English as International Language
Analysis of the Article “How English Evolved into a Global Language”
How English Evolved into a Global Language
Past decades were outlined by a complex discussion about the role and impact of globalization on various aspects of our life. Globalization is generally defined as a process of internationalization and integration, which comes as a result of a rapid and effective exchange of views, services, ideas, products and other aspects of human culture. The reality shows that one of the major effects of globalization is the internationalization of the world community and increased the mobility of individuals, groups and companies. Just thirty years ago, academic and business literature started to talk about the phenomena called globalization, which touched upon the organizations, operating on an internaitonal market. Little people at that point in time could imagine the pace at which these phenomena will transform to change the lifestyles of not only companies and large groups but individuals. Surely, globalization is accompanied by a number of other forces, which make accelerate the international integration, such as technological advancements, knowledge innovation, and other aspects. While one can argue in favor or against the globalization, based on various positive and negative aspects of this phenomena, it is not possible to ignore it as an overall major power, which drives the development of an international community. The aim of this essay is to analyze the article by BBC (2010), "How How English Evolved into a Global Language" and focus on the discussions around the impact of globalization on the English language. The argument of this essay is that glocalization has had a negative effect on the richness and, to some extent, partial loss of cultural identity of English-speaking countries, but the benefits and positive impact, which is gained by English as the international language, outweigh the challenges associated with maintaining its cultural identity.
BBC (2010) argue that the need for a development of the international language was always present in the international community and outline two major events over the 400 years history interval that support this statement. The author mentions the Utopia by Thomas More, written not in English, but in Latin. The second event, outlined in the article is the talk by the German professor, which, in spite of the fact that all the attendants of the conference were German speakers, conducted his speech in English. The point that is made later on in the article is that the challenge for the language to become international is the pride that people have for their own cultural identity. He suggests that Bible and other important works were written in Latin, but with the spread of these pieces across international borders, standardized English writing became a powerful tool to transfer critical knowledge about religion, science and other aspects through the nations. An attempt to create an artificial international language – Esperanto - failed as the business and economic community found it being used only on the level of an interpreter to interpreter. With the spread of English language through popular culture, Esperanto was slowly forgotten as one of the projects, which can never reach truly global level. The author of the article further outlines the important role of technology in building on English as international language. He suggests that besides being easy and acceptable in its regional variations, English offered people an opportunity to understand popular culture, such as songs, artworks and movies, produced by recognized American studios. Computers, phones and other technology embedded various languages in their software, allowing people to have access to each other language with significantly less effort. The complexity of many roman and Asian languages gave another push to English as the common language for many cultures.
International use and teaching of English inevitably affect the way, the language evolves. The world recognizes technical, business and day-to-day communication in English, which makes individuals more or less aware of the richness of the language. One can argue that the fact that English is widely used by the international community, even the governmental levels and in organizations, such as United Nations and Interpol, makes this language less unique and "polluted" with foreign influence. More radical critics of English language internationalization even outline that international community has created a hybrid language, rather than simply adopted English as their common way of communication. The reality shows, indeed, that one of the effects of globalization is the globalization of values, which can be seen as a result of the financial, commercial and technological exchange. Knowledge sharing and the flow of information increases the level of awareness and human literacy in various aspects of our lives. One of the important threats of the internationalization of the values is, surely, the loss of identity and education of a personality of the cultures. It is difficult to argue that once people from different cultures start speaking one language, the exchange of information and diversity become less relevant. Teaching, service and product design, communication standards are slowly becoming more universe, defined by the needs and capabilities of the common language.
The above arguments against the internationalization of the English language are relevant. At the same time, they should be seen in the context of the impact that the common language had on solutions offered to the major international issues, such as peace, health consideration, and poverty elimination. While the article of BBC (2010), around which this discussion is centered outlines the historical and more intangible values of English as an international values, it also suggests that the future is uncertain and we cannot predict if Chinese, Mandarin or another language will not conquer the minds of younger generations and will not take place of English as main official language of the world. The importance of the official language is absolute and English language has the honor to serve the great purpose. The United Nations Organization, The World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund are some of the organizations that give the specific example of how the international community developed a collective knowledge, access to information and technology and forward innovation, by communicating through diversity and sharing the expertise, which otherwise would have stayed within isolated nations. Reduction of poverty through sustainable financial and knowledge innovation mechanisms, offered by the World Bank, international interference and peace agreements achieved throughout the century by the United Nations, financial inflows in underdeveloped and developing economies by the International Monetary funds and terrorism control mechanisms offered by Interpol and other institutions would not be possible without an international language. The fact that the English language was chosen to fulfill this function brought recognition, international mobility, economic potential for tourism as well as Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) to the English-speaking countries (Mydans, 2007). Moreover, internationalization of English resulted with easier and faster access to education, widening of the knowledge sharing options and increased potential for enriching the language with the influences from other cultures.
Works Cited
BBC. How English Evolved into a Global Language. 2010. Web 02 June 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-12017753
Mydans, S. Across Cultures. English is the world. 2007. The New York Times [Online]. Web 02 May 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/world/asia/09iht-englede.1.5198685.html?_r=0
