Emirates Evening Post - One Language

Emirates Evening Post

One Language

I happened to overhear a conversation by the Asian couple in a restaurant in the UAE.They were dining and were talking so loudly that I could not avoid hearing them. The bearer who served them spoke very little English and when he left, the person turned and lamented about those who do not understand English. I am sure that many of you may have been in a similar situation, where you cannot communicate with someone because you do not speak the same language. It is a fact that immigrants who learn English tend to do better economically than those who do not therefore, should they all learn English to get ahead in life? English may be needed for communication in multi cultural, multi-linguistic situations but to what extent it should replace the local language completely?
On the other side, we can see more & more companies, web-sites, and restaurants are posting information in a number of languages. Are they sending a message that it is okay not to learn English? The question is whether we want immigrants to assimilate into the “American way of life”, lose their language, and learn to speak only English? Dont you realize that the move has already started in UAE? English- speaking/teaching schools are sprouting all over the Emirates.
It has become a fad among young people these days that they just barely manage to speak their mother tongue. That they know little of it. Many of them speak their mother tongue with an English accent. Take the example Radio4 humfm.It is an Indian radio channel and all the jockeys speak 90% English. The reason could be perhaps they are more comfortable in English than their native language because, during their formative years they gave so much importance to English that they forgot the importance of their mother tongue. Do they think that all labour class people of Indian origin understand English? Maybe these radio channel are catering only to English speaking people of Indian origin.Well,who cares about labourers anyway?
People who cannot speak English are looked down upon. Jobs invariably go to those who have better command of the language. So where are we now? Other languages will soon be confined to the history books. Can we do anything about this or do we have to this as the way things should progress?
Ahsan Ghori
Abu Dhabi



Reponse to One language

Global Language

Dear Mr Ghori

You wrote an excellent letter to the editor on Monday, October 31, about the historically rapid & global spread of English.
You started with an anecdote of overhearing an English speaking Asian couple in a restaurant dealing with a waiter who could speak very little English. They then lamented about people who could not speak English. You ended your tale by pointing out most of us have been in a similar situation where we cannot talk to someone because we do not share the same language.
You must be in the language teaching profession because your letter pretty well covered every major point that deals with the topic of World English today.
Stating that an immigrant would prosper if they mastered English, you then asked the question: “Should all immigrants learn English so they can get ahead in life?”
I feel they should. English has become a sort of global gatekeeper and if you want to get into the city of riches; you’ve got to speak its language.
While entertaining the idea that English may be useful for cross-culture communication in a multi cultural country, (and the world at large) you then questioned if it would be a good idea if English totally replaced the local language.
I don’t think it would be such a good idea. In my opinion, a people’s language is their identity: lose it and you get cut off from your culture and your past. Socially speaking, you will become a sort of half-person.
We need a global language, and for historical, economic and political reasons English has seized the mantle. This has created some interesting twists to the situation. I have read from a number of Linguists the ratio of people who speak English as a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) language outnumbers those who speak it as a first language3 to 1.This mean that west does not own English anymore. Now those who have learned it, own it. From now on grammatical and lexical changes will be made more & more from countries like India, china and the like.
For instance, take the MacDonald’s slogan” I’m lovin’ it.” If it were the Queens English, it would be “I love it.”(You don’t use the present continuous with a sate verb in Queens English)
My professor told me that this grammatical innovation is of Indian Origin and it is a good one because it makes grammatical sense. But what he found interesting is that McDonalds publicity department took it on in the first place as their official slogan. This illustrates that it is not the west that is necessarily making the changes in English now.
I think the solution to the problem of having a global language while retaining the cultural identity is to teach both the native language & English to children from the very beginning with equal measure. But, when teaching English to children, teach it as an international language, stripping it of all its western cultural baggage. They don’t need it.
Sometimes, wellmeaning institutions try to get students to speak like a ‘native English speaker’ therefore burdening them with numerous, unnecessary and even harmful details. These schools must realize that there has been a motivation shift in language learners. They are learning English as ‘lingua franca’ (global language) and not necessarily as a means to speak to those from England or America.
Your letter had many other points that I would love to address, but it would make my letter unbearably long. I am setting up a website dedicated to the topic of World English at http://www2.gol.com/users/bishop/ and I would like to put your letter on my site due to all the excellent points that you made. But I won’t do this without your permission. My e mail address is mailto:bishop@gol.com.Please email me your approval to do so. I would also like you or any other readers of Emirates Evening post who are interested in the role of English in the world today to log on to my web site after November-14,which will have a blog embedded in it to facilitate some lively conversations

Michael Bishop
Abu Dhabi

Note: I have given permission to publish my letter in Michael Bishop's web site.