How Does The Spread Of English Affect Language Diversity

In a globalised world the spread of English has adversely affected language diversity and cultural identity. Agree, disagree or partly agree.

This essay examines the impact the adoption of English as a common language has had on the languages and culture of the Aboriginal people of Australia. I will argue that factors other than the spread of English have adversely affected Australian Aboriginal (Aboriginal) language diversity and that Aboriginal cultural identity is not rooted solely in language. While some indigenous and Aboriginal languages have disappeared, the widespread use of English has strengthened awareness of the potential loss of indigenous languages globally and has contributed to the emergence of a national Aboriginal cultural
Crystal (2000) discusses factors that determine language decline and concludes that it is not only the number of speakers of a language that determines its survival, but also their location, and that a scattered population of speakers adversely affects language sustainability. Aboriginal urban migration has increased since World War II (Gale 1972) and in 1996 73% of Aboriginal people lived in towns or cities. Aboriginal urbanisation takes the form of either highly mobile ‘fringe dwelling’ or total immersion in non-Aboriginal society (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1996). It is this factor that has adversely affected Aboriginal language diversity rather than the policy of teaching English to Aboriginal students, in fact bilingual education is seen as “critical to the maintenance of Indigenous languages” by the Australian government (Thompson 2007). Across Australia school curriculums include tuition of both English and Aboriginal languages to schoolchildren. For example, in New South Wales ten Aboriginal languages are considered healthy enough to be included in school curriculums and in Western Australia more students study an indigenous Aboriginal
Should English be taught as a ‘global’ language? Online video, accessed 11 September 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLYk4vKBdUo&feature=player_embedded
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