English as a Global Language | مركز سمت للدراسات

English as a Global Language

Date & time : Wednesday, 15 June 2022

Alaa Alghamdi

 

The spread of English is often attributed to colonial heritage and history. The British Empire emerged in the 17th century and it spread rapidly across the globe in the 19th century during the Victorian era. The glory of empire is often recalled in the phrase “An empire, on which sun never sets.”

And, such were the stretches of the spread indeed. From mysterious lands of sub-continent to South-east Asia and from the African continent to the isles in the pacific. These stretched lands had provided a great opportunity for English to be a language that would become a symbol of pride and power in British Colonies. McCauley’s educational reforms in India disregarded native Indian languages and instituted the English language as an inalienable part of the British Raj’s educational policies. Through these policies, English has penetrated through the nationalistic cultures and language barriers as an elitist proprietary has developed around the English language.

Although British Empire disintegrated after World War (II), as it could not sustain post-war trauma, it could have been assumed that the emergence of nationalistic waves within the British colonies would dent the popularity of the English language at the cost of local languages. On contrary, what rather happened was a new superpower emerged in the form of the USA. The soft power which it has yielded through technological supremacy and promotion of popular culture via the use of Hollywood, and popular music has only contributed to more convergence towards English culture and Language. And, since the fall of the Soviet Union, the USA had a chance to have an unchallenged hegemony over cultural and linguistic discourse across the world.

So, once a colonial language had become a symbol of pride and prestige across the world partly as the result of the elite which was the residue of British imperialism and cultural hegemony which was dispensed through the monopolar order centralized in the “USA” has contributed to the spreading of the English language across the world. Whether it would be in the form of soft power. i.e. cultural discourse which starts from USA (spread via media as a tool), or it is unchallengeable military, economic and political might of USA has made English a language which is Global in character.

Even the rivals of the USA, like: China and Russia could not alleviate themselves from learning English in different capacities like learning English as Lingua Franca. Since, the globalization of economy, polity, and society, the need to have a common language has also grown immensely. As global community needs some language that could be used as lingua franca. So, English, being a language of hegemonic culture and a powerful nation provides fair ground for being a global language.

This globalization of the English language has helped the global community a great deal to conduct bureaucratic, educational, and foreign affairs around with ease. Moreover, English has lost its cultural monopoly which could only be rooted only within native English-speaking national states. Rather, it has imbued itself with a culturally diverse ambiance. That is why, it is no more a language of one nation, two nations, or a few nations. Rather, it has now become a rightful assumption that: “English is a global language”. A language that belongs to all nations, all countries, and all cultures. As Derek Walcott once said: “The English language is nobody’s special property. It is the property of the imagination: it is the property of the language itself.”

 

Professor of English Literature – Taibah University*

@ayghamd

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