Linguistic Imperialism
Linguistic imperialism is responsible for the ongoing extinction of many languages across the world. This is a phenomenon where a language is imposed upon people who speak a different language. This is a great flaw in our society since we live in a heterogenous and multilingual world. For example, it oppresses individuals who do not meet the linguistic standards by robbing them of their culture, cultural aspects of their identity, and creates social injustices as well as inequalities. These standards perpetuate linguistic discrimination due to the prejudices that stem from language domination. Overall, it creates structural inequalities because resources and infrastructure are provided under the dominant language.
In the Ted Talk, Linguistic Imperialism posted on 2018 led by a student speaker named Pirawat Punyagupta, asserts that linguistic rejuvenation is an effective approach to prevent the extinction of a language and to acknowledge the plurality of language. He supports this claim by discussing the socioeconomic implications of language domination by robbing the oppressed language of its culture, identity, knowledge, and history. Then by expanding on the fact that it creates a stigma against non-standard speakers who are forced to depend and rely on the dominant culture. Lastly, he believes that we must strive for change challenging the norms of monolingual standards in diverse countries and by allowing the individuals to feel empowered by through their culture, history, and heritage. Punyagupta speaks in the hopes of convincing their audience to understand the repercussions of linguistic imperialism and the benefits of rescuing languages. The speaker’s critical and informative tone suggests that his speech is for a successful and educated audience.
In The New York Times “Endangered Languages Are Worth Saving.” released on June 22nd, 2022, by The Learning Network who honors a winner of their Student Editorial Content through the publishing of their essay, Zoe Yu who is 17 years old. Yu asserts that languages are threatened towards extinction, and it is suggested that it must be fought against for people to thrive with the support of their culture. Yu supports this claim by stating a fact Linguists believe 90 percent of languages will go extinct. Then substantiating with historical evidence that China’s formal institution declaring Mandarin as the dominant language and creating laws forbidding indigenous languages and the teaching of different dialects. Lastly, reinforces their argument with realism of economic and social issues pressures certain individuals to incorporate the dominant language for work and into their overall daily lives. Yu appears to write in the hope of persuading their audience to understand the value of many languages as well as its history and culture. Given the author’s admirable and defensive tone, it appears that Yu writes for a highly educated and wealthy audience who are in charge of publishing their essay to the New York Times.
The fight to persevere endangered languages from mass extinction is a valuable cause because if many languages across the world vanished, it can result in the loss of culture, history, and heritage. According to Zoe Yu in their essay published on the New York Times “Endangered Languages Are Worth Saving” broadens on the idea that language is, “a pillar of culture that built ancient empires, immortalized sacred religious texts, and stockpiled centuries of natural and medicinal wisdom. Records of past civilizations, together with poetry, music and folklore, hinge on a language’s grammatical and syntactic quirks.” (Yu 4) This paints a bigger picture on how language carries history through displays of culture in the creation of civilizations and its contributions within architecture, the arts, literature, knowledge, etc. Similarly, this perspective corresponds with a Ted Talk by Pirawat Punyagupta speech on “Linguistic Imperialism” he discusses the “socio-economic implications because when you rob a community of their language, you’re robbing them of their self-worth pride identity culture history and as a result of this it impedes political power. It creates a sense of dependency on the main dominant culture.” This substantiates that when a dominant language is enforced upon all, certain individuals will experience the loss of connection with their culture and history because of the imposition of these linguistic standards. Ultimately, both sources agree that the loss of languages would result in certain individuals losing their cultural identity as well as the knowledge and understanding of history that has been passed down throughout history. All in all, both sources advocacy for the rescue endangered languages unravels the significance of its cultural and historical value.
In the new article “Ask the expert: Understanding linguistic racism” by Caroline Brooks published in Michigan State University on the year 2021 addresses the topic of linguistic racism and argues the detrimental effects on POC communities. Firstly, this claim is supported with the fact that certain speakers are advised to go under accent reduction training to help them to be understood by others. Secondly, the example on politicians labeling COVID-19 as the “Wuhan Virus” which caused the spreading of Xenophobia and had increased brutal attacks against Asians across the world. Lastly, the example on the erasure of Indigenous languages of American Indian communities through boarding schools targeting the American Indian Youth. Brooks appears to write in hopes of educating their audience in order to spread awareness and to increase advocacy for linguistic rights to combat this form of racism. Due to the author’s persuasive and defensive tone, it appears that the author is writing for MSU readers and others interested in the topic of linguistic racism.
In a news article “YGDP members speak about linguistic prejudice” by Yiding Hao a researcher in BA in Mathematics and Linguistics, along with other research areas. This was published at Yale University in 2018 addressing the topic of linguistic prejudice and argues on the social consequences. Firstly, she supports this claim by supplying the readers the information on sociolinguistic studies that reveal discrimination non-standard speakers experience in housing markets because of their dialects. Secondly, with the examples of how testimonies are rejected by the Jury because it is given in different forms of English, such as African American English. Lastly, she included that in education teachers and students that speak under non-standard dialects are perceived as incompetent. Furthermore, students who speak in non-standard dialects are perceived less intelligent and receive a lack of encouragement from their teachers. Hao appears to write in hopes of achieving linguistic justice in order to appreciate the diversity of the English language. She appears to write for Yale University readers and those interested in the topic of linguistic prejudice because she adopts a convincing and critical tone for her audience.
There is a fight against the linguistic prejudice and racism in hopes of achieving justice and rights for non-standard speakers. This is shown in “Ask the expert: Understanding linguistic racism” by Caroline Brooks broadens this idea with the example that, “This has certainly been the case with Indigenous languages of American Indian communities, many of whom in the past were sent to boarding schools — often outside of their reservations — with the goal of erasing the home languages of American Indian youth.” (Brooks 10) This demonstrates the process on language erasure stemming from pressures of a monolingual society. The families in the younger generation can no longer communicate with the older generation, this creates a disconnect from bonding with their families and culture. Similarly, in “YGDP members speak about linguistic prejudice” by Yiding Hao asserts that, witness testimony is often disregarded by judges or jury members if it is given in a non-standard dialect. For example, during the murder trial of George Zimmerman, the testimony of prosecution witness Rachel Jeantel was dismissed by the jury in part because it was given in African American English.” (Hao 4) This highlights the reality that non-standard speakers are perceived as uneducated and less intelligent because they do not speak in Standard English. Even as far as their testimonies being rejected in court because it is given in a different form of English. Overall, both authors Caroline Brooks and Yiding Hao argue that these issues must be brought to light in order to create an inclusive environment for speakers and eliminate shame and stigma through linguistic justice advocacy.
In the journal article “The “Official English” Movement and the Symbolic Politics of Language in the United States” by Jack Citrin, Reingold, Evelyn Walters, and Donald P. Green aims to explore sources that identify social and political conditions that created linguistic conflict on Official English. They accomplish this by addressing many important points. Firstly, how the Americanization movement is the idea that national unity relies on homogenous culture and a common language. Secondly, including the historical context that immigrants were seen as a threat because of their traditions, therefore, led to laws making English the only language taught in schools. Lastly, the authors argue that in the 1980s, the Official English movement arose in response to the growing presence of non-English speaking immigrants in the United States. The movement sought to make English the federal and state official language of the United States, as well as to limit government services and documents to English only. All in all, their target audience is towards those interested in politics of language because of their tone persuasive, critical, and educational tone.
This is a picture from Wikipedia on Linguistic discrimination from its Wikipedia contributors. This is a piece of propaganda from World War I and it is linked to patriotism because this promotes the domination of English and pressures everyone including non-standard speakers to follow this rule. Similarly, this poster interconnects with the journal article “The “Official English” Movement and the Symbolic Politics of Language in the United States” because it reveals how propaganda plays a significant role in enforcing Official English. Overall, this poster manipulates the public opinion to view English as a language that unites Americans and to pressure immigrants to learn English to thrive in the US.
In conclusion, linguistic imperialism unleashes detrimental effects on society. Firstly, the domination of a language oppressing another may cause extinction of minority languages. Furthermore, leads to the erasure of cultural identities and knowledge about its history. It perpetuates systemic inequalities because standard language speakers often have greater accessibility in education, employment towards certain job positions, and countless other opportunities. By ‘othering’ or by the exclusion of minority languages causes marginalized communities to struggle for the access of opportunities and resources to help them thrive. Therefore, by promoting linguistic diversity and cultural pluralism through policies can help achieve a more inclusive and equal society. All in all, celebrating diverse languages and cultures that make our world.
Work Cited
“Ask the Expert: Linguistic Racism.” MSUToday | Michigan State University, msutoday.msu.edu/news/2021/linguistic-racism#:~:text=Linguistic%20racism%20occurs%20when%20acts. Accessed 21 Mar. 2023.
Citrin, Jack, et al. “The ‘Official English’ Movement and the Symbolic Politics of Language in the United States.” The Western Political Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 3, 1990, pp. 535–59. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/448703. Accessed 27 Mar. 2023.
Wikipedia Contributors. “Linguistic Discrimination.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Nov. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_discrimination.
Linguistic Imperialism | Pirawat Punyagupta | TEDxBangkokPatanaSchool.” Www.youtube.com, youtu.be/pQjoZmj1NlQ.
“YGDP Members Speak about Linguistic Prejudice.” Linguistics, 7 Feb. 2018, ling.yale.edu/news/ygdp-members-speak-about-linguistic-prejudice#:~:text=Linguistic%20prejudice%20is%20a%20form.
Network, The Learning. “Endangered Languages Are Worth Saving.” The New York Times, 22 June 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/06/22/learning/endangered-languages-are-worth-saving.html
