A book on the spread of the English language around the world was the subject of an interview last night on the PBS Newshour. Robert McCrum, the author of "Globish: How the English Language Became the World's Language", discussed how through the mechanisms of colonialism and strong economic and cultural influence English became a global language. As a student in an academic program intimately linked with the information environment, this conversation about the place of English in the world prompted me to contemplate how living in an English-language environment influences what kind of information resources I am exposed to. Perhaps the most salient observation that came to me is that I do not have to access any resource in a language other than English to find what I require or wish to know. If one is a scientist in Thailand, though, reading about the latest research will likely involve English since a large percentage of scientific research is published in English-language journals. In addition, a sizable part of the Web is also only available in English.
The ability to navigate the current information environment without having to switch to a different language has advantages for native English speakers, but I believe there is also a downside to living in monolingual environment. Using two or more languages exposes people to different interpretations of the world, for a language does reflect the unique aspects of the milieu and culture it developed in. Being able to access resources in multiple languages also expands the range of information resources that can be used for research.
For information professionals, such as librarians, is it more beneficial to work in an environment with resources in one language? Whatever one's answer to that question is, a monolingual environment is the reality of most people in the information profession in the United States. Having English as a native language and being part of what is still the the heart of the information generation center of the world, American information workers are sheltered from the complexities of navigating a world of resources written not written in a native language.
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Robert McCrum was not discussing a language project like the Basic English one you mention. The focus of his book is the process through which English has been spread throughout the world. I only heard the Newshour interview with McCrum, but I gleaned from his statements that the basic argument made in the book is that English is now the global lingua franca, irrespective of historical connotations like imperialism.
ReplyDeleteAs for Esperanto, I am far from convinced that it will be embraced by enough people to become a candidate for a neutral international language. The convenience of using an already widespread language cannot be underestimated. Most human beings are too complacent to want to make an effort to establish a constructed language as a replacement for ones that already exist. The only modern example of a new language being embraced by a population is that of Modern Hebrew. Hebrew, it must be noted, also has deep historical and religious roots in Jewish life.