Conclusion

For a democratic linguistic order to be further developed, consciousness raising is necessary both among the speakers of English and among the speakers of other lan­guages. The majority of the speakers of English are unaware of the problems caused by the hegemony of English; and even educated people take the use of English for granted and naively expect everyone in the world to speak English. Some attempts should be made in education and in the media to sensitize people about the hegemony of English and make them critically aware of the taken-for-granted knowledge about the global use of English. It might be difficult to be self-critical, but as the old saying goes, "Nobless, Oblige."

And finally, efforts should be made on the part of non-English-speaking peoples as well. They are even more uncritical of the hegemony of English. Rather, they are becoming the major supporters of it by enthusiastically learning English and hoping to reap the profits out of it. In being content with individual success by learning English and not being concerned about the problems caused by the hegemony of English, they become accomplices to the hegemony. And, unfortunately, there is a great number of "English language elites" in the world whose status and power are dependent on a lin­guistic aristocracy. As we can see, there is much work to be done.

(From TESL Reporter 33, 1 (2000), pp. 32-38 http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/)

3. Compare your outline with that of your partner.

3. Work with your partner. Using your outline summarise the article.

3. Discuss with your group. Use the language of agreement / disagreement and persuading from Reference Section at the back of the book to organize your discussion.

1. Would the author of this article agree with D.Crystal’s statement that global English needs global understanding? Why? Why not?

2. Do you agree with Yukio Tsuda’s idea that it is necessary to create the democratic linguistic order? Why? Why not?

3. After reading the articles by D.Crystal and Yukio Tsuda make a list of advantages and disadvantages of the English language globalization. Work with your partner. Then share your ideas with the class.

READING 3. Silent Witnesses

1. Look at the photographs below. What are the nationalities of these people? What counties are they from? What languages do they speak? Is there any correspondence between the country you live in, your nationality and the language you speak? Discuss in small groups.

(From www.fotosearch.com)

2. Would you agree or disagree with the following quotations? Why? Why not?

One does not inhabit a country; one inhabits a language. That is our country, our fatherland - and no other. (E.M. Cioran)

There is no such thing as an ugly language. Today I hear every language as if it were the only one, and when I hear of one that is dying, it overwhelms me as though it were the death of the earth. (Elias Canetti)