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English and its myriad of cultures

11.Apr.08

Eric addresses some of the issues raised in this month's article – The Culture of International English.

As it happens the current article on this site – Simon Sweeney's The Culture of International English – came my way just as I was finished marking a pile of assignments by students on the Exploring the English Language course on which I tutor. I was still in full red-pen mode and somehow seemed to keep right on going while reading Simon's article. (And yes, I do use a red pen, if virtually – the assignments come my way electronically so I do all my marking that way as well, but somehow red still gets used). I soon put it away, though, since the article is extremely well-informed and well-argued.

However, he did make a number of points I would take issue with. Firstly I must say that I applauded Simon's point that perhaps the baby has been thrown out with the bath water with regards to the deculturalisation of the English language. As with most trends, the overwhelming sentiments expressed nowadays seem to be swinging in one direction – in this case the notion that there is no longer a culture attached to English. Simon argues against this, and I agree; English, in my opinion, is still attached to culture. Here is where our paths divide though, at least partly. Simon goes on to argue that the new 'culture' to which English is now attached is that of globalisation. I don't agree; this is too simple. Instead, I put forth that English is attached to a myriad of cultures. Yes, globalisation is one of them, in particular in the minds of those people who resent having to learn English, don't like it, and feel under pressure to do so. To others, however, English is associated with a culture of liberation or egality: when living in a country in which there are a dozen or more local languages and English is used as the national one in order to avoid one of the minority languages becoming the majority one, it becomes a symbol of equality. And yes, 'liberation', 'egality' and 'equality' are concepts rather than cultures, but the same goes for 'globalisation'.

Simon points out that in a large number of countries English has been rejected as it has in the past represented a colonising or oppressive force. This is true: even then, though, the rejection of it is firmly attached to culture. Yet another culture though, namely that of a past one, viewed from a particular, local point of view. Not globalisation. And stating that "Our students and their sponsors want English, and as already stated above, they want globalisation…" is an over-generalisation. Yes, some English learners (or their parents) want to play a part in global economics, but not all. Others are merely using it in order to function more fully on a local level.

Another point that needs raising is that there is no such thing any longer as "English". As is frequently pointed out nowadays there are many forms of English – Singaporean English, Indian English, Malay English and so on. Each one has a distinct set of idiosyncrasies and, along with them, cultural values. Not a British culture, but not a global culture either.

Oh, and another thing: English is unlikely to stay the "dominant language of the web" much longer. As the Chinese population increasingly gains Internet access the number of webpages in Chinese will grow and supersede the number of those in English. Once this takes place will this measure of 'linguistic dominance' quietly be forgotten about, or will it herald the proclamation of Chinese as the new global language? Answers on a postcard, please – or better yet, below.

All the best

Eric