ENGLISH A LANGUAGE KILLER
Is English a ‘Killer Language’?
The Globalisation of a Code
Tanja Eckert, Andrea Johann, Anna Känzig, Melanie Küng,
Bianca Müller, Cornelia Schwald, Laura Walder
Abstract: Does English act as a Killer-Language or not? The fact that
English has gained the status of a world language goes back to British colonialism. English was imposed on the indigenous populace in order to strengthen the power of the colonists. As the example of Papua New Guinea shows, this can have serious consequences for people’s local culture, life and identity. After the Second World War, globalization boosted the further spread of the English language, therefore influencing the language of technology, science and commerce. It even has a huge influence on countries which have an established political system and a written language of their own, such as Germany.
1. Introduction
The economic and political power of Britain and the United States in the last two centuries has enabled the English language to take on a dominating role in today’s world. Its global use in fields such as publishing, science, technology, commerce, diplomacy, air-traffic control and popular music makes it necessary to define it as a
WORLD LANGUAGE.
The settlement of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians and French led to contact with new countries and languages. Even today, migration supports and encourages the development of different varieties of English. However, this contact between two languages may not only result in the birth of a new, but also in the death of a former language.
We will illustrate language death where ‘people [abandon] their language in favour of some other language seen as more prestigious or more useful’ (Trask 1994:69) using the example of the language situation in Papa New Guinea. Moreover, the fact that language death need not always occur despite the presence of English will be highlighted. This can be seen in the case of Germany where English does not threaten the established language
The Globalisation of a Code
Tanja Eckert, Andrea Johann, Anna Känzig, Melanie Küng,
Bianca Müller, Cornelia Schwald, Laura Walder
Abstract: Does English act as a Killer-Language or not? The fact that
English has gained the status of a world language goes back to British colonialism. English was imposed on the indigenous populace in order to strengthen the power of the colonists. As the example of Papua New Guinea shows, this can have serious consequences for people’s local culture, life and identity. After the Second World War, globalization boosted the further spread of the English language, therefore influencing the language of technology, science and commerce. It even has a huge influence on countries which have an established political system and a written language of their own, such as Germany.
1. Introduction
The economic and political power of Britain and the United States in the last two centuries has enabled the English language to take on a dominating role in today’s world. Its global use in fields such as publishing, science, technology, commerce, diplomacy, air-traffic control and popular music makes it necessary to define it as a
WORLD LANGUAGE.
The settlement of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians and French led to contact with new countries and languages. Even today, migration supports and encourages the development of different varieties of English. However, this contact between two languages may not only result in the birth of a new, but also in the death of a former language.
We will illustrate language death where ‘people [abandon] their language in favour of some other language seen as more prestigious or more useful’ (Trask 1994:69) using the example of the language situation in Papa New Guinea. Moreover, the fact that language death need not always occur despite the presence of English will be highlighted. This can be seen in the case of Germany where English does not threaten the established language
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