Vanishing Voices of the Minorities : A Critical Study of English as a Global Language

Abstract

English as language commands an omnipresent status in the world owing to some of distinctive and dominating perspectives. Its global acceptance due to its functional flexibility has given birth to some million dollar controversial issues, more importantly, the one that considers its global spread as a threat to the languages of the minorities. It is believed that the number of non-native speakers is continuously increasing against its native speakers due to the acculturation and nativization processes. Whether we take international business or the relation English is globally recognized as a medium and is gaining momentum regularly. The job value that is assigned to this language leads to its proliferation in academic sector as well. In short, it has become the only window through which people can reach to each other. Under such a situation other languages face marginalization and are in a constant threat of extinction which would not only lead to the fragmentation into the “family of languages” but also sound a death blow to the linguistic diversity eventually. This paper aims to undertake a critical evaluation of the English as a global language and study the ways whereby minority languages that represent particular multiethnic culture are engulfed into the threat of losing their identity and scope in spite of carrying along a rich baggage of linguistic, historical, social, cultural, and anthropological information. It also attempts to discuss English as a killer language that thrives and enjoys the current position at the cost of the languages of the minorities and thereby perpetuates a language loss.