Globalization embraces both economic and cultural spheres, and that expresses the increasing interdependence of geographically diverse countries (Goodman and Graddol, 1996, p. 206). The use of English evokes connotations associated with its status as an international language in the domains of trade, travel, science, education, technology and even advertising. For example, in Japan, English is used in television commercials not because it is widely understood by her people, but because of its association with ideas of modernity and social status. In Singapore, being able to speak and write English is necessary both for job employment and success. It is a global language symbolizing international appeal and professionalism, and speaking it symbolizes oneself as being ‘hip’, thus claiming a kind of social identity or self-image.
There are inevitable worries that English and other dominant languages may displace minority languages in some countries especially when they are spoken only by a small number of people. Since smaller communities are the target of modernization and development, it is likely that minority groups will be under increasing pressure to adopt the language of the dominant group. The dominant language is usually associated with status, prestige and social success. Once the domains in which speakers use the language shrink, the speakers of the dying language become gradually less proficient in it. e.g. most Aborigines in Australia have lost their languages over five generations of colonialization. The communities were swamped by English, the language of the dominant group and their own languages died out (Holmes, 2001, p. 56). Although English is not directly responsible for the threat to global diversity, it is connected with the processes of economic globalization which are indirectly causing lesser used languages to disappear. Economic factors are very influential and rarely work in favour of maintaining small minority group languages (Holmes, 2001, p. 67).
Language shift is unavoidable unless the community takes active steps to prevent it. E.g. Hebrew was revitalised in Israel after being effectively dead for nearly 1700 years due to the determined efforts by Israeli adults to use it to their children. In New Zealand, steps were taken to revitalise Maori and reverse language shift by using Maori in church, shops and the pub (Holmes, 2001, p. 65). Thus, language shift is slower among communities where the minority language is highly valued and positive attitudes support efforts to use it in a variety of domains. This helps people to resist the pressure to switch to the dominant language.
In Malaysia, the English language is perceived to be serving the interests of the Chinese and Indians. Thus, they established Bahasa Malaysia as the new international language. The introduction of Bahasa Malaysia is not just a rejection of the colonial language, but also an attempt to redistribute cultural and economic power within Malaysia. Unfortunately, economic globalization makes it increasingly difficult to prevent the spread of English and to discourage the natural desire of parents and students for an English education. There is inevitable concern that the Bahasa language policy is threatening the Malays to lose their position when they enter the job market where having the knowledge of English is essential (Goodman and Graddol, 1996, p. 204). English is not a killer to major languages and language shift tends to be slower among communities where the minority language is highly valued. When the language is seen as an important symbol of ethnic identity, it is generally maintained longer (Holmes, 2001, p. 61). In Malaysia’s case, Bahasa Malaysia is a major language and is highly valued by her people as a symbol of her ethnicity. Thus, it will not be easily displaced by English despite the growing dominance and influence of English.
In Singapore, English is the most frequently selected code for official transaction regardless of the speaker’s ethnicity. It is the language of the education system and every child has learnt English until at least primary school level. Thus, there are worries where people feel that English destroys the culture of their nation with its Western influence and the future generation may lack the proficiency and usage of their mother tongue language, leaving behind a monolingual scenario.
On the other hand, there are those who feel that English gives them the access to the world since it has influences everywhere with the increasing number of people learning English as a foreign language or as a second language. It is also the international language for business as well as the chief language in the Internet, which links up the world for global communication. Thus, in many countries, the social elites with disposable income are those who are bilingual in English. E.g. in Papua New Guinea, the elites either come from homes where English is commonly used, or that they are willing to reject their own culture and adopt the European culture. They are neither willing to acknowledge their culture and language of their origin nor their people (Goodman and Graddol, 1996, p. 222). They perceive English as a cultural symbol, where it makes them feel part of the affluent European society.
Nearly all children in Singapore who have learnt English from birth will speak CSE. CSE, a low standard variety of English has heavy transfers of elements from the local languages and evolves as most of us are bilingual. Naturally, the presence of other languages such as Malay and Mandarin influence our usage of English, giving rise to a lingua franca that mixes words from the various mother tongues (Foley, 1998, p. 188). E.g. in CSE, long and short vowels are not distinguished due to the substrate pressure of Malay where vowels do not contrast in length and ‘leak’ is pronounced as /lIk/ instead of /li:k/. Also pragmatic expressions like ‘Aiya’ is actually an exclamation borrowed from Chinese, expressing distress. CSE is heard in informal situations between social peers even when both speakers know SSE. However, some view CSE as socially less desirable because it is different from Standard British English. Since ‘grammar’ refers to the set of rules by which words of a language are strung together to form meaningful sentences, CSE cannot be described as ungrammatical. CSE is widespread through all classes in Singapore including teachers, doctors and those who possess an excellent command of SSE. CSE enables multilingual members to bridge the communicative gaps and bond diverse ethnic communities in Singapore. Thus, it is a sign of a growing national self-confidence and not a poor imitation of Standard British English. CSE is not taught in schools yet it is unstoppable. It has a life of its own and is every Singaporean’s identity, being a combination of Singapore’s various language. It demonstrates the dynamism of language. In 1977, the Minister of Education Mr Chua Sian Chin said, “whichever way English evolves, we have to ensure that the English spoken by our pupils is internationally intelligible”. Thus, as long as we know the contexts to use CSE and SSE, we should not be afraid that CSE will affect our standard of English. What is more crucial is constructing an identity which will cross cultural boundaries. CSE is just another variety of World English among many others.
We must avoid creating a monocultural world since English is the lingua franca in most countries. It is also important for Singaporeans to learn the basics of their mother tongue well. In Singapore, all pupils have to take their ethnic language as a compulsory subject in primary school. The government has also been very supportive towards Singaporeans speaking their mother tongue e.g. promoting the use of Mandarin through “Speaking Mandarin Campaign”.
Rapid shift occurs when people are anxious to “get on” in a society where knowledge of the second language is a prerequisite for success. Malaysia and Singapore will not be at a losing edge since the government sees an important reason for learning the mother tongue language and are taking active steps to maintain their ethnic language.
In view of globalization, English now emerges as the language of the world and its use as a cultural symbol will likely continue. We need English as a gateway to the world but it should not control our lives. Language is an important symbol of a country’s identity. Thus, it is crucial to treasure the languages and cultures of its people to foster intergroup understanding. Globalization is not a bad thing after all if there is institutional support and positive attitude towards preserving the usage of the various varieties. Through communal efforts, it is possible for us to tap on the uses of English and at the same time, preserve the varieties available in our communities.
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Bibliography
JANET HOLMES (2001) An Introduction To Sociolinguistics, Pearson Education Ltd.
SHARON GOODMAN and DAVID GRADDOL (eds) (1996) Redesigning English: new texts, new identities, London, Routledge in association with The Open University (coursebook).
J. A. FOLEY et. al. (1998) English In New Cultural Contexts, New York: Oxford University Press.