It is well known that English is a language with a global identity and is often used across the world to communicate under a variety of pretexts, whether that be education, politics or media. The use of English on a global scale however, has led to many indigenous languages disappearing; in fact, ‘an indigenous language currently disappears every two weeks’ (Crystal, cited in Seargeant, 2012, p. 10), and linguists have estimated that by the end of the century, only a few hundred languages from 6000 will remain, with most becoming ‘dead languages’. Many reports have been written by UNESCO, who claim that ‘language diversity is essential to human heritage’ (Brenzinger et al, 2003, p. 1) and that as a society we need to ensure that we do not lose the use of indigenous languages, because once a language that we have little documentation about is lost, it can never be recovered. That being said, it could also be argued that some languages do not die, they evolve and change due to social and cultural constructs and over a period of time become the languages that we use today. Latin for example, has been adapted into a wide range of modern Roman languages including French, Spanish, and Italian (Suzdaltsev, 2016). In terms of Latin ‘dying out’, although not widely spoken and regarded as its own language anymore, we often still use Latin terms in many technical fields today, including medicine.
Across the world today, 97% of people speak 4% of the world’s languages, with English at the forefront of this mass movement, towards a more unified dialect. It can be argued that this increasing dominance of the English language, contributes to neocolonialism and is giving more power to an already overbearing body, and furthering the more disadvantaged into social and economic exclusion. It can also be argued that due to the lack of linguistic diversity, many minority languages that are spoken by immigrant communities, are seen to be discriminated against (Siiner, cited in Hewings, 2012, p. 105), thus leading to English dominating many countries as a world language.
The term ‘Hegemony of English’ refers to the way that the English language has achieved dominance in relation to languages in other societies (Seargeant, 2012, p. 25). The way English language is used today, can be seen as bringing communities from different social and cultural backgrounds together, through the use of one common language, allowing individuals to communicate in ways that did not previously exist. However, it can also be seen as a concern to the loss of cultural diversity, and the consequent homogenisation of human cultures (Ferguson, cited in Seargeant, 2012, p. 25).
The death of a language can largely be contributed to by the absorption of more dominant cultures. For example, the rise of the Irish National Schools in 1831 included the teaching of English, which at the time was thought the be the ‘language of civilisation and progress’ (O’Kelly, 2017). It was further inaugurated during the Great Famine, which resulted in the death of 1 million people and led to the emigration of a further million and hit the Irish-speaking West the most. The notion that in order to succeed and escape from the famine, and the idea that English had to be learnt in order to do so, played a huge part in the decline of the Irish language. By the late 1890’s the Irish language had almost become extinct, and the movement known as the ‘Gaelic Revival’ was instilled, with the tagline ‘tír gan teanga, tír gan anam’ (a country without a language is a country without a soul) in the hopes of reintroducing the Irish language (Moriarty, 2015, heading 3.2, para, 3). This movement set out to preserve the Irish language, which in turn paved the way for other movements to form and eventually allowed for Irish to be taught in schools.
The English language can be seen to improve or enhance an individual’s ability to succeed in life, but at the same time can be detrimental to the preservation of people and cultures. In Malaysia for example, during the colonisation by the British in the late eighteenth century, the use of English was conserved for the elite communities, with the rest of the population being taught in the local language (Hewings, 2012, p. 97). Whilst some saw educating via the English language as a way to allow access to literature and culture, others deemed it disadvantageous to indigenous cultures, and a huge threat to the local farmers and fisherman. As English took precedence over the local Malay languages, riots took place between ethnic Chinese and Malays, resulting in a governmental change in attitudes towards the use of English and a reversion to the use of English as a second language. However, in 2002 then prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, was responsible for the reversal of this initiative and instructed that English was to be used as the ‘medium instruction for maths and science’ (Hewings, 2012, p. 99), to ensure that the children of Malaysia were able to succeed in further education and career opportunities. To some extent, this is seen to be subtractive bilingualism, where a child’s first language is replaced with the second. The scholars are in effect banning their native language in the classroom, so that children are only exposed to English.
In contrast to subtractive bilingualism there is additive bilingualism, which aims to portray a positive attitude towards bilingualism (Monaghan, 2012, p. 130). Many linguists argue that society should be promoting bilingualism and encouraging people to speak more than one language. A leading researcher in the field of linguistics, Jim Cummins, has argued that there are no known side-effects to having a child learn two languages, in fact in some circumstances it might aid the child in development (Monaghan, 2012, p. 135). In many African countries English is taught as a first language, as it is believed to be an entry point into better trade and commerce (Williams, 2012, p. 167). That being said, the Vice president of Zambia stated that learning English at an early age imparts an ‘inferiority complex’ and is the ‘surest way of killing African personality and culture’ (Kapapwe, cited in Williams, 2012, p. 168).
Mass media can also be looked at in relation to its linguistic preferences. Much of what is produced is done so in relation to the language of the largest international markets (Allington, 2012, p. 220), which in turn is the world’s most powerful media. When looking at the French-language media, in particular films or TV shows, it is apparent that the lack of exposure to French culture is restricting the market for French actors or singers. Many English-speaking celebrities, from the likes of the USA and UK are known across the globe, whereas with the exception of a handful of people, the mainstream French celebrities are lesser known. The fact that non-English speaking countries are struggling to become known on the global stage, is one of the major enablers of English being a killer language. It must be noted however, that this is not apparent in every country across the globe. It has been known that many US broadcasters have struggled to achieve dominance in many South American markets. This is largely due to the fact that Spanish and Portuguese are well established in the media production industries (Allington, 2012, p. 223).
When looking at the English language in the international book trade, it can be seen that approximately 50% of all book translation are from English to another language, with only 6% being made into English (Allington, 2012, p. 225). This of course, has been a great benefit to promoting the English language as a world language, however has left smaller countries in a relatively marginal position. The use of English language across television and radio news, in particular the establishment of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), was used to promote the national culture, in particular the upper-middle class by way of RP (received pronunciation) and was broadcast to the British Empire in the same form of English (Allington, 2012, p. 229). After the Second World War, world news was reported in English with RP accents, often with content being translated to other languages. In many non-English speaking countries, like France for example, the English-speaking news broadcasts are often funded by the government as they believe it will afford them more influence in the world.
In contrast, when looking at film media, it is apparent that it is heavily dominated by American English. Hollywood has a major influence on the success of a motion picture, and unlike the popular use of English in the book trade, English made films are generally not seen to be ‘huge hits’. Hollywood has the ability to make large scale blockbusters, that have backing from multiple advertising campaigns (Allington, 2012, p. 236). When comparing Hollywood, to the movies made in India, stark contrasts can be seen in terms of global recognition. For example, a comparison made by Businessweek in 2002 found that in 2001, although India produced 1013 films, and the US produced just 739, global revenues for each were drastically different; India generated $1.3 billion, whilst the US generated $51 billion.
In terms of English as a killer language, in relation to films and TV shows, the line is not as clean cut as other examples I have previously mentioned. Although the use of English language is commonly used, there are also many countries that are adopting to make films and TV shows in their own native language. Take Nigeria as an example, and the introduction of ‘Nollywood’, whereby films are produced with low budgets in a number of languages and are enjoyed across Africa. The Nollywood film industry can be seen to challenge the notion of an idealistic English-speaking film industry. This may be due to the fact that for some time, Nigeria did not adhere to social normalities of the global media economy (Allington, 2012, p. 239).
If you look at the Oxford English Dictionary, you will see that a large proportion of the words we use today are borrowed from other languages; mainly French, German, Latin and Danish, to name a few. It is hard to fully constitute whether English is a killer language, due to the fact that the English language itself changes and adapts depending on certain social and cultural influences. For example, The Oxford English Dictionaries’ word of the year in 2017 was ‘Youthquake’; a word that was first coined by the editor-in-chief of Vogue, Diana Vreeland (Quackenbush, 2017). This in effect, shows that the English language is just as vulnerable to extinction as any other; although admittedly, it may take many years before the changes to the English language is notable. Just like Latin and Greek, which were used as forms of a globalising communication became extinct, the same could be said for the English language as the world continues to adapt to the ever change cultural and societal changes. That being said, would English then become extinct, or would like many other languages, it simply become a newer form of its older self.