Sour of lish a a ntratons! Language Vol 2 Desember 2007 Title “English Language Imperialism’ - Points of View Author Paul Z. Jambor Bio Paul Z, Jambor has been teaching English as a foreign language since 1996, in both Hungary and South Korea. He is currently a professor of English in the “Tourism Japanese’ Department at Dongnam Health College in Suwon, South Korea, He also worked as a professor of English in the Department of English at Hoseo University in Cheonan/Asan, South Korea, for S consecutive years, from March 2002 to February 2007. He has an MA in TES/FL from the University of Birmingham in the UK. He specializes in teaching English Conversation and has conducted research in finding the best methods of promoting adult learners” abilities to converse in English, He is the author of the Bridgeways EFL book series 1, 2 & 3 (Published by Hakmun Publishing, Seoul South Korea) which is based on group styled English conversation, His poetry has been published in both the United States and Canada. Abstract There are generally two camps with regard to the views toward English as an imperialist language. While scholars in the one camp state that the English Language is Imperialist due to its growing stature in increasingly more domains around the word, intellectuals in the other camp counter with the argument that the English language is merely an innocent bystander while it is actually the economic and military might of the countries associated with it that are the real culprits and not the language per se. Although scholars in each camp produce compelling reasoning to 103Sour of lish a a ntratons! Language Vol 2 Desember 2007 back up their views, it is within the author's intent to show that the arguments of the camp which holds the view that English is not imperialist are relatively misguided. Overall, he strives to give increasing validity to the view that English is Imperialist. Introduction The English language is being learned by more and more people around the world, with its global status growing daily. It is being established as the preferred international language in numerous global domains. The exceptional spread of English most likely began during the early years ofthe British Colonial Empire which established the language as a ‘lingua franca’ among the various people that were colonized The advancement of the English language into domains previously held by minority languages, starting out from the inner cirele moving toward the outer rim, is considered by linguists as language shift. For instance, the Maori language in New Zealand was slowly displaced by English in most domains until its recent comeback. Language shift could in effect lead to language death, whereby a majority language, such as English, becomes a ‘killer language” and completely eradicates other minority languages. This was certainly the case with several Aboriginal and North-Amerindian languages which were, in a sens , “killed” by the English language. In effect, language shifl and language death, atthe hands of the English language, are persuasive signs of English Language Imperialism. Being alarmed by the effects of ELI, certain governments implement language planning which legislates the mandatory use of their native languages in various domains. ‘There are compelling arguments illustrating that English has imperialist tendencies, however, counter-arguments show that English lacks ‘imperialist’ qualities on the basis that itis accepted and learned by ‘choice’, therefore, since there is little oF no ‘force’ exerted on nations and people to permit it into their lives, it should be viewed as ‘non-imperialist’. This argument tends to put forth the ideas that “English is neutral” and that “English is democratic" myself tend to lean toward the view that “English is imperialist’ because whether English is accepted by ‘choice’ or ‘force’ the end resulting hegemonic position of the language nevertheless remains the same, 104Sour of lish a a ntratons! Language Vol 2 Desember 2007 Asa teacher of EFL in Korea, my employment, in my opinion, is premised on ‘imperialist practices’, however, [offer no apologies as I am amply salaried. Linguistic Imperialism (LI) It is perhaps most appropriate to start by examining a couple of definitions of LI Phillipson, for instance, defines LI as follows: In my usage, linguistic imperialism is @ theoretical construct, devised to account for linguistic hierarchisation, to address issues of why some languages come to be used more and others less, what structures and ideologies come to be used more and others less, what structures and ideologies facilitate such processes, and the role of language professionals. Linguistic Imperialism is a subtype of Hinguicism ... linguicism studies attempt to put the sociology of language and education into a form which furthers serutiny of how language contributes to unequal access to societal power and how linguistic hierarchies operate and are legitimated. Linguistic imperialism takes place within an overarching structure of North/South relations, where language interlocks with other dimensions, cultural (particularly in education, science and the media), economic and political. Phillipson, 1997:238-239), Phillipson employs the term ‘linguistic imperialism’, theoretically, as a means of stating that languages are hierarchized, in an attempt to deal with the reasons why some languages get used more than others and to figure out what priniples lie behind this and the role language teachers play. His use of the term ‘linguicism’ (Phillipson, 1997240) in his definition points towards a biased system whereby a scheme of linguistic hierarchisation contributes to keeping people in their assigned positions based on language use. That is to say, ‘linguistic power" helps to maintain hegemony. He affirms that the North/South - otherwise known as Kachru's inner/periphery circles of language speakers - relationship is shaped by cultural, economic and Political dimensions. Or rather, the Northerly (inner circle) countries exercise Political, economic and cultural influences on the Souther ones (outer & expanding circles) (Appendix 1), through the relatively high status their languages enjoy in the South (periphery). 105