Globalisation simply is the integration of the people of the world; the coming together of thoughts, ideas, cultures, businesses, friendships, trade, and language. The world is virtually shrinking. With advancements in both transportation and communication, no-one is really that far away from anyone else anymore. The world is our neighbour, and this modern reality has drastically changed how we view the world, and how it views us.
One key aspect and indeed barrier in a globalising world is language. We can travel anywhere in the world, whether physically or virtually, but can we communicate? Is globalisation also bringing our languages together? How will we communicate in a fully globalised world? Will we become increasingly reliant on professional translation services? There are many as yet unanswered questions, but there are trends to suggest what the answers may be.
The global language
English has often been earmarked as the first ‘global language’. Although it falls short of Mandarin’s 935 million native speakers by a substantial amount, with only approximately 40% of that number, it is the most commonly used language within global business, academia, media, and the Internet. This can have a profound impact on individuals and cultures.
English has spread like wildfire throughout the globalised world with reportedly over a billion speakers worldwide today. As English has begun to develop as the world’s dominant language, more and more people have been enthused to learn it. The impact of English language culture, through films, television, and music, in addition to its importance in the business sector, have all further catalysed the spread of the language. In reality, knowledge of the English language has become a vital tool contributing towards an individual’s success.
The extent of this spread of the English language has even lead some experts to suggest that its grammar and vocabulary will no longer be influenced only in traditional ‘English speaking’ countries, but rather globally. English is being combined with a variety of other tongues to form localised versions of the language. It is almost as though all world languages are to some extent becoming anglicised.
Language is influenced greatly by economy and population, and one tongue that is growing rapidly and could soon also have a similar global impact as English, is Chinese. Chinese Mandarin already has the highest number of native speakers in the world, and with China’s population at over 1.3 billion this is hardly surprising. It also boasts the world’s fastest growing economy, with growth rates averaging 10% over the last 30 years. Already with over 24 % of the world’s internet users viewing the web in Chinese, it is very possible that the globalisation of the Chinese language will increase more and more as the economy begins to dominate.
Death of languages
Languages aren’t simply a form of communication, rather they shape entire cultures. With the spread of English through globalisation, many small, minority languages are becoming endangered or even extinct. This has a profound impact on the culture of such places, where greetings, humour, and traditions are affected by the changing linguistic landscape.
In the book ‘Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology ‘, it is said that there are currently between 3000 and 9000 endangered languages, with a prediction that only 10 % of current languages will survive to see the next century.
Globalisation leads to the extinction in languages in two ways. Firstly many parents are keen for their children to focus their learning on the dominant global language, currently English, with the consideration that this will provide them with more opportunities. Secondly, globalisation has enhanced the ease of migration on a global scale, and thus many people are leaving their cultures to seek greater opportunities elsewhere, sacrificing their language in the process.
In conclusion
Since the beginning of time, language has been shaped by politics, culture, migration, and business, but the extent to which it impacts all of us has greatly increased during our current communications revolution.
Although currently it is true to say that English is the dominating language, who’s to say that it will be the final influencing factor, with Chinese already predicted to have a similar global impact. In reality language is ever evolving, and as world powers shifts, the global linguistic landscape too is drastically altered.
The idea that we will one day arrive at an accepted global language is conceptually limited. It is true that some languages will die out and others grow in influence, but in reality language will be a constantly changing element of the human world for as long as we reside on this planet.