English is a prestigious language. Approximately 35% of the world’s economy (by GDP) speaks it, with the largest contributor being the United States, which holds 24% of the global GDP(!); Nine of the top ten songs of 2017 according to TIME magazine are sung in English; the four most influential science journals are all English; the most important programming languages are all English based; international civil air travel is governed by a form of English. English turns out to be the vertebrae of economy, entertainment, science, engineering, and travel. English holds something that very few others do, and if someone cannot speak English, at all or even very well, then they do not get that “something.” In other words, if some one speaks this language in this way, they are allowed far more opportunities than the alternative of not speaking the language. Because of this, English has shown to be an incredibly destructive, irreverent language.
“If you don’t look like me, you are less than me; if you don’t sound like me, you are less than me.”
Linguistic barriers and gateways, notably by social class, have been seen before. In the Middle Ages, literacy was considered exclusive to nobles, clergymen, and other high ranking societal members. (Yes, literacy is a part of a language. It is the knowledge of how to use/understand a language on a medium other than spoken word.) Those who were literate were able to find work that illiterates could not do. More recently and relevantly, those who speak African American English (AAE) are often prejudiced against because of the “sloppy” sound of this dialect when compared to Standard American English. In the Alaskan context, Village English faces much of the same problems as AAE. Both are considered “diminished,” “misused,” or “lazy” types of English, and many believe that neither can be considered a “full” language. Taken from the article cited, this is what two white teachers had to derogatorily say about Village English
It’s a misuse of English syntax and intonation with English words as in “He do me. Where it is? or What time it is?” It has a misuse of verb tenses and pronouns. “He let me fall” versus “He made me fall.” It reverses the order of adjectives as in “red, big” instead of “big, red.” And idioms are mixed up-“blue red and white” instead of “red, white and, blue.”
The fact is that both of these languages show as much logic, grammar, and syntax as Standard American English.
These languages are marginalized and prejudiced against because they do not sound like the language of those who hold the status quo. It is institutionalized racism in the form of linguist purism. In simpler terms, “if you don’t look like me, you are less than me; if you don’t sound like me, you are less than me.” This is part of the reason why many potential employers pay attention to how well a potential employee speaks. Another example is the fact that many call centers outside of the United States train their employees to sound American.
Those who hold the status quo are also those who are in power, and they speak Standard English and rarely nothing else. That is the precise reason why so many countries are teaching English, to provide some sort of access to the power that resides in the English speaking countries. The implied power that resides in English is another force for assimilation. For decades, native languages across North America have been in decline; a large reason being that parents feared that teaching their children in the native language would hinder their English, and, therefore, access to its power. In the past twenty years with the advent of standardized testing, all of which was in English, many schools taught to the standards of the test, adding insult to injury.
Despite the havoc that English has already caused, there is no sign that things will change anytime soon. Just over one billion people speak it, making it the most spoken language worldwide. Non-native speakers outnumber native speakers nearly 2 to 1. What can be done to dethrone English? At this point, most likely nothing, barring a truly world changing event. This begs the question, what can be done to undo the havoc on the local level? Language nests have shown some promise, and other language revitalization efforts across the globe have been undertaken. As of writing, the only example of complete language revitalization/revival is that of Hebrew.
If you are of a heritage that belongs to an endangered language, do what you can and be patient. Attend meetings, learn how to read, practice speaking. Even speakers native to the language are not experts, as not every English speaker can write like Ernest Hemingway or Shakespeare. We only need to save our world, not the whole world.
Cat aulukekuvki, tamakut cat aulukciqaatgen.