“What
Global Language?” by Barbara Wallraff
In “What Global Language?,” Barbara
Wallraff argues that English is increasingly becoming less likely to achieve
global status in future. Wallraff identifies several reasons to support her
argument. One reason, which involves immigrants, is of particular concern. Wallraff
observes that the increasing presence of immigrants from non-English speaking
countries in the US, such as China, is a strong indication that the possibility
of English becoming a universal language is diminishing. This point raises
questions on the impact of foreign languages spoken by immigrants in the US,
particularly Chinese, on the future English language. In this essay, it is argued that Chinese speaking immigrants
in the US promote the development of English into a global language.
On one hand, Wallraff’s argument that
the high number of Chinese speakers in the US prevents the popularity of
English may hold to some extent. Wallraff supports her point by noting that
official US statistics have shown that a decade ago, one in every seven people
in the US had another language at home rather than English. Given that Chinese
speakers and speakers of other languages in the US have been increasing in
number, the proportion of English speakers in the US is likely to have declined
while the proportion of Chinese speakers will increase. To ascertain the
observation that other languages are increasingly become important in the US,
there have been introduction of Spanish language televisions networks in a
number of urban canters in the US, including the New York City.
Further, Wallraff has observed that millions
of speakers of other languages such as Chinese live in the US today. Given that
most of the immigrants prefer to speak their own languages at home, this may
negatively impact on the prospects of English achieving a universal status. Wallraff’s
observations are supported by some studies. For instance, one study found that
the presence of Chinese language media in the US hinders the impact of English
media on the acculturation of the Chinese immigrants (Hwang and He 16-22). In
addition, Zhang and Slaughter-Defoe (88-93) found that Chinese immigrant
parents in the US valued their heritage language and viewed it as resourceful;
and as such engaged in positive activities aimed at maintaining the heritage
language to the next generation. Wallraff’s argument appears to be limited to
the parents because she does not make any observations about children born to
Chinese parents in the US. In addition Wallraff does not say anything about the
language used at the work place, where people tend to spend most of their
active time most days of the week.
On the other hand, it is not clear
whether influx of immigrants who speak languages other than English is a threat
to popularity of English. One main reason is that even if immigrants were to
speak their native languages that would be limited to their homes. However,
when the adults in the immigrant family leave for work, they inevitably have to
speak English. To be able to communicate effectively in the workplace,
immigrants will have to learn English. In addition, if an immigrant family has
children, those children will have to be enrolled in a school. At school, they
will be interacting with students who mostly speak English. Most of the
children begin to have acculturation motives (Baolian Qin 162; Yang et al.
81-84). Children from immigrant Chinese families would have no choice than to learn
English. Zhang and Slaughter-Defoe (88-93) found that children to Chinese
immigrant parents in the US considered their heritage language as irrelevant to
their lives.
As a result, they resisted their parents’
attempts to use the children maintain the heritage language (Zhang and
Slaughter-Defoe 88-93).This has happened in the past, to the extent that
Chinese parents have felt that their children have been getting alienated (Baolian
Qin 162-164). Further, Chinese students with acculturative motive are most
likely to watch US-based English speaking television stations and visit
US-based English language websites (Yang et al. 88-93). These illustrations
show that basically, when non-English speaking immigrants go to the US, the
number of English speakers increase, whether they use their native language at home
or not. In any case, it has been argued that two thirds of children in the
world grow up in bilingual environments and become competent speakers of the
two languages (Crystal 167). If Crystal’s estimates are to be applied in the
context of immigrants in the US, it would be easily concluded that two thirds
of children born to immigrant children in the US will develop competency in
their parents’ language and in English. Although the children will have
competence in two languages, English will have gotten additional speakers and
moved towards its universal status.
In addition, immigrants are less likely
to decrease globalization rate of English because ability to communicate in
English is a strong requirement for many people wishing to go to the US. Most
of the people come from countries where learning of English is openly
encouraged and therefore there is every possibility that whoever enters US has
already learned English. For instance, China has the largest English-learning
population worldwide. Some have gone to the extent of arguing that “it seems
there are more people learning to speak English in China than there English
speakers in the whole of the United States” (Yajun 3). The reason for making
this assertion is very convincing. As a matter of policy, English learning is
compulsory in China from year three at primary school. As a result, more than
200 million children and 13 million students are learning English in Chinese
primary schools and Universities respectively (Yajun 3). This is an indication that
in the coming decades; Chinese nationals who will migrate to the US will
already be English speakers, unlike Wallraff who sees continued influx of
Chinese in the US as a threat to the prospects of English becoming a global
language. As such, it would be inaccurate to argue that Chinese people living
in the US may be hindering the progression of English into a global language.
In conclusion, this essay has argued
that the increasing presence of Chinese immigrants in the US does not present
any serious threat to the prospects of English being a global language. This
argument is inspired by Wallraff’s blame on the increasing immigrant population
in the US, especially the Chinese, for killing the prospects of English
becoming a global language. It has been argued that Wallraff’s argument is
limited to a home environment, and particularly to the parents. Wallraff does
not mention children in this argument. Studies show that whereas parents
support their heritage language, children do not support them and want to be
acculturated in the American culture, which includes learning the English
language. Further, in future, almost
every Chinese will have learned English before going to the US since English is
now compulsory in the Chinese education system. Therefore, Chinese immigrants
in the US do not necessarily hinder the development of English into global
language. On the contrary, Chinese immigrants in the US will promote the
development of English into a global language than it will hinder it.
Works Cited
Baolian Qin, Desiree. ""
Our Child Doesn't Talk to Us Anymore": Alienation in Immigrant Chinese
Families." Anthropology & Education Quarterly 37.2 (2006):
162-179. Print.
Crystal, David. (1997). English as a Global
language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Print.
Hwang, Bao-hui, and Zhou He.
"Media Uses and Acculturation Among Chinese Immigrants in the USA: A Uses
and Gratifications Approach." International Communication Gazette
61.1 (1999): 5-22. Print.
Mirabela, Pop. "Globalization
of English." The Economist (2001): 190. Print.
Wallraff, Barbara. “What a Global
Language?” The Atlantic Online. The
Atlantic Monthly Company, Nov. 2000. Web. 5 March 2014.
Yajun, Jiang. "English as a
Chinese language." English Today 19.2 (2003): 3-8. Print.
Yang, Cui, et al. "Tuning in to
Fit in? Acculturation and Media Use Among Chinese Students in the United
States." Asian Journal of Communication 14.1 (2004): 81-94. Print.
Zhang, Donghui, and Diana T.
Slaughter-Defoe. "Language Attitudes and Heritage Language Maintenance
among Chinese Immigrant Families in the USA." Language, Culture and Curriculum
22.2 (2009): 77-93.
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