The International Language

2021 ◽  
pp. 130-138
Author(s):  
Mario Pei
Author(s):  
James McElvenny

This chapter explores C. K. Ogden’s project Basic English against the background of the contemporary international language movement. An exposition of the international language movement, its political and philosophical commitments, is followed by an examination of the features of Ogden’s Basic and the rhetoric surrounding it. The connections between the theories developed in The Meaning of Meaning and Basic English are looked at in detail. The chapter closes with a discussion of the influence of Jeremy Bentham and his Panopticon on Basic, and of the reaction of George Orwell to the project, as revealed in his published writings and correspondence with Ogden, and in Newspeak, his parody of constructed languages.


Author(s):  
James McElvenny

This book is a historical study of influential currents in the philosophy of language and linguistics of the first half of the twentieth century, explored from the perspective of the English scholar C. K. Ogden (1889–1957). Although no ‘Great Man’ in his own right, Ogden had a personal connection, reflected in his work, to several of the most significant figures of the age. The background to the ideas espoused in Ogden’s book The Meaning of Meaning, co-authored with I.A. Richards (1893–1979), is examined in detail, along with the application of these ideas in his international language project Basic English. A richly interlaced network of connections is revealed between early analytic philosophy, semiotics and linguistics, all inevitably shaped by the contemporary cultural and political environment. In particular, significant interaction is shown between Ogden’s ideas, the varying versions of ‘logical atomism’ of Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) and Ludwig Wittgensten (1889–1951), Victoria Lady Welby’s (1837–1912) ‘significs’, and the philosophy and political activism of Otto Neurath (1882–1945) and Rudolf Carnap (1891–1970) of the Vienna Circle. Amid these interactions emerges a previously little known mutual exchange between the academic philosophy and linguistics of the period and the practically oriented efforts of the international language movement.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Andi Samsu Rijal ◽  
Andi Mega Januarti Putri

The essence of language is human activity. Communication with language is carried out through two basic human activities; speaking and listening during the interaction in a group of people. Immigrants in Makassar city communicate with immigrant communities and Makassar people. They used English and Indonesia to communicate with others. The aims of this article were to find out determinant factors of English as language choice among Unaccompanied Migrant Children (UMC) in Makassar and why they used English as their language choice to communicate with other people out of them. The data were taken from UMC in the shelter under the auspices of Makassar’s Social Office and in the public area of Makassar. This research was a qualitative approach; it was from a sociolinguistic perspective and focuses its analysis with the language choice among UMC. This research showed that most immigrants chose English as their language choice since they were in Makassar because they have acquired better than other international language and it has been mastered naturally by doing social interaction among themselves and people outside their community. UMC had more difficulties to socialize with Indonesian than the adult of Immigrants. Other than their lack of language mastery, they also have the anxiety to adapt to other immigrants and Makassar people. English was used by UMC to show their status as a foreigner who lived in a multicultural situation. Language becomes a power for a human being and it becomes a social identity for language user in one community. During the interaction of UMC in Makassar city, the role of English as an International language is shown.


Metahumaniora ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 281
Author(s):  
Muhamad Adji

AbstrakProgram BIPA (Bahasa Indonesia bagi Penutur Asing) memberikan kesempatanpada orang asing untuk mempelajari bahasa Indonesia sebagai pintu gerbang untukmengenal Indonesia lebih dalam lagi. Dengan semakin banyaknya orang asingmengunakan bahasa Indonesia, semakin terbuka kesempatan bagi bahasa Indonesiauntuk menjadi bahasa internasional. Hal itu dapat dilakukan melalui strategi kebudayaan.Strategi kebudayaan yang dapat dilakukan dalam mengenalkan Indonesia dalampembelajaran BIPA adalah melalui pengenalan budaya lokal yang menjadi ujung tombakdari kebudayaan Indonesia. Kebudayaan lokal yang hidup dalam masyarakat setempatmemberi kesempatan bagi orang asing untuk melihat dan memahami kekayaan budayaIndonesia yang beragam. Tulisan ini bertujuan mengetahui pengetahuan dasar mahasiswaasing terhadap budaya Sunda dan bagaimana respon mereka dengan dijadikannya budayaSunda sebagai bagian dari pembelajaran BIPA. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitiandeskriptif dengan pemerolehan data melalui kuesioner dan referensi kepustakaan. Hasilpenelitian menunjukkan bahwa pengenalan aspak-aspek budaya lokal, dalam hal inibudaya Sunda, dalam pengajaran BIPA merupakan kebutuhan utama bagi orang asingagar dapat bertahan hidup dan beradaptasi dalam lingkungan sosial budaya tempatmereka hidup serta membangun kesalingpengertian dalam hubungan lintas budaya. Olehkarena itu, hal-hal yang penting bagi orang asing adalah budaya lokal yang dirasakanlangsung dalam kehidupan keseharian mereka di Indonesia.Kata kunci: budaya Sunda, pengajaran BIPA, respon, orang asing, lintas budayaAbstractThe BIPA program (Indonesian for Foreign Speakers) provides an opportunity forforeigners to learn Indonesian as a gateway to know Indonesia more comprehensively. With theincreasing number of foreigners using Indonesian language, the more open the opportunity forIndonesian language to become an international language. This can be done through a culturalstrategy. The cultural strategy that can be done in introducing Indonesia in BIPA learning isthrough the introduction of local culture that is the spearhead of Indonesian culture. Local culture hat lives in local communities provides opportunities for foreigners to see and understand Indonesia’s diverse cultural richness. This paper aims to find out the basic knowledge of foreign students towards Sundanese culture and how they respond to the use of Sundanese culture as part of BIPA learning. This research is a descriptive study by obtaining data through questionnaires and literature references. The results show that the introduction of aspects of local culture, in this case Sundanese culture, in the teaching of BIPA is a major need for foreigners to survive and adapt in the socio-cultural environment in which they live and build understanding in cross-cultural relations. Therefore, the things that are important for foreigners are the local culture that is directly affected in their daily lives in Indonesia.Keywords: Sundanese culture, BIPA teaching, response, foreigners, cross-cultural


2014 ◽  
Vol 644-650 ◽  
pp. 6079-6082
Author(s):  
Xiao Hua Chen

Starting from the late 20th century, with the development of computer technology and the widespread application of the Internet, human has stepped into the age marked by digital and global network of the information. Network has been used widely, becoming increasingly prevalent in network communication, network language and network culture emerged, while the network English learning arises at the historic moment.The use of English as an international language, it has become an unprecedented prosperity. However, restricted to school classroom English learning or training institutions has been unable to meet people's needs, English autonomous learning outside the classroom eagerly on the agenda. Network creates the English autonomous learning is the most important virtual places, it focus on a large number of rich resources, which can stimulate the learning interest, and suitable for collaborative learning, and to larger extent realize the personalized learning, effectively promote English autonomous learning.


RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822199807
Author(s):  
Joseph Foley

This article discusses language teaching and the move from a predominantly psycholinguistic to a more sociolinguistic approach through Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), the Common European Framework of Reference Languages (CEFR) and English as an International Language (EIL). The context is four plurilingual and pluricultural societies in Southeast Asia and East Asia, (Thailand, Japan, Vietnam and China). These countries were chosen as they had similarities in the development of CEFR and consequently there were common factors that needed to be addressed in implementing CEFR. According to the English Proficiency Index (2020) a number of countries in the region have been described as being in the category of low or very low with regard to proficiency. To help improve such a situation, given the need for economic development, CEFR was introduced by various Ministries of Education in addition to the already existing official CLT syllabuses. English as an international language has also been widely proposed by a number of researchers, in terms of making teachers, students and educators aware of English as a world language as well as developing an attitudinal change with regard to ‘standard’ English. This article suggests that the basic principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) can be best applied through scaffolding using CEFR and EIL given the reality of teaching in relatively low English language proficiency contexts.


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