Dr. Anny Joukoulian

Chapter 1
The politics and policies of global English
U214B
The Politics of English: Conflict, Competition, Co-existence
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The focus of the book is on:

a) the political nature of the use of English alongside other languages

b) how language policies are shaped both by language practices and by people’s ideas about language.

Dr. Anny Joukoulian

What is politics?
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

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What is politics?

Dr. Anny Joukoulian

Chapter 1: The politics and policies of global English
Politics is the practice and theory of how groups organize and regulate themselves, and how power is achieved and used in public life.

DEFINITION
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In many modern societies, the term politics is synonymous with ‘electoral politics’ and the activities of professional politicians.
The politics and policies of global English
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
In a wider sense, politics can be seen as having to do with power relations of all types – it can be applied to the private as well as the public sphere.
The phrase was made popular during the feminist movement and was used to highlight the fact that power relations extend into our personal lives and relationships .
‘the personal is political’
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
Research and scholarship in the last decades have increasingly been exploring the various ways in which relationships of power shape all social interaction (e.g. Foucault, 1977; Bourdieu, 1984), and suggesting that power relations are responsible for the very existence of society.

According to this view, we would not be able to operate as social beings – to make mutual decisions, to collaborate, to get things done – without relations of power, and in this respect, politics is a fundamental part of our everyday lives.

Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
FOR EXAMPLE
When an offender is sentenced to 300 hours of community service or to 10 years of prison, the speech act is backed up by a whole institution of power, which in this case is the law.
Such speech acts organize all relations between individuals and the state, and thus bind society together (Seargeant 6).
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

Dr. Anny Joukoulian

Language is not only related to politics in the way that speech acts are effective translations of power, institutional or individual.

Politics doesn’t only use language; it can also be about language.

In fact, the regulation of what one can say, of how and when one can say it – is something that happens constantly in social life.

The politics and policies of global English
FOR EXAMPLE
The concept of ‘free speech’ is a central tenet (belief/principle) of a nation’s (most nations’) political identity.
In such communities, a citizen’s right to speak freely and without censorship is inscribed in the constitution or otherwise protected by law (Seargeant 7)
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
Debates about what an individual says and how he or she says it are often part of larger decisions concerning the place of language, and specific languages – in society.
Language policies the way a state or an organization determines how language is to be used in society- is often concerned with the way that language relates to other political issues: cultural identity, equality and the ability of citizens to communicate both within their own community and with people from other communities.
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
Language policies the way a state or an organization determines how language is to be used in society- is often concerned with the way that language relates to other political issues: cultural identity, equality and the ability of citizens to communicate both within their own community and with people from other communities.
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
English – with its global reach, history rooted in colonialism, its contemporary association with global capitalism, its multiple forms and varieties, its status as one of the most taught languages around the world– is involved more easily than other languages in manifold political debates, and as such exists as a focus for language politics around the world (Seargeant 8).
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The politics and policies of global English
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In this respect, two main questions are to be asked and addressed:

What impact does the spread of English have on people and societies around the world?

What actions are people taking in response to the spread of the language and to the impact this spread is having?

The politics and policies of global English
Language planning issues, and language policy is concerned with the role that English plays in the power relations that organize society, the way that people aim or attempt to regulate this role, and the specific measures (the language planning) that people employ to do this.
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
To put this in another way, the discussion will address how English is implicated in political debates, and what strategies people are devising to ensure that the current status of English across the globe contributes to the cultural harmony and prosperity of the world rather than creating divisions and inequalities among its population. (Seargeant 8-9).
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The politics and policies of global English
Global English: a problem or a solution?

Activity 1.2, pages 9-11
to compare two opposing views of the role of English in the world
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Gordon Brown
Former British Prime Minister
The politics and policies of global English
Global English: a problem or a solution?

Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
Global English: a problem or a solution?
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

He was announcing a development initiative to promote the teaching of English across the globe.

The view of English is entirely positive, so much so that the speech advocates that this role should be further promoted.

This positive judgment is mostly on the basis of how English is positively characterized in the rhetoric of this speech, and from associations that are made between the language and other elements of social life.

Brown also suggests that knowledge of English is a prerequisite for full access to the benefits of the ‘internet, commerce and culture’ (Seargeant 9-11).

Knowledge of English is equated with the ability to communicate successfully at a global level.

David Crystal
British Linguist
The politics and policies of global English
Global English: a problem or a solution?

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The politics and policies of global English
Global English: a problem or a solution?
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

He describes the world of language by saying, ‘an indigenous language currently disappears every 2 weeks.

By the end of the century it is projected that 5,500 of the current 6,000 languages now spoken will join Latin and Greek as ‘dead languages’.

“Linguicide: the death of language”
(The Independent, March 2002)
The politics and policies of global English
Global English: a problem or a solution?

John
Sutherland
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The politics and policies of global English
Global English: a problem or a solution?
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

He shares this negative view of English and describes it as such, “What we are witnessing is linguicide.

A language messacre…” The root cause of the linguistic holocaust that we’re living through.

Take a holiday anywhere and the signs you see, the language the pilot speaks, the music you hear on the street….. is English (American) …

The politics and policies of global English
Global English: a problem or a solution?
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

“The spread of English is the product of naked linguistic super-power.

If anyone anywhere wants to get ahead nowadays, an ability to speak English is obligatory.

“Now we invade minds, by changing the primary tool by which they think: ‘their’ language”

Linked to a different type of colonialism

This neologism “linguicide” is modeled after concepts such as homicide, …. and is used in certain parts of the academic literature; it is often linked to the concept of a ‘killer language’ introduced earlier by Phillipson, 1992, and Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000),
Also described as homogenization, MacDonaldiation,, or even Coca-Colnonization, of the world, where English is killing other languages and, by extension, other cultures (Wagnleitner)
The politics and policies of global English
Global English: a problem or a solution?
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
Ideology
A term which encompasses much of what has been discussed in this respect, and that is often employed when examining the relationship between language and politics, is ideology.
This word is used in popular or everyday contexts, but also operates as a technical term in academic discussions.
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
Language Ideologyies
Any sets of beliefs about language articulated by the users as a rationalization or justification of perceived language structure and use.
Language ideology is a concept that describes how our ideas about language influence how we use language and interpret language use.
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

Language ideology includes ideas about and attitudes towards language, including evaluations of language use and ideas about what language represents or does for people.

The politics and policies of global English
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

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Examples of language ideologies

ideology about language use/intent There is a right way and a wrong way to speak a language

ideology about users Speakers of non-standard dialects are “lazy” and “don’t try” to speak “right”

ideologies about language use Some languages are more appropriate for some things (like running the government, or prayer) than for others

ideologies about written and spoken language A written promise is more binding than a spoken promise

ideology about the power of language to act in the world If someone says bad things about you, it can make you sick

Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
Linguistic Capital
Economic opportunities have been theorized by the sociologist Bourdieu using the metaphor of linguistic capital.
In the other word, if one invests in the learning of English this will allow one to gain access to better job, which in turn it provides a financial return on one’s investment in terms of better pay.
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
Linguistic Imperialism
A process whereby the politics of language contributes to the ways in which certain centre nations (USA and UK) exercise power over those in the periphery (poorer, developing countries).
According to this line of argument, subspecies of cultural imperialism leads to the establishment of various forms of inequality between English and other languages, which in turn contributes to political inequalities between different countries and different social groups.
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
Hegemony of English
As a rather more complex and nuanced process that is not orchestrated solely by an all-powerful center, but instead operating for varied cultural, political and economic reasons.
Dominance of English as a global language
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Ferguson (2006) sees four areas where the hegemony of English has possible deleterious (harmful) effects (pp. 125-6):
The use of English as an international language can lead to inequalities in communication between native
and non-native speakers.
English contributes to socio-economic inequalities within
and between societies.
The dominance of English is a threat to
linguistic diversity.
The spread of English can be implicated in process of
cultural homogenisation.
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Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
Language Death
The process by which the language stops being spoken entirely, either because its speakers die out without passing it on to their children or, because the community which speaks it shift to the use of another language.
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
Majority Language
A language such as English which has high political and social status takes over the roles that were previously played by minority language.
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The politics and policies of global English
Minority Language
One spoken by a small proportion or politically less influential section of the population and thus speakers of the minority language shift to using the majority one.
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
Linguistic Right
The Idea proposed by certain activists and policy makers that use of a particular language especially the language of one’s birth or community is such a fundamental part of one’s existence and identity that should be considered a right and be legally protected as such.
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

The politics and policies of global English
Language Ecology
Is the idea that different language systems and language practices exist in ecology, as organism do and that they have complex relationship with the environment.

Many researchers use “ecology” simply as a reference to “context” or “language environment”, to describe language related issues embedded in (micro or macro) sociolinguistic, educational, economic or political settings rather than de-contextualised.
Dr. Anny Joukoulian

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Dr. Anny Joukoulian

Dr. Anny Joukoulian