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Modern Society and Global Language

Instructor: Professor Yong-Won Lee

Department of English Language and Literature Seoul National University

Office: Building 3, Room 325 Email: ylee01@snu.ac.kr

Phone: 02-880-2536

Fall 2015

(Chapter 1)

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Overview Preface: Two Guiding Linguistic Principles Chapter 1: WHY A GLOBAL LANGUAGE? (Fascinating views: Varieties, MTS vs

NMTS)

- What is a global language? (Related terminology: LF, IL, GL) - What makes a global language? - Why do we need a global language? - What are the dangers of a global language? - Could anything stop a global language? - A critical period

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Preface: Two Guiding Linguistic Principles

Fundamental Value of Multilingualism - An amazing world resource and linguistic heritage; - Providing different perspectives and insights; - Helping us to reach a more profound understanding of the nature of human mind and spirit.

Fundamental Value of a Common Lan-guage

- An amazing world resource; - Providing unprecedented possibilities for mutual understanding; - Fresh opportunities for international cooperation.

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Introduction (Chapter 1) Recurring Newspaper/Magazine Headlines: “English is the global language”; “English Rules.”; Why is such head-

lines still newsworthy?

Worldwide Spread of English: The Full Retreat of the British Empire: symbolized by the Handover of Hong Kong (1997); But English is everywhere (Bengal, Belize, Las Vegas, Lahore);

Intriguing Questions to Ask: - What does it mean to say that a language is a global language? - Does it mean everyone in the world speak it? Or does it mean every country in the world recognize it as an official language? - Why is English mentioned most often in this connection? - Once a language becomes a global language, it is there forever? Or could the situation change?

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Introduction (Chapter 1) Two Fascinating Perspectives on Global English:

Mother-tongue vs. Non-mother-tongue Speakers of English.

Mother-tongue Speakers - Mixed feelings (Pride about “success”; Concerns about “abuse”; - Changing ownership of the Language. - Many Varieties of English (British, American, Australian, Indian, Singaporean, South African, etc.)

Non-mother-tongue Speakers: - Strong motivation to study, pride about your achievement; - Concerned that MTSs always having unfair advantage over you; - The threatened survival of your own mother-tongue.

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What is a global language? Global Language: Global Lingua Franca; A language “recognized” in

every country in the globe (world); A language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is recognized in every country on the globe.

Many Facets of Special Role: Being recognized means (a) being used as an official language and (b) being taught as a priority or favored foreign language in every country.

Other Related Terms - Lingua Franca: “The language of the Frank”; Italian with elements of

Spanish, French, Greek, Arabic, Turkish; A common language used by speakers of different languages – Wordnet3.0

- International Language: A language (intended to be) used by people of different linguistic backgrounds to facilitate communication; Two different types - (1) Artificial IL (e.g., Esperanto) & (2) A national language used outside of their national boundary.

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What is a global language? Other Related Terms:

- English as an Lingua Franca English as an International Language English as a Global Language. c.f. World Englishes

- English as a First Language (or Mother Tongue)

- English as an Official Language

- English as a Second Language (ESL) English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

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What makes a Global Language?

The Political and Military Power of its People: Greek – Armies of Alexander the Great; Latin – Legions of Roman Empire; Arabic – Force of the Moorish army and spread of Islam; Spanish, Por-tuguese, French – Colonial policies of Renaissance kings and queens; English – Expansion of British Empire and pax Americana

The Economic Power of its People: It takes an economically powerful country to maintain and expand it

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What Makes a Global Language? Some Misconceptions

Not the Number of Speakers, but who the speakers are!

Some Other Misconceived Claims: Perceived aesthetic qualities (or beauty); Clarity of expression; Literary power, Religious standing; Easi-ness of grammatical construction; Paucity of inflection; Almost total disre-gard of the distinctions of gender;

Certain Properties Can Make a Language Internation-ally Appealing: The familiarity of English vocabulary (English being far more a Romance than a Germanic language; Absence in grammar of a sys-tem of coding social class difference (Appearing more democratic).

However, a language does not become a global lan-guage because of: its intrinsic structural properties, the size of its vocabulary, its traditional role as a vehicle of a great culture, or its associa-tion with a great culture or religion

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Why Do We Need a GL? Limits of Translation & Bilingual/Trilin-

gual Approaches:

Creation of International Organizations: United Nations Established in 1945; World Bank (1945), UNESCO & UNICEF (1946), WHO (1948), IAEA (1956).

Two Communities Feeling Strong Need for GL:

- International Academic Community; - International Business Communities:

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Why Do We Need a GL? Two Important Factors Behind Growth in

International Contacts and Need for GL:

- Technology of modern transportation - Technology of modern communication; - People are becoming more and more mobile.

Scale & Recency of Developments: - UN membership – 51(1945) =>80 (1956) => 190 (2002) - Unprecedented need for international communication and travel

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Dangers of a GL Potential Risks of GL - Cultivation of an elite monolingual linguistic class, - Hastening of disappearance of minority languages (or all

other languages other than a GL); - Linguistic Triumphalism: Evolutionary view of language; Viewing language learning as a waste of time; - Many speculations can be made but they should be

backed up by evidence.

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Dangers of a GL Linguistic Power: - Problem: Disadvantaging who speaks a GL as a SL. - Solution: Start teaching a GL early; Critical period hypothesis. - Consequence: Elitism arguments will disappear.

Linguistic Complacency: - Problem: Eliminate the motivation to learn other Languages. - Language learning is an question of attitude and state of mind rather than ability. - Solution: Increase public awareness of the importance of language learning. - Consequences: Australian schools teaching Japanese; UK &

US paying more attention to Spanish.

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Dangers of a GL Linguistic Death: - Problem: Hastening of disappearance of minority languages; Minority groups assimilating into a more dominant society; Intellectual & social tragedy. - Counter-arguments: GL has only limited causal relationship; Nationalism & movement in support of linguistic minorities; The possibility of need for national & cultural identity in harmony with that for mutual intelligibility – Bilingualism. - GL can change the structure other languages: Loan words. - Criticism of linguistic imperialism: power relations vs. functional specializations; GL can empower people.

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Dangers of a GL (English)Linguistic Imperialism (Phillipson, 1992): Domi-

nance of English is asserted and maintained by the establishment and con-tinuous reconstitution of structural and cultural inequalities between Eng-lish and other languages; LI is one example of linguicism.

Linguicism (Skutnabb-Kangas, 1988; Phillipson, 1988): Ide-

ologies, structures, and practices, which are used to legitimate, effectuate, and reproduce an unequal division of power and resources (both material and immaterial) between groups which defined on the basis of language.

Two Key Concepts in LI (a) Anglo-centricity (<=ethnocentricity), (b) Professionalism

Related Terms: Center-Periphery, Cultural imperialism, Neocolonialism