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Running head : JAPANESE LANGUAGE AND COMPUTER

Ni Kadek Sagit Ari Warsani

University of Fukui
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A. Background

The phenomenal rise in use of English has mainly taken place over the last two

decades. English has reached high status world-wide because of several factors; as the

mother tongue of millions of people all over the world, as the language that millions of

children learn at school and the language that is used in international relations, for global

communication and as the major media language. The importance of a global language

has become major, in some contexts such as communication, e.g. international web-pages

on the Internet, English is the only language used.

In addition, English is used to establish and maintain connection and relationship

between people with different backgrounds from different cultures. In this discursive

analytic paper, I will discuss the different aspects of a global language and how it will

affect cultures, minority languages and communities all over the world.

B. Disposition of body

 Do we need a global language?

 Should English be a global language? Why/Why not?

 Will native speakers take advantage?

 What will happen to minority languages and communities?

C. Method

Before I started to write the analytic paper, I read relevant literature. David

Crystal’s “English as a Global language” contains a lot of useful information, and so

does “Sociolinguistics” by Peter Trudgill. In order to retrieve I want different aspects

on the subject, I also used the Internet for research.

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D. Discussion

 Should English be the Global Language?

People in general have different opinions on English as a “global” language. There are

positive as well as negative aspects of this. Do we need a global language? Why do

we need it? Why should English be the best option?

1. Positive and Negative Aspects on English as a Global Language

1.1 Positive aspects of English as a Global Language

According to Buck (2005), English has, without doubt, reached the top position in

the language hierarchy. Almost 30 % of the population are already “reasonably

competent” in English. As the language of commerce, economy and

politics, knowledge of and fluency in that language is helpful when participating in

these fields. The economic power houses, the political bodies and commercial

organisations also use English as their language of communication. More than 85% of

the scientific, technological and academic production in the world today is performed

in English. By using English you are able to communicate with people in almost all

countries all over the world. English is the most widely spoken language with regards

to number of countries, even though Chinese, Hindi and Spanish have more native

speakers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language 2005)

1.2 Negative aspects of English as a Global Language

Even though there are many positive aspects of having a global language,

there are negative aspects as well. How would it be possible to carry through a

global language? Are there any dangers with having a global language?

A global language might cultivate an elite class with native speakers, who take

advantage of the possibility to think and work quickly in their mother-tongue. If this

was the case they might manipulate it to their advantage at the expense of those who
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has another language as their mother-tongue and in this way create a linguistic gap

between people. (Crystal 2003: 14-15)

2. Minor Languages and cultures

What will happen to minor cultures and languages if we introduce a global

language?

An introduction of a global language might lead to discrimination of other languages.

Losing a language equals losing identity. The language is much more than just a tool

for communication. According to Trudgill there is an intimate relation between

language and culture and a large homogenisation of culture might lead to a shift in

language where native people adopt another language and eventually the old language

may die out. There is a difference between “language death” and “language murder”.

Language death is when a language disappears naturally; its speakers are leaving it

voluntarily, but “language murder” means that the killer language actively

discourages use of other languages. Minority languages may be removed from the

media and educational systems.

English is referred to as a “killer language”, which means that it is a dominant

language learned subtractive, at the cost of the mother tongues, rather than

additively.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_language 2005).

The use of one single language in a community is no guarantee for social harmony or

mutual understanding. This has been proven several times during the history, e.g.

American Civil War, Spanish Civil War and former Yugoslavia. (Crystal 2003:16).
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E. Conclusion

This paper has shown that the creation of a global language has numerous advantages

and disadvantages. Mutual intelligibility, great career opportunities and reduced

administrative costs are some of the advantages a global language would give. The

disadvantages are that English is closely linked to the British and the American cultures and

history and is therefore not a “neutral” language. Perhaps a language with less historical and

cultural connections would be a better option? We are in need of an international language

for communication, politics, trade and security, but at the same time we are worried about

language death, the advantages native speakers will have and all the disadvantages non-native

speakers will face. English is growing, it is a strong language, and its future seems bright. My

opinion is that if there will ever be an international language, English is the best option. It is a

strong, well developed language with millions of speakers.

Even if a global language might be important, different languages are of importance for their

culture and for the development of their native speakers. Languages make the world more

interesting and more alive.

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Referensi

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_language 2005).

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language 2005)

Crystal, D. (2003). English as A Global Language. Cambridge University Press.