Note #5

WHY DOES LINGUISTIC DISCRIMINATION EXIST?

English has propagated around the world and has truly become a global language. But now that it's spoken in countries other than the country of origin (i.e. the United Kingdom), it is obvious that it has been influenced by the indigenous languages and adapted to fit local needs. Language is, after all a means of communication so people of a community must have certain words crucial to their way of life. And this is where the diversion takes place.  

Chinglish might sound foreign to British ears and New Zealandian English may sound weird to Jamaicans, despite being versions of English. Since these versions of English differ on distinct scales, which one do we accept as the standard English? What is the benchmark?

Centuries of European colonialism across the world have skewed the linguistic dynamics on the globe. Due to the nature of power that Great Britain possessed, the scales have always weighed down in favour of the Brits. British English had been the benchmark for the majority of the previous centuries. Linguistic dynamics were further transformed with the rise of the United States as a global power along with the establishment of authority by the “west” – a potpourri of countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada etc. Due to the soft power of these countries, especially the US, accepted standards of English now also included the versions of English spoken in these countries. But how can the conventions of English be limited to these when a vast majority of English speakers live outside of these countries? For many years, non-native English speakers in countries such as India and China have faced prejudice due to their accent and usage of English – a phenomenon known as linguistic discrimination. In many cases, linguistic discrimination has stripped them of opportunities that they would have deserved otherwise. It has assumed a form of social strata indicator. The words one uses and more importantly the way they are said have transformed into a social construct indicative of someone’s wealth, education or social standing.

The standard of English imposed by native speakers may be due in part to humans’ instinctive nature to be comforted by the presence of their own kind. Difference of culture, social circumstances and difference in general may be hard to embrace because of this instinctive insularity. Language has evolved to be inclusive of differences, so why haven’t humans?

The process of integrating different versions of English into the pool of “acceptable” language is slow, but globalization has made the transition smoother. When we learn to look past differences, that is when we discover the true nature of reality, unbound from the superficial constructs of society.