Ideas irracionales y mitos sobre el amor romántico y el romanticismo

A common perception in Africa is that European languages are, due to their global currency, the only languages through which non-Europeans can realise development

23 (Phillipson, in Sigcau 2004:245). English, specifically, is regarded as a language of power and prestige, enabling success in terms of employment, participation in the national and global economy and social recognition (Sigcau 2004:245). This viewpoint is largely a result of colonialism that saw to the idealisation of colonial languages and the simultaneous marginalisation and stigmatisation of indigenous languages (Phillipson and Skutnabb-Kangas 1995:337). In British colonial times, education soon became synonymous with proficiency in English accompanied by a rejection of indigenous languages and cultures (Phillipson and Skutnabb-Kangas 1995:337). In Nigeria today, the use of English in public awards the speaker a coveted position in a special, high status ―class‖ of Nigerians, irrespective of their ethnicity or mother tongue (Rassool 2007a:141). The British empire‘s spread into Africa thus clearly brought with it linguistic imperialism, described by Ansre (in Phillipson and Skutnabb-Kangas 1995:339) as

… the phenomenon in which the minds and lives of the speakers of a language are dominated by another language to the point where they believe that they can and should use only that foreign language when it comes to transactions dealing with the more advanced aspects of life such as education, philosophy, literature, governments, the administration of justice, etc. … Linguistic imperialism has a subtle way of warping the minds, attitudes and aspirations of even the most noble in a society …

The current position of English as a global language serves to uphold and, in the eyes of some, even justify the above phenomenon. Tanzanian parents who want their children to attend English-medium schools today, for example, do so in the firm belief that ―English is the language of the global village‖ (Brock-Utne 2002:7). This positive evaluation of English is not, however, limited to Africa. In India and Malaysia, for example, the perceived link between English and modernisation and globalisation has rendered it by far the most desired medium of instruction for basic and higher education in the eyes of parents (Lin and Martin 2005:3). In Singapore and Hong Kong, English adhering to Anglo norms is vital to socio-economic advancement in enabling access to higher education and ―the globalised, knowledge-intensive job market‖ (Lin and Martin 2005:3).

24 Even as far as Turkey and Iran, English proficiency is increasingly regarded as both prestigious and valuable in the current context of globalisation (Lin and Martin 2005:3). That English has already spread globally to this extent and that it continues to do so today is often justified by arguments claiming the spread to be natural, neutral and beneficial (Pennycook 1995:36-37).

At the end of the previous century, the total number of English speakers in the world was estimated at between 700 million and 1 billion, roughly ten times the number estimated a hundred years before (Pennycook 1995:36). This total is made up of fairly equal numbers of people who speak English as a native, second (i.e. intranational) or foreign (i.e. international) language (Pennycook 1995:36)4.

As a postcolonial country with, amongst others, a British heritage, multilingual South Africa has not been left unaffected by the global spread of English. A high level of English proficiency is a prerequisite for attaining any kind of upward social and political mobility in this country. Ironically, this required standard is not made attainable by the current South African educational system, despite it being regarded as the ―sole linguistic yardstick for educational success‖ (Heugh 2007:212-213). Contrary to expectations, fewer people in democratic South Africa (since 1994) than in apartheid South Africa (1948 – 1994) have the opportunity to attain a high level of English proficiency. This is ascribed to declining English literacy levels and the high emigration rates of 25-44 year olds, the age group with the highest levels of English proficiency (Heugh 2007:200). Instead of the language of access it is widely believed to be, English is, unintentionally, fast becoming an instrument of exclusion in the hands of the linguistic power elite. The latter is a group that is diminishing in size and whose members, once largely L1 speakers of English, are fast being replaced by L2 speakers (Heugh 2007:201). According to

4

These numbers do not differentiate between the various new forms of English, i.e. new Englishes, that have been generated as a result of language contact. Debates on the legitimacy of these variant forms and the desirability (or not) of attempting to uphold Anglo norms are rife (cf. Pennycook 1995), but this study will not engage in them.

25 Rassool (2007b:251), this phenomenon of English functioning as a language of vertical control in South Africa, is typical of a general pattern followed by ex-colonial languages in postcolonial societies.

The global spread of English is thus clearly not without negative implications. A number of scholars have criticised this phenomenon. Firstly, Pennycook (1995:39) identifies one common point of criticism as the threat that English poses to the survival of indigenous languages. The concern is that wider distribution of English may lead to what Day (in Pennycook 1995:39) first termed ―linguistic genocide‖. Secondly, Pennycook (1995:40) notes the often-cited role of English as gatekeeper to socio-economic advancement, serving either to exclude individuals / groups from or to include them in higher education, better employment and social prestige. Cooke (in Pennycook 1995:39), for example, regards English as a Trojan horse in the sense that it is a language of imperialism which serves the interests of certain social classes only. Consequently, there is a strong school of thought that deems the English language an instrument of creating and maintaining social, political and economic inequalities across the globe. Phillipson (in Pennycook 1995:43), for example, is one such proponent who associates the spread of English with ―linguicism‖, i.e. ―the ideologies and structures which are used to legitimate, effectuate and reproduce an unequal division of power resources (both material and non-material) between groups which are defined on the basis of their language (i.e. of their mother tongue)‖.

In opposition to the above criticism, a number of scholars have devoted much attention to proving that such overly negative valuation of English is presently not justified in all circumstances and that its international currency need not lead to the exclusion of other languages. In a study debunking the myth that English is the only medium of instruction that can guarantee economic success, García (1995:142) notes that in the U.S.A. there is a common perception that only English monolinguals are privy to success. Her study shows, however, that the high rate of linguistic assimilation of African-Americans and

26 the Latino group overall, has done little to bring them economic success. On the contrary, the Latino subgroup that displays the lowest degree of linguistic assimilation, i.e. the Cuban-Americans, have proven to be the most financially affluent (García 1995:147). This study proves that bilingualism, as opposed to English monolingualism, may in fact be a valuable economic resource, even in the largely monolingual, English dominant USA (García 1995:157).

According to Heugh (2007:212), it is a misconception that English will necessarily continue to serve as the only language of wider communication (LWC) and participation in regional and global economies.5 South Africa‘s role in the UN‘s New Partnership for Africa‘s Development and the increasing numbers of French-, Portuguese-, Arabic-, Hausa- and Kiswahili-speaking immigrants from elsewhere in Africa, are referred to in support of this argument. Whilst South Africa appears still to be unaware of this development, Heugh (2007:212) argues, other African countries have ―a fairly sophisticated understanding … that several LWCs are advisable and necessary for trade and diplomacy‖. Francophone and Lusophone countries have, for example, started to include other LWCs in their education systems alongside French and Portuguese (Heugh 2007:212). In a similar vein, Sigcau (2004:246) argues against the perceived omnipotence of English, by pointing out that there are many countries such as China, Japan, Korea, Italy and Norway that have achieved a developed state not through English, but through indigenous languages. According to Sigcau (2004:252), if the yearned for African renaissance is ever to be achieved, it will have to be founded on the use of African languages as media of instruction in education and not on English only.

Lastly, that English will forever retain its current status as the global language in perpetuity is not assured. As Rassool (2007:147) points out, there is no guarantee that its hegemony will not be challenged in future by other international languages, such as

5

Note that many sources use the term ―lingua franca‖ to communicate the same concept conveyed here by the term ―language of wider communication‖.

27 Mandarin Chinese. If China continues to develop as an important global economic power, the economic currency of its language might eventually overtake that of English.