Dennis Baron in “Who Owns Global English” opines that English is the new global language. “Baron holds that the English language has established itself as the go-to vessel and medium of communication globally. Baron shows the pervasiveness of the English language in today’s society and shows how the language is slowly rising and evolving to a much larger unanticipated communication platform. In the beginning, “Baron posits what is the composition of proper English.” There is a lot of controversy in Spain where there is a heated campaign that is advocating for English-Spanish speaking schools. The campaign is facing a lot of challenges as the critics are in uproar challenging the very advert that reads, “Yes we want”, they claim that this statement in itself is an example of bad use of the English language.
Baron in this publication emphasizes that the advert expression may not be the correct form of English in syntax, he, however, suggests that since English is now becoming very pervasive and is being adopted by many other countries, it should be flexible enough to be altered while still maintaining correctness and logic. Going further, “Baron sheds light on the fear that is now putting several countries at a dilemma of adopting the English language as a local spoken language, the fear being that this might be the detriment of their own local language.” Baron sums up his article by alluding this situation to the Roman linguistic loss control by pervasion of the Latin language.
1. Baron does answer the question of who owns global English though in not an explicit way as one may expect. Through the journal and the powerful way in which the author debates to and fro, he clearly comes to rest on this pertinent issue of who owns global English. This is a powerfully reasoned out text and the method used to put forward the arguments leaves the reader in the last bit much decided on where he or she stands on this discussion. The bold title is much straightforward and as such it begs for an answer, not a defeatist theory that seems to avoid and evade the question asked. My reference for this question answer is in the extract below “ as English is becoming a pervasive language that is being adopted by many countries it needs to be changed in a way that it retains sense” I feel that this is the most explicit statement to showcase the answer to the paused question. There is no one who can claim that he is the sole and singular owner of a language that is spoken by so many across the globe and in so many versions so as to cater to the rising linguistic alterations and developments. Ownership cannot rest in a person, organization or nation. There can be no central authority whatsoever that can be mandated with regulating or monitoring an aspect as the language spoken by so many across the globe. Language in the deepest of essence is a heritage. A heritage that one can develop as time goes depending on the interactions and as experiences change. Language in itself is not static but dynamic depending on experience and culture. As such no, one should lay claim to own global language.
Gloria Neylor
Gloria Neylor is the author of “Mommy What Does Nigger Mean” and in this short article “Gloria shows that words can be taken as harmless tools of communication.” She does good work to demonstrate that in the absence of the person wielding the words, words are in themselves lacking in meaning and strength. She concludes that it is the person saying the words that wield all the potential whether good or bad. Neylor’s theme and purpose statement is clean and is beautifully emphasized by the use of anecdotes and the reference that she makes to the English language. She asserts that the use of derogatory terms can even be excused depending on the intent of the user. As Neylor puts it “Words are innocuous but consensus gives them real power.”
This purpose statement resonates with true vibrancy throughout the entire article. She continues to punctuate her essay with anecdotes and their parallel structure. She opens the first anecdote that is her first language reference and establishes the form of the noun “nigger” to emphasize its neutrality. She gives the example of when the word is used by a woman as a possessive adjective—“my nigger”- and follows up this with an explanation of what it means in the immediate context. In each paragraph, there is an emphasis, an articulation, and repetition to show that words are really harmless until the motive and intent of whoever uses the words is put on scales.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin is the author of “Learning to Write” an insightful and simple to follow piece of article on how one can significantly improve on his skills in the written word. In this article, Franklin brings our attention to his father’s observation of his “lack of elegance in writing.” At his old age, he bemoaned his writing skills which were subpar in his teenage. After this remark by his father Franklin decides to take upon himself the responsibility of teaching himself how to write. He needed to write more expressively and with elegance. He pursued his writing lessons when he was yet in his teenage years thereby giving him a good foundation.
The article is full of paragraph after paragraph of how to succeed in writing. He explains how he would take notes at the sentence level and then ponder on them as he tried to recreate them afresh in his head without having to refer to the original manuscript. He would at times “discover flaws in his production and proceed to correct them.” He found his vocabulary wanting and his prose was light. He would then repeat the previous exercise only, this time, he would make his words to poems. Once his Spectator writing improved, he upped the challenge. This active method of learning to write well-endowed Franklin with a superior writing ability as he was able to pay attention to the nitty-gritty details that distinguished a great writer from a plain good writer.
Maxine Hong Kingston
Maxine Hong Kingston is the author of Tongue Tied, and it is an interesting memoir of Kingston struggle as she grew up trying to speak many languages and socialize with many other children in school. In this article, the author paints a picture of her struggle to fully use and release her voice to the outside world. Earlier in life the authors mum had cut her tongue so that she would be able to speak several different languages with ease. This however later proved to have been unwise and very counterproductive to her self-confidence in life. This made her struggle so much in trying to find her voice later. As Maxine says “In the first silent year I did not speak to anyone in school, I also dissented asking for permission when going to the lavatory, and flunked kindergarten.”
3. As a small boy when I was growing up, I found that I was very shy, and I could not look at people straight in their face when talking to people. I am very much dreaded the moment when I would be called upon to the front of class to read aloud a part of a passage in the reading practices that we are supposed to do. This problem and inferiority complex were contributed by the fact that I was poor in mentioning syllables that had closely related sounds. For example, I found it quite hard to mention the letter ‘r’ differently from the letter ‘l.' Another letter that I dreaded seeing in a sentence was the letter ‘s’ and ‘c.' When it came to saying tongue twisters I really felt like all that should happen is the ground to open and swallow me. This problem became worse because of the constant teasing and jeering and laughing that I received from my peers. The other students at class seemed to relish every moment that I faced the pronunciation monster. My disaster fulfilled every sense of their entertainment. I developed an inferiority complex and could not seem to understand why I was different from other kids.
Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor is the author of “How to Write a Personal Letter” and in this article, the author shares very insightful tips into the art of crafting personal letters. In this article, Keillor helps the reader to recapture the importance and significance of writing a good letter. The author notes that communication is key and pivotal for any meaningful relationship or association in life. The author notes that some people may have a problem of direct communication to other people because of” shyness or poor people to people skills.” To solve this small problem one can result in writing a letter though many people may prefer picking up the phone and giving a call. Of all these methods, the author lauds writing a letter as the most important.
2. I am pretty much convinced that the method suggested by the author does apply to all people in writing letters. I think this is so as no one recipient can be able to distinguish that a letter was crafted by a shy person or a confident person after reading it. I think the suggestions are merely suggestions for writing good letters, but the emphasis was that shy people who cannot communicate directly are better off writing letters so that they can be able to realize their expressive power. It is not possible in any way to categorize letters as letters written by confident people or letters done by shy people. What a recipient merely can see is the depth of communication and the communication itself which is the basic essence of writing the letter in the first place. From the preceding I see that even a confident person can also follow the tips suggested by the author. To the confident person, there is no difference in the level of confidence based on the guidelines, but it is merely a better way to introduce themselves and be more organized and expressive in their communication. I, therefore, see no reason why these guidelines do not apply to and should not apply to confident people when drafting their own letters; it would be a matter of choice for them.
4. It is true that some of the suggestions regarding letter writing as suggested by Keillor can be used in drafting and sending of electronic mail.
How to Write an Email
The process of writing, drafting and composing an email is rather straightforward. It is supposed to be and exercise that exercises brevity and clarity as much as possible. Due to the inexpensive and dynamic method of communicating over email people may also prefer to attach extra file types apart from a plain text when communicating over email. This may include images, digital motion graphics and sound files. This makes sending of email very versatile and attractive to many people.
The process is quite simple. Many, email providers have three entries on any blank email page. This is the addresses part, the subject header, and the message part. The instructions are fairly simple and from the arrangement, it is an intuitive process. At the address part, you type in the recipient’s address. You have the option of including the CC and BCC options. These are just multiple sending options available on many email providers like Gmail and Yahoo.
Then finally comes the message part where you type in your message. Depending on the recipient address you know what kind of language and tone to adopt in your writing. Some emails may include digital signs to accompany your email when sending, but standard email pretty operates in that simple procedure. After drafting it in this manner, you just send the email, and it finds its way to the recipient. Simple and straightforward.
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