Linguistic Imperialism

Linguistic Imperialism in Education 

Linguistic imperialism is the concept that a dominant language is being passed through and transferred to other people. In this case, English is now the second most spoken language for first speakers and is the most widely spoken language in the world with up to at least 1.8 billion people speaking it and is the most widely taught foreign language. Therefore we can see how English takes an important dominant role in the world from things like pop culture, education to economic power which are all aspects of the dominant culture that are passed alongside the language.

This puts some communities who don’t speak English at all in a disadvantage and has an impact on them and thereby prohibits them from fully contributing to the rest of the world. This is where education comes in. A majority of people want to be able to get into a very high standard and adequate university in the world and be able to receive the optimum and ideal education yet nowadays to be accepted into such prestige higher education, you require the full and foremost fluency in the English language which is to proven through a test if English isn't a first language for people and the top of universities are found in English speaking countries and universities do reject students who don’t show the required English needed to enter the university. English is seen as the undisputed global language. Countries across the globe feel the need to empower their citizens through education by using the English language. Books and journals and all worldwide education tools are in English but that in fact is a self-accomplishing prognostication that helps continue develop the dominance of the English language.

English can be seen as a barrier, when it cuts off certain communities from fulfilling their dreams and pursuing their educational desires. Nowadays to take all these literary English exams to get into universities, students require paying fees; therefore again prohibiting poorer communities from being able to gain a higher education even if their levels are incredible. Naturally parents want to be able to send off their kids to get a good education and therefore a good job which again naturally requires higher education to be studied at western universities that require English exams.
When we live by this idea that English is a main requirement to get into those universities, we’re limiting our focus and cutting off potential geniuses or scientist, lawyers or doctors who could have had a major impact on the world because what they know in their own language is knowledge that the world could require in the future.

Although the idea of having English as such a dominant role playing language in the world seems like an ideal concept but what we don’t realize that it slowly causes less languages to exist and lets people mainly focus on their English which has a major impact on communities. This is evidence of linguistic imperialism in the Anglophone world but the impacts that go along with it are greater than people would know or expect them to be and can have an increasing impact in the world to come. 

Paper 1 Text 2

This Text 2 extract is a very informative article; it starts off by clearly stating numerical facts in a small introductory paragraph keeping it short, bold and simple to attract the audiences’ attention. It has good qualities of an article and is well structured and organized into different subheadings, keeping the readers informed at all times and up to pace. Throughout the whole article there is constant use of logos through the appliance of statistics and data.

The article was written by Oxfam, an international confederation grounded from 17 organizations working in about 94 countries worldwide to find solutions to poverty and what it considers as injustice around the world. The purpose for this article was to inform and educate and to a subtle extend persuasive. It aims this article at people who are interested in topic such destitution and the lack to help the needy in a poorer state. The way the aim to inform is by their continuous display of figures of lives of people which to some extent is using pathos because it plays with ones emotions which links with their way of persuading, therefore making people feel guilty and having the need to donate and help those who are in need of it.

All in all this text is about the food crises in Sahel, the situation there and what Oxfam is doing to help in this situation. It keeps its information detailed and to the point focusing on its main message of the crisis happening in Sahel. They’re trying to convey a clear message and idea about what is happening and what they are doing to help through their persuasive techniques.

The tone of the article starts of quite serious through the title: “Food Crisis in Sahel” the use of the word crisis makes it sound like a serious topic therefore attracting readers quicker. It further continues with a quote: “The humanitarian response must tackle the underlying causes of crisis like this to prevent them recurring.” The tone continuous to sound serious using words such as “tackle” and “prevent” making people realize how important and serious the issue is. Their persistent use of high figures and statistics also increases the serious tone making people realize how serious it is. This leads to a quite worrying and sad/depressing mood. As the article continues to talk about how Oxfam helps its sets a more encouraging tone saying: “Oxfam is gearing up its work to address immediately the needs of the most vulnerable people. We’re working to help communities increase their resilience to the coming crisis; we are getting ready to provide food assistance.”  Their use of words such as “immediately” and “working to help” sets a reassuring mood.

Logos is a very commonly used technique throughout the article, their steady use of data/ statistics as it is a very applicable and convenient way to grab the attention of audiences’  because they rely on numbers and always see them as the truth. This is a very effective method of technique as well as their use of pathos as they interact with the audience and inform them of the humanitarian response that is needed to approach such a crisis. The statistical information presented about the people who will most likely not be able to eat which has an emotion appeal and making an appeal to the audience's sympathies and imagination. An appeal to pathos causes an audience not just to respond through emotion but to identify with the writer's point of view and be able to feel similar to the way the author would. As well as logos and pathos, there is of course the use of ethos, through the character of the author and the credibility and trustworthiness of the organization Oxfam; they are able to persuade the audience much more and in a very efficient manner because they are more likely to believe such a credible organization which is known due to its helpfulness.

The article is very flowing and starts off with a single image of the people of Sahel. It then continues with the title of the article, below it a quote, in a bigger font to grab the attention of the audience. From then on the article is buildup of short paragraphs, being straight to the point and keeping serious and simple for the readers to keep reading. The article contains subheadings to pinpoint certain aspects especially the on what “What Oxfam is doing” as it is the author of this article. On top of the image you can see that the article of “Food Crisis in Sahel” is put under the heading of emergencies once again implying how serious the situation is.