bilingualism. on the notion that children are born
ready for bilingualism)
 Another effect: a global language eliminates the motivation for adults to learn other
languages. This sentence is not referring to ability so it’s an attitude of our mind in
front of some situations. This attitude comes from m an unsatisfactory language
learning experience in school.
 The processes of language domination and loss have been known throughout
linguistic history, and exist independently of the emergence of a global language. No
one knows how many languages have died since humans became able to speak, but it
must be thousands. In many of these cases, the death has been caused by an ethnic
group coming to be assimilated within a more dominant society, and adopting its
language. The situation continues today, though the matter is being discussed with
increasing urgency because of the unprecedented rate at which indigenous languages
are being lost, especially in North America, Brazil, Australia, Indonesia and parts of
Africa. This is indeed an intellectual and social tragedy, in languages which have never
been written down, or which have been written down only recently, language is the
repository of the history of a people. It is their identity. Oral testimony, in the form of
sagas, folktales songs, rituals, proverbs, and many other practices, provides us with a
unique view of our world and a unique canon of literature.It is their legacy to the rest
of humanity. The other side is the need for identity – and people tend to
underestimate the role of identity when they express anxieties about language injury
and death. Language is a major means (some would say the chief means) of showing
where we belong, and of distinguishing one social group from another, and all over the
world we can see evidence of linguistic divergence rather than convergence.
Arguments about the need for national or cultural identity are often seen as being
opposed to those about the need for mutual intelligibility. None of this is to deny that
the emergence of a global language can influence the structure of other languages, ej
like to use an English word where a French word already exists, even though the usage
may have widespread popular support (e.g.computer for ordinateur) ; English
vocabulary – especially that of American English – has come to permeate their high
streets and TV programmes.
Local languages continue to perform an important set of functions (chiefly, the
expression of local identity) and English is seen as the primary means of achieving a
global
presence


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5.

The use of English as the global language is interfering with national

What can it be dangerous for a national identity issues.

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