Linguistic Imperialism: An Analysis

This globalization has affected all spheres of life - cultural, language, economic, political. Even, its essence is not uniform. This liquidation and bypass of boundaries has not only aided the local communities, but also led to domination of the First World countries over the Third World. This domination and intercultural mixing has erased the individual distinctions of culture and language and has promoted homogeneous global culture. Even Spivak, a postcolonial theorist, in her critique of imperialism opines that colonialism initiated the complex procedure of global inequality and exploitation in the Third World. She argues that globalization is a continuation of this procedure. She lays stress on the role of culture in the creation of the

Scholars use the term ‘mass murder’ instead of extinction of languages to point to the death of languages in the wake of globalization. They point out that the death of languages is not natural, but due to the working of mass media, particular institutions and formal education system that are maintained to perpetuate the dominance of English over other languages. Phillipson opines that the legitimation of English linguistic imperialism is made effective by the mechanisms of anglocentricity and professionalism. He defines anglocentricity as “the practice of judging other cultures by the standard’s of one’s own” (Phillipson, Linguistic 47) which leads to the devaluation of other languages and the particular cultures they took. Professionalism refers to the methods, techniques and processes of teaching and learning followed in ELT. Both anglocentricity and professionalism generate inequalities between English and other languages by legitimating English as the dominant language and rationalizing its beliefs and principles. Phillipson believes that the terms like “global English”, “English as a world language”, “Anglophone Africa”, and consideration of English as a ‘lingua franca’ “conceal the fact that the use of English serves the interests of some much better than others” (Phillipson, Continued 28). The reality is misinterpreted through these soft terms. English may be described as “a lingua franca”, “a lingua

As globalization has created a global village, the people of different languages need a lingua franca to communicate with one another. At present, English is a true lingua Franca and a global language. Crystal opines “a language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is recognised in every country” (Crystal 3). English is spoken in different parts of the world as first, second or foreign language. Crystal calculates that about 85% of international organizations and 99% of European organizations are practicing English as an official language. This language has assisted people to conform to worldly changes in this globalized world. No doubt, spread of English led to the cultural and historical dominance, but the colonized were given access to the global knowledge using this. English has played a significant role in the internationalization of culture as people are no longer bound to their native cultures. It permitted them to interact with different cultures in the world. This shows that English is a tool for intercultural