G.lobal Languages O.ppress B.ut A.re L.iberating, Too
The Dialectics of English
In: The Politics of English as a World LanguageSearch for other papers by Richard J. Alexander in
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Abstract
Institutional consequences of ‘englishization’ include threats to bio- and linguistic diversity. Analysis of the ‘corporatization’ of the international order must counter the Panglossian exhortation of English as the best of all possible worlds. Much cash is expended by corporations to underpin this process. Academic scholarship is seduced to acclaim the self-evident necessity of English or its naive redefinition as just a lingua franca. Englishization is clearly not one of the proximate causes of global inequality. But its correlation with real-world socioeconomic processes is undeniable. Take business and management studies, where language or, rather, English is centre-stage. International opposition to this state of affairs is hard to coordinate. Ironically, knowledge of English will play a role in the formulation of alternatives. This is one of the dialectical features of the global reach English has achieved.