Dear Wafa,

I experience some of what you are talking about. I am a "native" of Modern Standard Arabic (although I feel at one dialect-remove from it). I don't feel jealous of people who use Arabic in the same way I take it that native speakers of English are not thinking about me as an intruder. However, sometimes I feel uneasy and angry about myself and my fellow Arabs, because we are not doing enough to study our language. I feel this especially when I read researchers that miss the point or overgeneralize about Arabic when they should not.

I hope this will serve for something.

Dear Zouheir,

You are right. A lot of work needs to be done in other languages also. But, I would like know more about how you feel when non-native people use Arabic, or people speak other dialects of Arabic!

Surely, I don't feel bad about it, because our language is not as Lingua Franca as English, i.e. I say to myself that Arabic is on the way of becoming something. Of course, I don't mean that from the legal perspective as Arabic is one of the UN official languages. Most of the time, I take it with a smile as to how "funny" their pronunciation sounds to me.

Dear Zouheir,

Indeed, that is something quite positive for me. I hardly come across such welcoming behavior when it comes to sharing the ownership of a language. Way to go.

we now have ‘ new Englishes’ which means ownership of English is seriously questioned. Can we say that Malaysian English , for instance, is a property of English people in England? Nigerian English, on the other hand, reflects local Nigerian culture that is totally missed by speakers of other Englishes . Thus, “ownership of a language by its native speakers“ has to be revisited when the language has different forms and carries totally different cultural norms!

Miss Amna,

It is likely that in your context maybe people feel proud when their language is shared. But there prevail language purists in every culture who emphasize upon the purity of a language (which no more than chasing a mirage). We find such people more in English and French context. But, again the comment from you is very pluralistic and positive in nature. I am happy to hear that.

Hello,

You have certainly broached up the most fundamental concerns addressing the issue. However, language spread is mostly related to socio political and economic powers of the nation or nations whose native language has risen to a high level and been used as a lingua franca. Diachronic studies on language spread have supported such a justification since other languages like Arabic, Latin , Greek, French,etc. had their own heydays in the past. However, it is often stated that Language and culture are entwined and inseparable and the imposition of one language upon different cultures and different people with various worldviews have evoked what is called linguistic imperialism and/or Anglocentrism (See Anna Wierzbicka, 1994). I guess we cannot do much about it because all the gateway mechanisms helping nonnative speakers' academic success have chosen English as the language of communication. Therefore, we have to wait for the rise of more powerful nations for the change of the status quo and some are already pointing to China.

Best regards,

R. Biria

Wafa, you are on to a golden inquiry here. I am not so sure how I would feel if my language were to attain a status where it begins to develop varieties but I think i should be delighted. It is an evolving situation but I feel I should be delighted and see the creation of other “languages” from the MT as one of the developments that come with language spread and the use of a language beyond its native environment. However, that may not be the response of an average native speaker who may see varieties as corruption of the MT.

Wafa, your concern brings me to the long standing debate of whether African literature should be written in our African languages. It is true that the politics and policies of our educational systems in Africa make it such that our languages are rarely used as a medium of communication to be learned and shared in a wider context. Remember that most of the non African languages were imposed on Africans due to colonization. So, we are not only bound to shared it but we are even forced to do that if we want fleuancy in communication. If my language which is 'Akose' could equally be shared like English, I will be very happy.

Dear Reza,

Can merely a shuffling of a world power or a lingua franca change anything? I mean what difference would it make if it was Chinese instead of English? And, do you think it will break through the status quo?

Dear Adewale Ajayi and Randolf!

I am amazed to see how people from endangered or underprivileged languages take the spread of their language very positively. That also shows how subjugated and oppressed your languages and cultures have remained. I feel completely sympathetic and empathetic, at the same time, towards your language and I can related how you must feel when you see your language not enjoying the status as other well-off languages do. I have been reading Ngugi Wa Thiongo very diligently and I have an idea of African linguistic scenario.

Wara, since language is power, there's already a wider population studying Mandarin which is the most common language spoken in China. This is just to show how world powers can change the status quo. Before now, not so many people had the interest to study Mandarin but with China being considered a super power today, their language now sells.