Paper 4 Section 1

 

The English language is viewed as a global or world language. In the 21st century English plays a vital role in world communications. English is actually spoken on all five continents, unlike most other languages. With all of this being said, China is the country that “boasts the most English speakers.” Countries like China raise the threat of the dominance of English in the 21st century being challenged, as they are a non-native English speaking region that is gaining economic and political power. 

China has established their citizens' use of multilingualism, as they speak both Chinese and English in their daily lives. In fact, 350 million people in China have “some knowledge” of the English language. Moreover, multilingualism continues to prove that there is a close link between language and power. This theory was put into place by David Crystal. He believes that English is so widely used due to the people who speak it. China is known as a world power that does value English, as they have even added English to their school curriculum. If the global power shifts to China, English may change. 

With David Crystal establishing that language is connected to power, this also means that political and economic affairs must be stable so that the language can spread without large-scale opposition. As of now English is the recognized language of trade, scientific research and international affairs. It is true that “voice-recognition technology” has been adapted so that people can “speak their own language” And while this remains correct, English is the language that people all over the world know of and many words have even derived from English. It would be difficult to remove English from the language of government, higher education, international communication, science, technology and the media. 

Technology continues to advance and new technology is being developed to bridge the online language divide. For example, Lee (a South Korean computer scientist), is developing “translation and voice-recognition technology” for customer service helplines. This is one of many solutions that help bridge the online language divide, while also opening up new markets for businesses. As of now, only a few languages are currently available but last year Microsoft launched the Skype translator and both Facebook and Twitter have also paired with Bing to offer users translation services. These types of services allow for linguistic empowerment. To document and preserve languages. It allows new speakers to be taught and encouraged to translate important information to marginalized groups and even to create virtual communities of speakers where they may struggle to exist offline. 

Furthermore, China’s development of English speakers falls into Kachru’s circles. Kachru's circles is one of the most influential models developed by the linguist Braj Kachry in 1985. It describes the circumstances in which English is spoken. There are three circles within Kachru’s model, and China’s usage of the English language falls under the expanding model . This means that English has played no historical or governmental role, but it is still widely used as a medium of international communication. Within the expanding circle many learners adopt some language features for speaking or writing but incorporate into their native language. The combination of Chinese and English is known as ‘chinglish’. Examples of this include the sounds of the English alphabet changing in pronunciation (like a ‘Z’ becoming a ‘J’). 

To conclude, China’s power and influence of the English language will become more prevalent. China’s development of technologies will also provide a bridge in the language gap. I feel that China’s involvement will fall into the ‘melting pot’. American English will always stay prevalent, but other cultures (like Chinese culture) will gain more importance and become a part of the ‘melting pot’. This means that many dominant cultures and languages will combine to create one language that will be used. This is a theory that David Crystal foresees becoming reality.