scholarly journals Developing a Social Critique of Hegemony of English

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 732-751
Author(s):  
Yusara Anwar ◽  
Nor Liza Ali
Keyword(s):  
Video Clip ◽  
Relational Theory ◽  
National Language ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
The Status ◽  
Social Media Text ◽  
Policy And Planning ◽  
Regional Languages

The language pyramid in the post-colonial territories as propounded by Melchers and Shaw in 2003 aptly reflects on the status of different languages in Pakistan. At the top is English, with its heritage as a colonial language. Then is the ‘national’ language Urdu which has nationalist value and is spoken by the majority as a lingua franca; while at the bottom of this hierarchy are the regional languages and their dialects. This hierarchy of languages has deeper repercussions enrooting stratification based on social class and commodification of languages. In this paper, this claim is substantiated by semiotic analysis of a social media text− an amateur video clip that went viral on Facebook in January 2021− in which owners of a high-end cafe in Islamabad mock their manager’s English. The video is only the tip of the iceberg of the symbolic and linguistic capitals of English in Pakistan. This analysis is further pleaded by the literature on the critical approach to language policy and planning (LPP). This critical approach can be traced back to the 1980s and Tollefson’s oft-cited book in 1991 that endeavors to situate LPP as a part of ongoing conflicts between the elites and the common masses. He regards that the evolution of the critical approach has widened its scope rendering it primarily sociocultural, dealing with the dynamics of status and prestige. Thus stated, this research attempts to converge the critical relational theory of Bourdieu with semiotics to address this issue of class discrimination based on the hegemony of English in Pakistan through a multimethodological approach.

Language Policy in South Asia

1981 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 60-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Braj B. Kachru
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
National Language ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
The Political ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
The Status ◽  
Regional Languages

In the political divisions within South Asia there has traditionally been no organized effort for language policies.1 Language was essentially related to one's caste, village, district, and state. Beyond this, one identified with languages associated with religion (Sanskrit or Arabic), or learned and literary texts (mainly Sanskrit and Persian). At the time of Indian independence (1947), one task of the new government was to unravel the status and position of almost 560 sovereign states which were ruled by an array of mahārājās, nawābs, and lesser luminaries, depending on the size and the revenue of each state and subdivision. Each state state was a kindgom unto itself, and such political divisions did not foster a national language policy. In India, the largest country in South Asia, four languages were used for wider communication as bazār languages or languages of literature and intranational communication: Hindi (and its varieties, Hindustani and Urdu), Sanskrit, Persian, and later, English (cf., for Sanskrit, Kachru and Sridhar 1978; Sharma 1976; for English, Kachru 1969; 1982a). The Hindus tended to send their children to a pāṭhśālā (traditional Hindu school mainly for scriptural education) for the study of the scriptures and some basic knowledge of the śāastras (Sanskrit instructional texts, treatise), and the Muslims tended to send their children to a maktab (traditional school for Koranic instruction). The denominational schools (vidyāZaya) provided liberal arts instruction in Sanskrit, Persian, Hindi, Arabic, or in the regional languages.

scholarly journals The Relevance of EFL', 'ESL' and Other Such Terms in Contemporary Contexts: The Case of Malaysian English

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Colonial Period ◽  
National Language ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Dynamic Changes ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Single Term ◽  
The Status

English in Malaysia has undergone several phases since it entered the country during the colonial period in the early nineteenth century. During the colonial period, English was used mainly for communicating between the colonialists and traders. English was the official language together with Malay when the country attained independence in 1957. However, it lost its status as an official language after ten years, in 1967, when Malay was made the sole official language. The medium of instruction which had been English gradually changed to Malay during the 1970s and 1980s with a deliberate reduction of the role of English in schools. In later years, nevertheless, there was official promotion of English arising from Malay being already firmly established as the national language and the need to keep abreast with global and regional changes. The status of English has, thus, shifted several times throughout the country’s post-colonial period. While it became the “second most important language” nationally and politically, there emerged some variation in its status in some domains, in speech vs writing and, of course, among individuals. Dynamic changes in Malaysian English have also taken place. This paper examines the developments in terms of the status of English in Malaysia, including terms like ‘EFL’ and ‘ESL’ which have been used, and discusses if they are still adequate. We will show how the status of English and the contexts of its uses have changed and why a single term, say ‘second language’, is of little use and has been throughout its history. We will conclude with tentative propositions of what might happen in the future.

Collective Military Resistance and Popular Power: Views from the Late Republic (90–31 BC)

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-255
Author(s):  
Dominic Machado
Keyword(s):  
Military Service ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Roman Army ◽  
Military Recruitment ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Collective Resistance ◽  
The Status ◽  
Action Taking ◽  
Popular Power

AbstractThis article attempts to read the phenomenon of collective resistance in the Roman army of the Late Republic as political action. Taking my inspiration from post-colonial theories of popular power, I contend that we should not understand acts of collective resistance in military settings as simple events activated by a singular cause, but rather as expressions of individual and collective grievances with the status quo. Indeed, the variant practices of military recruitment in the Late Republic, and the exploitative nature of Rome’s imperial rule put oppressed groups – Italians, provincials, and former slaves – in constant contact with the state apparatus. Thus, military service offered an essential space for political action in the first century BC. These findings help us to better understand how popular power could be realized beyond traditional institutional settings in this period.

Language policy and language planning in mainland Southeast Asia: Myanmar and Lisu

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
National Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Policy And Planning ◽  
Educational Strategies ◽  
Policy And Planning ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

AbstractMost nations in mainland Southeast Asia and elsewhere have one national language as a focus of national identity and unity, supported by a language policy which promotes and develops this language. Indigenous and immigrant minority groups within each nation may be marginalized; their languages may become endangered. Some of the official national language policies and ethnic policies of mainland Southeast Asian nations aim to support both a national language and indigenous minority languages, but usually the real policy is less positive. It is possible to use sociolinguistic and educational strategies to maintain the linguistic heritage and diversity of a nation, develop bilingual skills among minority groups, and integrate minorities successfully into the nations where they live, but this requires commitment and effort from the minorities themselves and from government and other authorities. The main focus of this paper is two case studies: one of language policy and planning in Myanmar, whose language policy and planning has rarely been discussed before. The other is on the Lisu, a minority group in Myanmar and surrounding countries, who have been relatively successful in maintaining their language.

scholarly journals BHAKTI MOVEMENT IN INDIA AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO GUJARATI BHAKTI POETRY BY NARSINH MEHTA AND GANGASATI

2020 ◽  
pp. 105-113
Author(s):  
Ami Upadhyay ◽  
Dushyant Nimavat
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Devotional Literature ◽  
Colonial Literature ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
The World ◽  
Regional Languages

The devotional literature we find in India's regional languages is sometimes referred to as Bhakti's literature. Since the poets from Bhakti Panth are more social and cultural, they are more thinkers and more social than literary figures. The translation of classics is particularly meaningful when a native language is translated into English. The classics are introduced to the world. In contemporary Shri Aurobindo and Dilp Chitre did, what Hsuan-tsang did for Sanskrit scripts. A. K. Ramanujan has also made a strong flow of translation in the post-colonial literature and Bhakti has been one of these literatures. This article explores the devotional poems of Narsinh Mehta that are important even in the 21st century.

scholarly journals National language and post-colonial literature in Brazil

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (20) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethania Mariani ◽  
José Luís Jobim
Keyword(s):  
National Language ◽  
Colonial Literature ◽  
Post Colonial

scholarly journals Legislative regulation of linguistic relationships in Ukraine

2019 ◽  
pp. 127-144
Author(s):  
Iuliya Makarets
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Support ◽  
National Language ◽  
State Legislation ◽  
World Community ◽  
Linguistic Model ◽  
Legislative Regulation ◽  
The Status ◽  
State Language

The article focuses on the issue of legislative regulation of linguistic relationships in Ukraine. The ability of a national language to function as a means of consolidation and national identification depends to a large extent on state linguistic policy, political support that the language receives. The state legislation on language is indicative in this regard while it establishes the status of languages, the linguistic model and the linguistic regime. In accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine, the Ukrainian language is a state language in Ukraine. The dynamics of the Ukrainian legislation on languages illustrates the inconsistency of the implementation of this constitutional norm. The article analyzes the milestones of its formation. The content of the basic laws in the sphere of linguistic relationships (Law of the USSR ‘On Languages in the Ukrainian SSR’ (1989), the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Principles of the State Language Policy’ (2012), which is invalid now, and the new Law of Ukraine ‘On the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as a State Language’ (2019)), the socio-political tendencies, that preceded their adoption, their evaluation by tpublic and world community as well as their consequences for linguistic situation in Ukraine are described. The possibility of official bilingualism approving is studied. The article analyzes historical, cultural and political preconditions for the adoption of official bi- or multilingualism by other states, acceptability of this linguistic model for Ukraine and possibility to overcome existing linguistic contradictions.

scholarly journals Variation in the official female onomasticon of Ukraine: between norm and abnormality

2020 ◽  
pp. 183-195
Author(s):  
Iuliia Makarets
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
National Language ◽  
Language System ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
First Case ◽  
The Status ◽  
Morphological Variants

The article deals with sociolinguistic analysis of modern official female onomasticon of Ukraine. Its dynamics reflects processes, which are taking place in language system, and changes in society, social demographic and ethnic pattern, cultural markers and values, even the extent of legal regulation of social relations. Sociologists are interested in personal names as a means of social categorization and differentiation of individuals. Legists see them as a tool for one’s legalization and as an object of legal protection. Anthropologists study them as special units of communication and interaction between generations. For linguists they are a specific typexplore them linguists – ists of means of lexical nomination. Linguistically onomasticon is a valuable source of information on the current state of language norms, level of linguistic culture of the population, and the status correlation between languages in society. According to the date of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the repertoire of newborn girls’ names in 2015–2019 exceeded half a thousand units. It’s due to the magnitude of globalization processes in naming, restoration of national naming traditions, rising social freedom in choosing names, and, sometimes, the decay of sense of responsibility in naming and insufficient language culture. About third part of female names appears as phonetic, orthographic and morphological variants. Ukraine is a multinational state and representatives of other nationalities and national minorities maintain their own naming traditions. Ukrainian spelling of these names in documents often is inconsequent. Often variants arise due to the ambiguity of transliteration, Ukrainian-Russian language interference and violation of Ukrainian spelling standard. Much less it is a result of alive alternation in the Ukrainian language. Rows of variants of the same official female name consist from two to five or six units. Among them there are normative and anomalous variants. In first case main and optional variants can be distinguished. Optional variants are not conventional in language practice but they do not violate the essential features of national language system (over time, some of them may become more popular than the main variant). Linguistically such variants are the same unit, the natural manifestation of potentialities of language system. But legally, person’s name can’t be spelled differently in her documents.

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