Ｗａｎｇ　Ｔｉａｎ

[Abstract] Due to the historical and economical reasons, the circle of the use of English is expanding all the time. On the one hand, linguistic imperialism occurred and some minority languages in the world died out gradually; on the other hand, English became an international language and provided more chances for people in different countries. Therefore it seems unfair to relate all the problems linguistically or culturally to English. In fact some problems have already been there, rather than have been caused by English.

[Keywords:] global language; lingua franca; effect

[中图分类号]G642[文献标识码] A [文章编号] 1671-1270（2009)1-0001-04

1. Introduction

It is generally accepted that people around the world are increasingly obsessed in the ‘project of promoting English and the more people are involved in it, the more important it would become. This vast spread has served as a powerful evidence of the high status of this language not only in terms of the prestige of the language itself, but also in the status of the people who use it or seek to use it (Tollefson 2000).

Various reasons are believed to have contributed to the spread of English, such as the great power of the nation in economic, industrial and scientific fields as well as its politics. As a result English is gradually taking the place of other languages, for example French in Europe before, to become the global lingua franca. It is used and learned so world-widely that countries in the inner, outer and expanding circles (Kachru 1982) are all involved. The majority of people in the expending circles are taking English as their second languages like in China, Japan etc, not to mention those formerly colonial countries such as India, Philippines, where English is used for internal purposes.

However, under the prosperity of this language, linguists as Phillipson, Tollefson grow concerned about the effects of such spread. Rather they perceive English as the ‘killer (Kangas 2003), ‘murder (Phillipson 1995) of other endangered languages. By proposing the term linguicide (e.g. Phillipson 1995) in its extreme form, they position English in the state of depriving the linguistic rights and in turn human rights. As a perfect contrast other linguists like Bisong, Davies etc. argue against this view by suggesting that English spread has its positive effects and that the problems in there are not the mere result of English itself.

This article attempts to present an objective perspective on the impact of English spread by looking at the opinions of both sides. However, the intention is to find out the most rightly way of placing English in its spread.

2. The Status of English: as a global language

It is generally agreed that the status of English in the world is now stronger not just than ‘any contemporary language but also than ‘any historical language. According to the statistics (Fishmen 1977), ‘English was already the language of diplomacy (95 of the 126 members of the united nations received working documents in English), the language of 70 percent of the world's mail, used by pilot to communicate with air controllers, the first language of nearly 300 million people, and second language of probably many more. (Spolsky 2004)

In literature Kachru (1982) makes distinction between the inner, outer, and expanding circles of English-using countries. The countries like UK, Australia where English is the primary and dominant language lies in the inner core of the circles. The outer and expanding circles, which are labeled as ‘periphery in Phillipsons (1992) distinction, include countries where English is used in major situations and for some as the international language. The extensive use of English in these countries may be connected to the impersonal social and economic forces on the one hand, but on the other it could be planned deliberately by the authorities of a country.

Normally, these causes would then lead to varied impacts of English upon different countries, especially countries in the outer circle and those in the expending circle. According to Tollefson (2000), in the later cases, such as China, the use of English is primarily linked with ‘international government and business, as well as with access to popular culture, rather than a key basis for ‘deciding who has access to economic resources and political power. However, in countries where English can also be used domestically, such as Philippines, English is more deeply implanted in structuring the society culturally, economically and politically.

3. Resistance to the spread of English

With the spread of English, some problems relating to it seem to become obviously visible, claimed by critics like Phillipson and Pennycook. According to these linguists, the aftermath of the spread of English has extended into almost every area in peoples social life such as culture, education, human rights etc. It is a problem about more than just language itself. Most commonly, the two main concepts involved in the criticism to such a spread are diversity and inequality (Ferguson 2006). Before that I would review the well known contemporary criticism of linguistic imperialism by Phillipson first.

3.1 Criticism on linguistic imperialism

As is discussed above, English is spreading as a result of some economic, social, cultural reasons. However for some linguists who are against this trend, this is not only a natural process, but rather a deliberate planning by the establishment. This is what Phillipson called the English linguistic imperialism (1992). He noted that ‘the structural and cultural inequalities ensure the continued allocation of more material to English than to other languages and benefit those who are proficient in English. He further pointed out that linguistic imperialism may occur even in context where the policy supports several languages, but the priority is given to one language.

This linguistic imperialism is usually advanced by cultural activities in science, media and education via such forms as film, videos and television etc. Phillipson argues that, e.g. the British book trade is promoted by the government finance to boost their idea and language. Generally such flow between the centre English speaking counties and that periphery are asymmetrical. Consequently the inflow of products from the centre serves as a powerful tool to destroy the local culture of the periphery such as the process of so-called McDonaldiztion

3.2 English and Inequality

Some critics of the spread of English make it clear that the spread may lead to inequality among people and even countries linguistically and socio-economically.

First, English as a global language is a tool necessary in international communication. Thus people as well as nations who are better at English would naturally gain an advantage over those who are not. Non native speakers would have to take a lot of efforts such as energy, time and money to learn English, which, for native speakers in contrast is something they take for granted. Students would probably suffer in a school where the instruction is in English other than their native language. Meanwhile in the scientific field, lots of burdens are inflicted to the non-native speakers who strive to have their say in the academic world which is dominated by English. Scientists and writers may feel frustrated in achieving the international reputation for reasons of their not-so-good English. In the field of linguistics for instance, it is the English that seems to have been studies over and over as opposed to other languages.

Then it has been recognized by some linguists like Tollefson that people with good command of English usually enjoy a better social status as well as an advantageous economic position. English seems to have become a ‘goal keeper, say a barrier to employment. A case in point has been reported by Ahai & Faraclas (1993) that in Papua New Guinea, it is the English-only policy in education that has brought profits to only a tiny number of graduates who could obtain jobs in the market economy of the country, whereas the other students 'who are alienated from an ineffective and irrelevant system' are left to drop out of school. Consequently peoples human rights are deprived with the loss of their linguistic rights (Phillipson & Kangas 1995).

3.3 English and Diversity

Since the total number of languages in the world is decreasing every year with more people engaged in learning English, people tend to think of English as the killer of these endangered languages. Because people see the socio-economic profits that speaking English could bring about, they would be attracted to learning it and their offspring would unavoidably be inspired to learn this new language too. As a result many minority languages in the world lose its function and die out gradually.

Further the part that language policies play could hardly be ignored. A monolingual policy for English may inevitably promote the spread of English nationally by excluding other languages from public use. Assimilation is used to encourage the subordinate groups to adopt the dominant language. For example the US employs a linguistic assimilation approach in most of the school systems as well as in special programs for immigrants and refugees (Tollefson 2000). In either approach the spread of English could be enhanced and consequently the minority language would undergo a decrease.

Indigenous culture could be influenced by the spread of English as well. On the one hand, as soon as the speakers of the subordinate groups become ‘dispossessed of their traditional land as a consequence of exploitation by large companies and drift to the cities in search of employment (Graddol 1996), they would necessarily become enveloped by the cultures and finally get immerged into it. On the other, the flow of English into the countries of the outer circles would probably bring with it the cultures of the English speaking countries. In China KFC and McDonalds are seen everywhere in downtown. People are also absorbed in the Hollywood movies. English songs are enjoyed and the singers and bands and loved by a large group of people. The Christmas seems to become more popular than the traditional festivals and so on. Indulging in the alien culture might possibly leave little room for people to appreciate the traditions and customs of their own cultures. As a consequence the local culture would possibly suffer a loss.

4. On the Spread of English: From another Perspective

Admittedly the spread of English may inevitably be relevant to some of the negative effect. However when reassessing these arguments we would probably cast doubts on its authenticity: is it exclusively English that lead to such problems or there can be other factors.

4.1 English vs Esperanto

The role of English in the international communication has been criticized as the cause to inequality; however, the globalization is without any doubt in need of a world language, with which people of different linguistic background could interact. The Esperanto could be of a good idea, but in practice it tends to inflict more burdens on people of all counties to learn a completely new language. Since English is already there, there seems no need to bother replacing it.

4.2. Opportunity vs Inequality

Language aside, such inequality as social class, racism, and sexism has undoubtedly occupied the social life since long ago. Looking for the sources, it is not necessarily English which brings such inequality among people, but rather it is the world system such as colonialism which is to blame instead.

Contrastively good command of English may provide more chances to advancement. A survey has been conducted by the British council in 1995 among two thousand people and the result shows that for a majority, English is ‘major contributor to economic and social advance in most countries (Graddol 1996). Even more respondents believe that English may guarantee a chance to the access of high-tech communication and information in the future. This demonstrates that as one language English is only a tool used for communication and transferring information other than a gate keeper catering for people within a certain circle.

Furthermore English might hardly be perceived as the source of inequality between people in the centre and in the periphery, for people in the outer circles, where English is recognized as the national or official language, could also make use of their not-so-perfect English as an opportunity ranging from international communication to employment. The Philippines is a multilingual country where English is the language of government, education, business etc. Compared with criticism of the role of English in determining the access to wealth and power in this country nationally (e.g. Tollefson 2000), it is much more reasonable to exam the chance that knowing English could provide for the people in the international stage.

Take an instance from my own experience. China is in the expanding circle wherein a great number of people are joining in the trend of learning English, therefore a large number of teachers proficient in English are in urgent need. Lacking native speakers as teachers of English have created lots of vacancies for people from the outer circles such as Philippines. It is already a fact that many schools in china indeed have such teachers. In this case, it is hard to find any inequalities but rather a benefit for both sides.

Lastly, if inequality may exist as the consequence of English, the favor is not necessarily for the native speakers. In other words the native speakers of English may be left behind in a disadvantaged condition. In the modem world if one wants to gain a preferable condition like a high-level job, the high levels of multilingual competence would be of necessity. When more people learn English, competence in English would become a self-evident norm. Knowing only English will take one nowhere (Kangas 2000). The efforts in learning a foreign language, which has been criticized previously, may turn into advantages. This could mean that people either in China or in the Philippines may possibly be more competitive in the future because of their competence in languages, compared with the original speakers of English.

4.3 Endangerment vs Diversity

The total number of languages in the world may be decreasing, but it is rarely English that is the direct cause, ‘despite the fact that English is an official language in many of the countries where endangered languages exist (Graddol 1996). There could be other regional languages that are responsible for the threat to linguistic diversity. As what has been noted by Mufwene: ‘in exploitation colonies, the colonial languages adopted as elite lingua francas have not endangered the indigenous languages. Rather it is indigenous lingua francas like Swahili, Lingala, and Hausa which have gained more and more speakers at the expense of ethnic vernaculars.

For instance, in the African, it is the African lingua franca and other African languages which enjoy a national or regional status that threatens the minority languages, other than the imported English (Brenzinger et al. 1991). For people in the African, their pursuit and enthusiasm in the choice of African languages result from their wish to throw away the feeling of the past as colonies. By employing African languages as opposed to English, they are probably likely to obtain a social status similarly equal to the former colonial languages (Ferguson 2006). Therefore lots of the minority language would then be influenced and undermined by these languages other than English.

Then it has been found that in some communities certain minority languages are so well preserved as if they are not surrounded by English. There are some African and Asian languages which survived in the English speaking counties. Their survivals as ritual or secret languages suggest that those languages were passed from one generation to another, not being pressed by English (Mufwene 2001).

Brutt-Griffler (2004) pointed out that during the colonialism, the education in British India is rarely in English as is criticized by some, but rather it is dominated by the indigenous languages. And even resolutions are made by the colonial administration to expand the indigenous language in education. She concluded that ‘throughout the history of British rule, vernacular education constituted the foundation of all education. This situation is similar to other British colonies. Thus it seems unfair to blame English as the central mistake in education.

Culturally, English dose with it spread its cultures to other countries. But the key lies in whether the local cultures have been destroyed by the western cultures. It is common that when people travel around they may get impressed by the local culture and products (Ferguson 2006). When people watch films they may appreciate the culture. If it is not Starbucks or Hollywood, there would still be something else that makes people get attracted.

Still there is no strong evidence to show that the western cultures are dominating globally. It is rather English that provides the chance for people to enjoy more of the cultures other than their own. This could mean that Japanese may have sushi for one day and then turn to hotdogs or sandwiches as an alternative. It could be that ‘the world is making English more diverse in its forms, functions and cultural associations. (Graddol 1996)

5. Reviewing linguistic rights.

There has been a notion (c.f. Tollefson 1991) that the change in language should be a rather natural process which may lead to an appropriate pattern of language use. Under this concept, the linguistic communities should be free from interference from outside. It must be individuals choice in language variety that they believe is suitable for certain occasions. It must still be their choice in stopping using certain languages because those languages are no longer appropriate for them.

If the spread of English is an alienation of linguistic rights, as is held by some critical linguists, it is necessary to look at what linguistic right is more profoundly. According to Holborow (1992 cited in Bisong 1995), linguistic rights ‘are essentially about choice, free of discrimination, to speak the languages actually spoke. Thus from the discussion it appears that the choice of English is rather a decision made by individuals on the basis of their preference. Because they consider it to be appropriate and this is the very example of respecting linguistic rights and hence human rights.

6. Conclusion

In this article I have discussed the effects that the spread of English may cause from both the negative and positive sides. Admittedly as some linguists have pointed out such spread can have negative impact, but when such influences are assessed carefully we may discover that it is other factors other than English that is the source.

High status of English and its speakers has led people to consider English as the direct establishment of linguistic empiricism. For many critic linguists English may cause inequality between languages and then between people economically. Furthermore English is perceived as an endangerment to other minority languages and cultures. Such biased claim is critically assessed in this article and through discussion we come to the conclusion that instead of a cause to inequality, English may provide more chances for people in either employment or the access to advanced sciences. As for the threat to diversity, it is found that it is other local lingua franca that is endangering the indigenous minority languages. Moreover no strong evidence is found to show that western cultures are dominating globally.

Therefore it seems unfair to relate all the problems linguistically or culturally to English. In fact some problems have already been there, rather than have been caused by English.

【References】

[1]Bisong, J. 1995 Language Choice and Cultural Imperialism: a Nigerian Perspective. ELT Journal 49, 122-132.

[2]Brenzinger, M., Heine, B and Sornmer G. 1991 Language Death in Africa in Robins, R. H. and Uhlenbeck, E.M. (eds) Endangered Languages. Oxford: berg.

[3]Brutt-Griffler. J. 2002 World English: A Study of Its Development. U.K: Cromwell.

[4]Davis, A. 1996 Ironing the Myth of Linguicism. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 17, 6,485-496.

[5]Ferguson, G 2006 Language Planning and Education. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

[6]Goodman, S & Graddol, D (eds) 1996 Redesigning English. London: Routledge.

[7]Hall & Eggington (eds). 2000 The Sociopolitics of English Language Teaching. Clevedon: Cromwell Press.

[8]Kachru, B. 1982 The Other Tongue: English Across Cultures. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

[9]Mufwene, S. 2001 The Ecology of Language Evolution. Cambridge: CUP.

[10]Phillipson, R. 1992 Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: OUP.

[11]Phillipson, R and Skutnabb-Kangas, T. 1995 ‘Linguistic Rights and Wrongs, Applied Linguistics 16, 4, 483-504.

[12]Skutnabb-Kangas, T. 2000 Linguistic Human Rights and Teachers of English. In Hall & Eggington (eds). 2000 The Sociopolitics of English Language Teaching. Clevedon: Cromwell Press.

[13]Spolsky, B. 2004 Language Policy. Cambfidge: CUP.

[14]Swaan, A. 2001 Words of the Wirld. Cambridge: Polity Press.

[15]Tollefson, J. W. 1 99 1 Planning Language, Planning Inequality London: Longman.

[16]Tollefson, J.W. 2000 Policy and Ideology in the Spread of English. in Hail & Egginen (eds). 2000 The Sociopolitics of English Language Teaching. Clevedon: Crmwell Press.

[17]Wright, S. 2004 Language Policy and Language Planning: from Nationalism to Globalization. New York: Palgrave.

【作者简介】王恬（1982－），女，江苏南通人，毕业于英国谢菲尔德大学，获应用语言学硕士学位；现任教于南方医科大学外国语学院，从事大学英语教学工作。主要研究方向：应用语言学和跨文化交际。广东 广州 510515