The Rise of English

One of the prominent effects of globalization (and colonialism before it) has been the spreading and subsequent rise of English as the world’s most spoken language.  English’s adaptability has also been a great credit to this rise in use; it has the convenient (though not necessarily unique) ability to import words, phrases and concepts from other languages and make them its own.  International business and relations have most definitely benefited from the increasingly standard use of English.  Provided it is used correctly, a common language gives people an opportunity to communicate more precisely without having to translate back and forth between languages with the risk of losing meaning and stumbling over concepts not able to be expressed in certain languages.  Despite these wonderful benefits, the rise of English has also quite negatively affected the diversity of other global languages.

Please consider these alarming statistics: “One world language is lost every two weeks when the last speaking member of that particular linguistic group dies.  At this rate, 2500 native tongues will disappear in the next 100 years (more than one quarter of currently existing languages)” (Burton, 127).  Some may argue that this is a form of natural selection—survival of the fittest.  Those who believe this may also subscribe to the narrative of the current model of “globalization” as the one, true and fair way to move forward into becoming a global community.  I disagree.  While I won’t go as far as to say that English is single-handedly destroying other languages (nor that “globalization” is all bad), I do believe that it has effectively threatened to monopolize and limit the way that we, as world citizens, verbally express ourselves. 

For example, a word or phrase from one language may be added to the English language as the result of it being important and unique enough to merit such, but that same word or phrase now being expressed in “English” may not necessarily carry with it all of the connotations and feeling associated with it in its mother language.  There are entire cultures still existing in this world whose languages, and effectively cultures, may not be considered “relevant” enough to have English borrow their words.  English isn’t around to accommodate everyone, after all (that’s why it’s called “English”, not “Earthish” or something to that extent).  It adapts accordingly to what is necessary, and no more because that would make things too complicated (exactly the reason why we actually have different languages). 

Now, back to the “irrelevant” languages.  English becoming the world standard in the current model of globalization inevitably forces the rest of the non-English speaking world to speak it, or face the consequences of being unable to effectively compete in the global market or even for some cultures and nations, to put it bluntly, unable to survive.  I know this sounds a little bit extreme and I’m not saying this fits in all cases, but it is a scary possibility that must be considered.  For the sake of coinciding unity and competition, there is a high risk (check out the above statistics again if you’re not sure what I mean) of the loss of language(s) and the resulting loss in the diversity of cultural expression. 

From a more aesthetic point of view, this means we could risk losing the beautiful or harsh-sounding, melodious or awkward, different SOUNDS of language that we have grown to know and appreciate!  Wouldn’t life be dull if there were no languages to identify with a particular region or culture?  No more language of love (French can be so beautiful, can’t it?)?  No more words filled predominantly with consonants that are nearly impossible for English-only speakers to even sound out?  Where is the fun in that?!  As a lover and learner of languages, I think that would be just appalling.  While I believe the rise of English as a major world language is beneficial to many, we as responsible citizens must also do our best to still protect language diversity.  It is part of what makes our wonderful world so engaging and desirable to explore.