Linguistic Imperialism, Global English and Modernity

2014 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Global English ◽  
Linguistic Imperialism

Chinese Netizens’ reactions to the use of English as a lingua franca

English Today ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Weihong Wang ◽  
Fan (Gabriel) Fang
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Linguistic Capital ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Global English ◽  
Local Varieties ◽  
British English ◽  
Linguistic Imperialism ◽  
The World

With the spread of English around the globe, academics increasingly seek to figure out what global English means to the world. Some accept English globalisation as a reality and take it as natural, neutral and beneficial for international and intercultural communication (Crystal, 2003). Some recognise English skills as important linguistic capital and must-have global literacy (Park & Wee, 2012; Tsui & Tollefson, 2007). However, others associate the global expansion of English with linguistic imperialism and the death of indigenous languages (Phillipson, 2009). Some regard globally spread English as native English varieties, particularly American and British English (Modiano, 2001; Trudgill, 1999), others argue for the rise of local varieties of World Englishes (WE) (Bolton, 2005; Kachru, 1986) and the international use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) (Jenkins, 2007; Seidlhofer, 2011). Although these generic interpretations of English have solid arguments from their own perspectives, none is sufficient to elucidate all the ‘complexity of ideological ramifications of the spread of English in [any] particular locality’ (Pan, 2011: 79).

Global English and local language policies

2001 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Phillipson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Research Evidence ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Transnational Corporations ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Global English ◽  
Linguistic Imperialism ◽  
Linguistic Human Rights ◽  
The Many

The paper analyses the mythology and imagery underpinning global English, the many labels used to describe English, and the transition from an imperialist language into one that meshes with ongoing processes of Europeanisation and Americanisation, largely through the influence of transnational corporations. EU language policy does not represent a counterweight to an expansion of English, which constitutes a threat to other languages. Implications are drawn for Danish, the dominant language hitherto, and for foreign and immigrant languages, in Denmark, a country that traditionally has a laissez-faire attitude to language policy. Building on a wealth of research evidence and experience in other countries, an ABC of language policy for Denmark is articulated. It covers an Action plan, links with Business, Consultation, Diversification of languages and ways of learning them, Europeanisation, proper Funding through co-ordination between relevant government departments, Goals that reflect local and global needs, policies that respect the linguistic Human rights of speakers of all languages in Denmark, and resistance to linguistic Imperialism.

Exit English? Reflections on Linguistic Imperialism in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-547
Keyword(s):  
World Literature ◽  
English Language ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Global English ◽  
Territorial Expansion ◽  
Linguistic Imperialism ◽  
Universal Language ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Language

This paper considers the questions of universalism and the use of English as a global language in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West in two parts: The first part examines the role of language in creating the world of the novel, and the second takes into account the function of naming/un-naming in mapping this world. In so doing, we attempt to reflect upon the linguistic vision that is presented in Exit West and how that vision informs the cartography of its world. We thus explore the distribution and valuation of English as a universal language and Englishes as varieties of it in the narrative and their intersection with nationalism, Hamid’s alternatives to such distribution and valuation, and the overlap between his linguistic alternatives and territorial expansion and sanction are investigated. While Hamid’s linguistic vision in the novel, we argue, proffers spaces for defying and resisting linguistic imperialism, it at times remains reinscribed within the hegemony of the English language. Keywords: World Literature, Lingua Franca, Global English, Linguistic Imperialism, Mohsin Hamid, Exit West.

Awareness-Raising in the TEFL Phonology Classroom

2004 ◽  
Vol 145-146 ◽  
pp. 219-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Native Speaker ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
British English ◽  
Linguistic Imperialism ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Suprasegmental Features ◽  
Discourse Intonation ◽  
Awareness Raising ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
The Impact

This paper reports on two phases of a study of a group of advanced TEFL (teachers-of-English-as-a-foreign-language) students. To raise their awareness of the importance of discourse intonation while they were receiving teacher training, this study focuses on examining their sociocultural and psychological inclinations in the choice of phonological models. The first phase is an exploration of their attitudes toward, a native-speaker variety (British English) and a nonnative (Chinese EFL-speaker) variety of English pronunciation and intonation. The second reports on a didactic intervention study of the impact of activities that engaged the students in the awareness-raising of the importance of suprasegmental features, especially discourse intonation, on self-perceptions of their efficacy and confidence in communication. The results showed a systematic pattern of participant endorsement for a native-speaker model and a clear improvement in theIr perceptions of the importance of suprasegmental features of standard English because of teacher-student co-construction of meaning through interactive awareness-raising activities. The findings are discussed with reference to the students' sociocultural and psychological needs in TEFL training, particularly with reference to recent academic discourse on the issue of “linguistic imperialism” (Canagarajah, 1999; Phillipson, 1992, 1996) and ElL in pedagogy (Jenkins, 1998, 2002) and their wider implications in typical EFL contexts.

“Why should you be so furious?”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Bross
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
New England ◽  
Visual Representation ◽  
First Aid ◽  
Global English ◽  
East Indies ◽  
English Identity

Chapter 4 focuses on the representation of Anglo-Dutch relations from Asia to America in the seventeenth century. The chapter analyzes the representation of an incident in 1623 on the spice island Amboyna when Dutch traders tortured (with waterboarding) and killed their English rivals in the East Indies. Decades later, New England writers returning to this incident, treating it as news, invoked anti-English violence half a world away to lay claim to a global English identity. The chapter compares visual representation of the Amboyna incident with John Underhill’s “figure” of the Mystic Fort massacre in New England, arguing that these representations of violence are key elements of colonial fantasies that made (and make) real atrocities possible. The coda discusses Stephen Bradwell’s 1633 first-aid manual, partly inspired by the Amboyna incident, which maintains that properly trained, authorized metropolitan authorities can control the potential dangers of the remedies torture and tobacco.

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