A Correlational Case of English

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Hegemony of the Empire to the Language Hegemony: A Correlational Case of English [PP: 150-161] Al Tiyb Al Khaiyali Department of English, Faculty of Arts, University of Sebha Sebha, Libya Omran Akasha Washington State University Pullman-WA, USA ABSTRACT Language and power have been interlinked and are noticeable in the form of presence of languages like English, French and Spanish in different countries around the world due to rules of British, French and Spanish colonies. The colonial empires made systematic attempts for linguistic and cultural colonization as well making people believe that the language of colonial rulers was superior to their local languages. The spread of English around the globe today had its roots in the colonial empire of British. Through the power, which these rulers enjoyed, they established the hegemony of their language. And in the present day, the economic and military powers of these hegemonic powers are also serving as the tools to establish their linguistic hegemony. With this background, the present paper seeks to review how hegemony of power, which Britain and America enjoyed and enjoy, is correlational with the hegemony of English language spread and use around the globe. Keywords: Language, Power, Colonization, Hegemony, English language ARTICLE The paper received on Reviewed on Accepted after revisions on INFO 01/01/2018 03/02/2018 25/04/2018 Suggested citation: Al Khaiyali, T. & Akasha, O. (2018). Hegemony of the Empire to the Language Hegemony: A Correlational Case of English. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 6(1). 150-161.

1. Introduction spread of English and its common use Reading this article makes one of the around the globe. The main reasons for the 1.6 billion people in the world who speak hegemony of English over other world English as either a first or a second languages are the previous strong power of language. It is common to hear that Arab the British Empire and the current political, people, for example, who speak Arabic as a military and technological power of the mother tongue, speak English too as a United States. second or foreign language. However, it is The importance of this language is that not common to hear that English native it goes hand in hand with the technological speakers speak Arabic as a second or foreign progression in the 20th century. People all language. It is also common to hear that a over the world are now seeking to learn Chinese student can read and write in English for many reasons such as travelling, English, but it is not common for English or business, learning sciences and technology, American students to speak or write in etc. In his speech about the world's language Mandarin. The case can be true for other on the 17 January 2008, the Prime Minister languages all over the world. The English of Britain, Gordon Brown stated that- language is the language that is used as a The English language, like football second language in most parts of the world. and other sports, began here and has spread In Europe, for example, a large number of to every corner of the globe. Today more young learners learn English as a second than a billion people speak English. It is language who speak one of the European becoming the world‟s language: the language of the internet, of business, of languages: French; German; Italian; and international flight - the pathway of global Spanish. Based on these facts, the question communication and global access to which is raised in this context is why knowledge. And it has become the vehicle Chinese people speak and use English and for hundreds of millions of people of all not vice versa, though the number of countries to connect with each other, in Mandarin speakers is larger than English? countless ways. Indeed, English is much There are some factors that explain the more than a language: it is a bridge across

Hegemony of the Empire to the Language Hegemony: A Correlational … Al Tiyb Al Khaiyali & Omran Akasha

borders and cultures, a source of unity in a approximately 200 B.C, the dominance of rapidly changing world. (No 10 Downing Roman Empire was solidified based on Street) many factors including the victory in most Roman conquests and the emergence of Indeed, it is the language used in Christianity. technology, policy, economics, education, During the time of Alexander, media, international organizations, and Emperor Trajan and afterwards Caesar, the companies, military, and food as well. No entire ancient world, from Persia to Spain, one can argue about the wide spread of the and later from Palestine to Morocco were English language around the globe which it under the rule of Rome. The time of can be described as the world language. conquests corresponded with the dominance Thus, the purpose of this paper was to of Latin. Latin literature and culture were highlight the historic relation of power and distributed in Roman colonies. Indeed, most language expansion “linguistic hegemony”. of the Latin language and culture were This paper is divided into three influenced by Greek because of the effect of sections: The first section discusses the the powerful Greek civilization on the historical background of the previous Roman Empire in many aspects such as empires: Latin; Arabic; and Spanish, which literature, sciences, philosophy, and took place in different parts of the world and architecture. Roman aristocratic classes had dominated the world across different enrolled their children in Greek institutions. periods of time. In the second section, we For example, “in the first century B.C review the history of the English language Gaulish notables were sending their children during the British Empire between the 16th th to be educated in Greek in Massalis” (Ostler, and 20 century in which English started 2005 p.252). Many philosophers, scientists spreading around the globe resulting the and authors like Cicero, Caesar Ovid, Virgil largest empire in history. The other factors and Horace played a significant role in that helped accelerate the use of English flourishing and promoting Latin during the worldwide where English was recognized as golden ages of the Roman Empire. In the the world language are also discussed. In the 13th century, many Latin schools had been third section, we refer to some factors, established throughout the Roman Empire; which may contribute to the decline of and more emphasis was placed on science, English. philosophy and religion. 2. Historical Background: Empires and Around 29 A.D., a struggle started their Languages between the preservatives „Romans who The spread of many languages over were against Christianity‟ and Christians. history was connected with cultural, This struggle lasted for a long period of time demographic and religious factors; however, and ended with the decline of temples of the the political factor of sovereignty was old Roman Gods and the dominance of considered the most effective. The world‟s Christianity (Creighton, 1986, p.95-96,112- history witnessed the emergence and decline 113). With the time Romans embraced of many empires including Greek, Roman, Christianity as a primary religion and they Islamic, Spanish, Persian, Turkish, started spreading it all over the Empire. The Portuguese, English, and recently the spread of Christianity played an essential American. The purpose of this section is to role in enhancing Latin where churches took shed light on three of the most dominant place in teaching Latin in the regions that Empires in history; Roman, Islamic, had no schools. Spanish, and how their dominance was The Roman Empire declined at the end correlated to the dominance of their of 16th century; however, Latin did not languages (i.e., Latin, Arabic, and Spanish). decline at the same time. According to 2.1 Roman Empire and the Dominance of Ostler (2005), there had been three declining Latin (753-476 B.C.) periods of Latin. The decline started in the The Roman Empire was considered second half of the first millennium A.D and the third leading Empire that dominated the reached its climax in 1687 after the ancient world after the decline of Greek and publication of the last well-known scientific Persian Empires. Historians actually did not book in Latin, Principia, by Newton (Ostler, agree about the specific date of the Roman 2005, p.315-330). Historians searched for a Empire emergence; nevertheless, most long time to work out the precise causes for historical resources agreed that the Romans the decline of the Roman Empire and its were emerging in the ancient world in 753 primary language „Latin‟; however, most of B.C. (Creighton, 1986, p.7). In them agreed that civil wars, Barbarian

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International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies (www.eltsjournal.org) ISSN:2308-5460 Volume: 06 Issue: 01 January-March, 2018 invasions, and the emergence of another enhancing Arabic language and culture. powerful 'Islamic' Empire are the main Many figures contributed to the scientific causes of the Roman Empire‟s collapse and linguistic development during the (Creighton, 1986, p.117-118). Though more Islamic Empire; Al Beroni who first than three decades passed from the decline discovered the earth was a sphere, Abn Sina, of Latin, however, its roots extended to most who first discovered blood circulation, Al Italian and Portuguese languages and Khoarzmi, who first sat the Al Jebra role in influenced other Indo-European languages; Maths in which he created the Arabian English, French, German, Dutch and numbers and established some basic roles in Swedish contain many Latin words. This multiplication and subtraction. Later, many could be considered a clear indication of its resources were translated from Arabic into power and hegemony. most of the worlds' languages; this could 2.2 Islamic Empire and the Dominance of also be an indication of the value of Islamic Arabic (636-1492) civilization. Arabic is considered one of the In the eighth and nineth centuries the Semitic languages. Its extension went back Islamic empire went into decline; more to the fourth century B.C. At that time specifically the fall of Cordoba in 1236, Arabic was a minor language; the majority Seville in 1248 and Granada in 1492 marked of its speakers were desert Bedouins and the actual decline of Islam and Arabic. pastoralists. The dominance of Arabic went Political corruption led many Islamic hand in hand with the spread of the Islamic districts to be divided from the ruling of Empire around 630 A.D. Actually, most head state; this made most of such districts Islamic principles and instructions promoted occupied by Turkish and then allied the Arabic language. This fact was countries. Also, the other important factor demonstrated by one of the most popular that contributed to the decline of the Islamic sayings of the prophet Mohamed „peace be Empire was the division of Islam into many upon him‟ when he said “Love the Arabs for cults such as Sheiaah, Sonnah, three reasons: because I am an Arab, Moutazallah…etc. These cults weakened the because the Quran is in Arabic and because unity of Islamic Empire and contributed to the inhabitants of paradise speak Arabic” its collapse. However, the influence of (Ostler, 2005, p.93). The dominance of Arabic is still noticeable in most of the Arabic during the Islamic Empire was due to Islamic Empire‟s previous colonies. There the spread of Islam and the progression of are many Arabic words in Spanish, Arabian culture and science. Portuguese, Turkish, Swahili, Serbian and The spread of Islam developed in a Hebrew. parallel line with the spread of Arabic 2.3 Spanish Empire and the Dominance of language: “Arabic Language was used in a Spanish (1516-1714) unique way in the spread of this religion” The fall of the Islamic Empire in (Ostler, 2005 p.94). After the prophet Granada in 1492 marked the starting point of Mohamed „peace upon him‟ left this earthly the foundation of the Spanish Empire which world in 632 C.E, the Islamic Empire was considered the first Empire in modern expanded to reach China to the east, Persia history. The Spanish Empire lasted from the and Turkey to the North, and Egypt and beginning of 15th century to the middle of North Africa to the West. Some 6000 19th century. Most historians considered the kilometers away at the other end of Islam‟s Spanish Empire as the first global Empire domains, in the Iberian Peninsula, Islam because it was the first Empire that reached overspread as the army led by Tariq bin to the world‟s largest continents. It started in Ziyad crossed the Strait of Gibraltar (Jibl Europe, spread to Africa, to Asia and finally Tariq, the mountain of Tariq) in 711 C.E. to South and North America. This After many victories in Portugal, Spain, dominance was related to many factors. The Italy, Cyprus, Malta, and South Russia, the most significant ones were the growth of the Islamic army was defeated by the French in Spanish Empire‟s power alongside the a battle called „Balat Al Shouhada‟. increase of its colonies and the role of Alongside the role of Islam in Columbus‟ journeys in the discovery of far distribution of Arabic language, Muslims places of the world that became Spanish founded solid and civilized institutions in colonies and territories (Merriman, 1999, their colonies. During the Islamic Empire, p.19-24). medical sciences, geometry, geography, After Spain was unified by Isabella I poetry, architecture and many other sciences and Ferdinand V, many colonies and progressed, which was very important in territories were held by the Spanish Empire

Cite this article as: Al Khaiyali, T. & Akasha, O. (2018). Hegemony of the Empire to the Language Hegemony: A Correlational Case of English. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 6(1). 150-161. Page | 152

Hegemony of the Empire to the Language Hegemony: A Correlational … Al Tiyb Al Khaiyali & Omran Akasha

in Europe, Africa, the Canary Islands, Asia, and slave trade at that time. The Spanish Oceania, North America, and South civil war, the growth of the British Empire America. Most Spanish conquests aimed to and the political and social crisis that the spread of Christianity and expanding the appeared in Spain in 1917 were major empire colonies. “The Spanish approach to factors in the Spanish Empire‟s decline Christianity emphasized high-level authority (Balfour, 1997, p.200-214). as a guarantee of orthodoxy” (Ostler, 2005 The expansion of new Empires such as p.333). The Spanish conquests reached their English, French, American, Portuguese, and climax in the time of Charles III, when the German played a significant role in the Spanish army approached South Africa and decline of the Spanish Empire. In addition moved far into Mexico, Venezuela, and the defeat of the Spanish army on French most of the Caribbean islands. Alongside the borders by Napoleon, and in 1898 Spanish spread of Spanish colonies and the forces led by Admiral Patricio were defeated foundation of many Orthodox Churches in by the U.S. Navy led by Commodore most of those colonies, the Spanish language George Dewey. Also, many Spanish witnessed the highest growth at the end of colonies and territories gained their 14th century. During the time of John II at independence in Portugal, Mexico, Cuba and the beginning of the15th century the Catholic the Philippines. The loss of most of the Church took the role and the sovereignty of Spanish Empire‟s colonies and territories, Catholicism approached most Spanish particularly the wealthy ones in the colonies, nevertheless, Spanish was Caribbean islands, the Philippines and South dramatically growing (Merriman, 1999, America created a lack in the economic p.19-24). resources and accordingly the destruction of During the period from 1492 to 1529, the economic resources in the Empire. the role of the Spanish Empire‟s expansion 3. Correlation of World’s Empires with was held by Columbus, who was sponsored the Dominance of their Languages and supported by Queen Isabella and King As we have seen so far, most of the Ferdinand. In 1493 Columbus returned to ancient world‟s Empires had almost similar Spain with his important discovery about the emergence and decline conditions. They “Indian” islands, Caribbean islands, and were based on religious foundations. The Latin America. Seven years later, Columbus major criterion of language distribution was was sent back with Spanish military forces colonialism and civilization. Nevertheless, and 17 ships. This voyage was crucial in the great ancient Empires left back languages establishment and expansion of the Spanish that have survived until our current time. Empire and the discovery of the new world. 4. The New Empire and the Hegemony of Essentially, Columbus opened the door for English the new world discovery to be the new As we discussed in previous sections Spanish Empire. about the different empires across history It was not until 17th and 18th centuries and interrelations in power, language, and when the Spanish Empire reached its golden religious sovereignty, this section will shed age. Many Spanish legacies were distributed light on the most powerful empire which all over the colonies. There were strong lasted from the end of the 16th century to the progresses in science, industry, commerce, 20th century- „the British Empire‟. Through and agriculture. In the18th century, many this section, we would also explain the schools were opened in Spain and its factors that made the Empire last for such a colonies for promoting Spanish and the use long time. The relationship of the British Arabic or other languages was prohibited Empire and the spread of the English particularly in Spain (Kamen, 2003, p. 493- language are also discussed. In addition, the 496). The Spanish Empire took an important new imperialism that dominated the world part in spreading Spanish education to most today by its economic, political, colonies to extend its investments. For technological, and military powers is instance, in 1522 the Spanish took a highlighted. Some important factors which significant part in a silver investment in let the English language be spoken by a Mexico and Peru. In addition, the growth of large number of people around the globe are the Spanish sailing trade expanded the usage finally explained. of the Spanish language all over the world. 4.1 The British Empire Though the Spanish Empire did not The British Empire played an influence the culture of its colonies, most of important role in the spread of the English its colonies adopted the Spanish language. language by forcing local people to speak This might be due to the role of Churches the language in order to communicate with

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International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies (www.eltsjournal.org) ISSN:2308-5460 Volume: 06 Issue: 01 January-March, 2018 native English speakers such as North English-language daily newspaper, The America and Australia. It was also spread by Straits Times, which began publication in considering English as a way to obtain 1845" (p. 50). In the Asian regions, the economic and social aims in other areas such dominance of English could be found in the as Africa, Asia and Oceania (Australia). The language of government and the legal spread of the British Empire made the system as is the case in Singapore, whereas English language widely spoken in different English is used as a foreign language as is areas. Although the British Empire declined the case in Malaysia. In addition to the use in the 20th century, the language remains of English mixed with Chinese language as spoken in its colonies such as India where a is the case in Hong Kong. Media is large number of people speak English and it dominated by the English language in Papua is also the official language of the country. New Guinea so it is common to see At the end of the 16th century, the advertisements, listen to the radio or watch English language started as a first move local channels in English. towards globalization. At that time, it is The largest country where English believed that the number of English speakers along with Hindi was considered to be the worldwide was about 6 million; however, official languages is India. Since it was the number increased dramatically to reach occupied by the British between 1858 and about 250 million between 1588 and 1952. 1947, the country has adopted English in This increase was due to the spread of the most of its sectors. Crystal (1997) clarified British Empire in the world (Crystal 1997). the use of English in different sectors: "legal At the time of its peak in the late 19th system, government administration, century and the beginning of the 20th secondary and higher education, the armed century, the British Empire ruled about one forces, the media, business and tourism" (p. quarter of the world's population and it 43). It could be clearly seen that the British covered about a quarter of the world's land. Empire reached areas from east to west of Because of this spread of the empire, it has the world. After the decline of the British been described as the empire on which the Empire, the United States took over the sun never sets. English has increased spread of the English language in the world. through the spread of British colonies The spread of languages across the world throughout the world such as India, would be discussed next to give more details America, Africa, Australia, and Canada, etc. about the major languages and their These countries still use English as either the speakers. main language, a second language, or a 4.2 Language Spread foreign language. The language is still used It is worth discussing the spread of as an official language in West African languages across the world in order to countries such as Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, highlight the most spoken language and Zimbabwe. It is also still used as a compared to other languages and what are second language in West African countries the reasons for this spread. We took an such as Ghana, Nigeria, and Liberia. example of a graph from Fishman (1997) However, there are some West African which indicated the number of people in countries such as Kenya and Tanzania, millions of different existing languages where English had been used as an official around the globe. Figure (1) shows that the language, but was later replaced by Swahili, largest spoken language in the world is (Crystal, 1997: 43-49). Chinese followed by English where the In general, the dominance of English number exceeds 300 million. Although the could be clearly seen in most West African largest spoken language is Chinese, English countries as a result of the British Empire. In is the most dominant language in the world. South-east Asia and the South Pacific region Chinese is the most spoken language the dominance of English has affected the because the population of Chinese people is government administration and law. Crystal the largest in the world. However, it is still (1997) stated that "English had come to be limited to Chinese people whereas English is established throughout the region, spoken in different areas around the globe (Singapore, Hong Kong, Papua New either as a first or a second language. Guinea, and Malaysia) as the medium of law and administration, and was being increasingly in other contexts (p. 50)." Crystal provided an example of the dominance of English in a newspaper as he states that "A famous example was the

Hegemony of the Empire to the Language Hegemony: A Correlational … Al Tiyb Al Khaiyali & Omran Akasha

Figure 2: The three circles of world English speakers as explained in Crystal (1997: 54) According to Ferguson (2005), "the spread and decline of a language is causally linked to the power and the fortunes of their speakers rather than to any properties of the language code" (p. 110). Accordingly the author emphasized the main factors that contributed to the spread of English Figure 1: The major world languages with their language globally: The British Empire and speakers-the number of people quoted from the growing economic, military and political Fishman (1997) dominance of the United States in the late It is apparently demonstrated that 20th century. In another definition, Cooper learning English as a second language was (1982) in Phillipson (1992) defined the most common in different parts of the world. spread of language as "an increase, over It could also be clearly noticed that the time, in the proportion of a communication number of English learners as a second network that adopts a given language or language was more than the number of language variety for a given communicative native speakers. function" (p. 78). Some of the factors as The spread of English was described mentioned by Lewis (1982) in Phillipson by the linguist Braj Kachru mentioned in (1992: 78) could be summarized as Crystal (1997) as three circles: the inner colonization and modernization (economic circle; the outer circle; and the expanding development). The latter was the case of the circle (p. 53). The inner circle represented United States in the current time whereas the the native speakers of English such as the former was the case of the British Empire case in the U.S.A, the U.K, Ireland, Canada, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Australia, and New Zealand. The number of 4.3 The Americanization of the World speakers was estimated to be between 320 The new dominance of English was and 380 million. The outer circle represented slightly different from the previous one the speakers of English as a second language which was guided by the British Empire. where the language plays an important role The Americanization of the world is now in the country such as the case in India, turning to a new era where people are Singapore, and Malawi, etc. The number of dominated by their desire to learn speakers was estimated to be between 150 technology, watch the latest Hollywood and 300 million. The expanding circle productions, or drive the most luxurious represented the users of English as a foreign Cadillac. The world is also dominated by the language where the country recognizes the multinational companies such as McDonalds importance of English and therefore English which are described by some scholars as is taught as a foreign language such as the McDonaldization of the world. We argue case in Japan, Greece, Poland, Russia and that the United States has dominated the China. The number of speakers was world in different aspects: economically, estimated to be between 100 and 1000 technologically, militarily, and politically. million. Figure (2) clearly shows the 5. Factors behind Dominance of English distribution of the three circles of world over other World Languages language speakers proposed by Crystal It is not easy to adopt one language to (1997). be used as the world language. However, it is the best way to find a solution to the translation problems which, in some cases, can cause misunderstanding between countries. One of the problems people of the world face today is how they can communicate and understand each other. Today, there might be a need to have an international means of communication that can be shared by people all over the world. This need is triggered by the over-flow of people and the dramatic increase of migration. People can now move easily to live in different countries. They can also start business with other people around the

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International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies (www.eltsjournal.org) ISSN:2308-5460 Volume: 06 Issue: 01 January-March, 2018 globe by using the Internet. It is also "the BBC World Service was one of the few possible now to transfer knowledge between broadcasting institutions with worldwide people in an easy way via simply a mouse reach" (p. 46). According to Crystal (1997), click. People can also participate in a group the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) of their interest to share ideas with each started in 1919 followed by the KDKA in other. All of these can be true if one Pennsylvania in 1920 (p. 87). Technology language can be spoken by these groups. helped the dominance of English worldwide The challenge is which language can be because most of the global movies, news, adopted to be used by a large number of documentaries, and science fictions are people around the globe who speak as many broadcasted in English. Although there are a as 7000 languages? Graddol (1997) stated large number of other languages in media that the number of people is over 1,400 today, the English language is still at the top million people of countries with English because it is being used worldwide as a being used officially according to the 2000 language of some local newspapers, local project of the British Council in 1995. They TV channels, and local radios. For example, estimated that by the year 2000 "over one in Libya where English is not highly used in billion people will be learning English. the government, they have English local English is the main language of books, newspapers such as The Tripoli Post and Al- newspapers, airports and air-traffic control, Fajral-Jadeed besides the local English international business and academic radio channel. This situation may also exist conferences, science technology, diplomacy, in other countries around the globe which sport, international competitions, pop music can be seen as a result of the dominance of and advertising" (p. 2). We argue that there the English language. should be a common second language that The wide spread of English through all people around the world can speak. the media can affect other cultures as we can English is now the language which can be see, for example, in the power of used as a second language due to its advertisements and how people may get hegemony over the technology and other influenced by other cultures. Loutzenheiser factors that will be discussed later. (2005) discussed the opposite direction of 5.1 The Importance of a Global Language media which can harm other cultures. She As we discussed earlier, the world has stated that "One society's media dominate become a small village of people who speak another country's culture" (p. 126). It is now different languages. Therefore, one language more dangerous than ever as it can be should be adopted in order to facilitate the possible to broadcast a channel from any communication process between these part of the world to the rest of the world. groups. Crystal (1997) stated that it is very The governments now have less control to easy to communicate with other people protect their cultures and therefore it is either around the globe or your under the power of English. For example, neighborhood by using email. This is due to the impact of movies, on people can be a the advanced technology which makes the serious threat to the culture as mentioned by world as a village, more precisely as a global German director Wim Wenders, quoted in village. To live in a global village, you need Crystal (1997): "People increasingly believe to communicate with your global neighbors in what they see, and they buy what they for many reasons. For example, you may believe in…People use, drive, wear, eat, see, need to establish a business company and buy what they see in the movies" (p. somewhere in this global village, you may 91). Crystal then argues that "If this is true, need to have friends who have similar then the fact that most movies are made in interests, you may need to sell or buy things the English language must surely be in a global market, or you may need to warn significant, at least in the long term" (p. 91). others of a dangerous disease that is 5.3 Internet spreading around the globe. The world today Through the spread of internet has changed in a way that different technology, the world became more organizations establish which concerns are sophisticated. Now the world is connected important about some issues such as through internet technology which becomes Greenpeace that is concerned about global one of the necessities that every government warming and genetic engineering…etc. and individual should rely on. The power of 5.2 Media the internet could be seen in our life-style English was the first language to be where people are dominated by the use of used in televisions, radios, newspapers, and internet in different aspects such as learning, advertisements. Graddol (1997) argued that shopping, making friends around the globe,

Hegemony of the Empire to the Language Hegemony: A Correlational … Al Tiyb Al Khaiyali & Omran Akasha

watching international and even local channels, reading the news and searching for certain information, introducing oneself to the world, and sending and receiving huge files to and from others around the globe. In this respect, Graddol (1997) pointed out that: 90% of internet hosts are based in English-speaking countries. It is not surprising; therefore, that the majority of traffic and the majority of web sites are based in English and that those users based in other languages, find they have to communicate with others in the cyberspace community through the medium of English. Internet also gave the world people an (p. 61). opportunity to share the same things in an People cannot overlook this sort of easy way. For example, in the past it was technology; therefore, it is much common to find that some English recommended to learn the language which is magazines and/or newspapers were used most on the internet. For example, the prohibited in some countries due to the spread of some important web pages such as contents either against the country‟s belief global universities make people eager to or against the government‟s policies. learn English in order to have an opportunity However, nowadays the case is completely to study advanced degrees. Moreover, it is different since the government hegemony on possible to participate in online courses from newspapers and magazines does not exist anywhere in the world. Specter (1996) in anymore. Roth and Selander (2008) argued Crystal (1997) stated that "If you want to that- take full advantage of the internet there is Once a standardized language and only one way to do it: learn English, which symbols were in place in the earlier stages of has more than ever become America's nation-building, people could access greatest and most effective export" (p. 107). information from mass newspapers, and the According to the latest statistics by very fact that two people on a Train could Internet World Stats (2009) of the global see each other reading the same paper served internet users, the English language was at to reinforce a sense of belonging to the same national community; nowadays the use of the top of other world languages with 452 Internet may have the same or similar effect million users. The number of English users of reinforcing a sense of a global was larger than the Chinese. However, the community. (p. 207) Chinese language was the most spoken 5.4 Computer Technology language in the world as mentioned earlier. The spread of computers worldwide An analysis of the Internet users in the world helped the spread of the English language. clearly showed that there were about In the case of programming language of 451,951,053 English speakers using the computers, for example, it was not possible internet which represented about 28.6 % of for other languages to be used. Hence, the the world‟s Internet users. It is also proved only language in use was English. The that the estimated world population of programming language could be seen, for English in 2008 was about 1,247,862,351, example, in JAVA (Sun Microsystems), see Table: 1. HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) for Table: 1 An Analysis of the top 10 Languages of web pages. The use of such language was the Internet users in the World 2008 quoted from still limited to English. Recently, some Internet World Stats available at efforts have been made to use different http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm languages as interfaces of computer software products such as the use of Windows or Office. However, the use of this software was still limited. Graddol (1997) stated that- Besides consumer applications software, such as word processors and spreadsheets, there now exist a wide range of software products designed for natural language manipulation: parsing tools, abstracting and information retrieval, speech recognition and automatic translation. The

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies (www.eltsjournal.org) ISSN:2308-5460 Volume: 06 Issue: 01 January-March, 2018 Page | 157

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies (www.eltsjournal.org) ISSN:2308-5460 Volume: 06 Issue: 01 January-March, 2018

majority of this research and development mentioned by Gibbs (1995) in Graddol work is carried out in the U.S, Europe and (1997), described the shift of one of the Japan. At present the most advanced tools scientific Mexican journals from publishing are based in English (p. 30). its journal in their national language into Graddol gave an explanation by use English. At the beginning, the journal of a graph, which showed the power of the shifted to publish abstracts in English, and English language among other languages in then another shift occurred later by offering computer software. We used the data in the an English translation of each article. The graph to create a chart, which can clarify the biggest change then occurred when the major languages in the world where journal began accepting only articles written software is used. Figure (3) shows that the in English followed by the change of the English language (29%) was highly used journal's name to an English one (p. 9). among other languages such as French According to Graddol (1997), "Worldwide, (18%), German (14%), Spanish (13%), English is the most popular language of Italian (11%), Portuguese (6%), Japanese publication" (p. 9). Graddol provided a (4%), Russian (3%) and finally Arabic (2%). graph of the number of annually published books in the English language as considered the most widely used language in the world at 28% followed by Chinese at 13%. 5.6 Multinational Companies The huge increase in the number of international companies helps the English language to be more globalized. Most of the multinational companies which can be seen everywhere in the world are related to the businesses in the United States. For example, the Microsoft Company which deals in computer software has different branches around the world. This company was originally based in the U.S.A. and then Figure: 3 The distribution of software industry spread around the globe. This company has among languages-data quoted from Graddol influenced all people around the globe (1997, p. 30) through its updated products of computer 5.5 Education and Immigration technology. Through this technology which There is no doubt that education plays attracted many people globally, the English an important role in developed countries; language moved to these countries very therefore, developing countries are seeking quickly and smoothly. For example, there to acquire this knowledge. It is obvious that are many new English terms in use among students of the developing countries travel to people who speak different languages: the developed countries such as the U.S.A, software, Microsoft Word, Office, Power the U.K, or somewhere else where they can Point, Excel, mouse, format, etc. The power learn some sciences and then transfer this of these multinational companies makes the knowledge to build their countries. world live in a new era, in a global way. However, not all students return home, These multinational companies affect other particularly when they find better jobs and small companies by their wide spread high quality of services and they lack such around the globe. Hence, these companies opportunities in their countries. In addition, supply most of the world‟s products. As a the immigrants who arrived to these result, the world will be dominated by the countries seeking better lives. In this case, new products. For example, the Wal-Mart the number of immigrants will rise in those company has branches in different countries countries which offer good opportunities. around the globe and the number of its It is also clear that most of the sciences employees is 2,055,000 people worldwide. which are being taught in English are either This large number of employees, of one of in the countries where English is used as the the international companies, speaks English mother tongue or as a second language. This as either a first or a second language. fact helps the language to be used widely According to CNN Money, Fortune 500, this around the globe. This will be increased in company was the largest company in the the near future because the number of world in 2008. learners is increasing as well. One example Humes (2008) in Peters, Britton, and of the use of scientific English worldwide as Blee (2008), argued that "economic

Hegemony of the Empire to the Language Hegemony: A Correlational … Al Tiyb Al Khaiyali & Omran Akasha

globalization is driven by trade and growth of English as a global language. In commerce, by currency exchange rates, by this section we are going to hypothesize the the costs and availability of labour, above all possibilities of English decline based on by the aspirations of multinational historical and factual grounds. companies to expand and prosper". Humes 6.1 Linguistic and Educational Prospective went further to say that the power of these The huge expanse of English in companies "is equal to, or in some cases conjunction with the overspread of varieties greater than, nation states" (p. 42). in many English speaking countries and 5.7 Political Hegemony regions threaten the standardization of Although there are as many as five English and generate many local English countries that have the power of veto in the varieties. This according to Graddol (1997) United Nation‟s Security Council, the will hinder the expansion of English as a United States of America has a strong power standardized language, and accordingly will among these countries. This power was generate new independent languages that driven from its military, as well as its might replace English. The rise of this economical, and technological dominance of linguistic issue according to Graddol the world. This fact helped to make English happens because of “the mechanisms which the most used international language when it have helped maintain standard usage in the comes with different languages. For past may not, however, continue to serve example, international organizations such as this function in the future” (p. 56). Such World Health Organization (WHO), World mechanisms include the usage of cultural Trade Organization (WTO), and The World informalities and marginalizing the religious Bank, are now dominating the world. In a role in preserving unity of English. On the sample of 500 international organizations other hand, this issue extends to the selected alphabetically, Crystal (1997) pedagogic scale in which in countries where estimates that 85% of these organizations English is considered a second language use English as the main language, 49% use such as Ghana, Nigeria, India, New Zealand, French as the official language whereas etc. there have been noticeable reforms in fewer than 10% use Arabic, Spanish or curricula content from the linguistic German (p. 79). prospective; many local and informal words 5.8 Military Power have come to enter their curricula in Crystal (1997) stated that "A language integration with English. For instance the becomes an international language for one word spice has been replaced by „yagi‟ in chief reason: the political power of its the Ghanaian formal language and so on. In people –especially their military power" (p. the U.S. alone there has been a dramatic 7). He further supported his arguments by increase in children who learn Mandarin some examples of the history of the from 5000 people in 2004 up to 50,000 in international languages such as the Greek in 2007 (Bart,E. C.B.N. News). This the Middle East for 2,000 years ago; Latin in remarkable increase may have challenging Europe; and Arabic in northern Africa and concerns regarding the spread of English the Middle East. Giving these examples, around the world. Crystal emphasized the role of military 6.2 Economic Prospective power in the language spread throughout the We have seen so far that the collapse world. However, the decline of military of many ancient Empires was due to power will be a result of political decline; economic crisis. The economic prospective hence, global power will move to a new is essential in the dominance of the Empire empire. We guess it is China. The next and its language. The international trade and section discusses the circumstances that may the multinational companies are usually lead to the end of current hegemony of dominated by hegemonic power „English in English language as a global language. 21st century‟; however, the growth of a new 6. The Decline of English power deliberately will shift the hegemony The way that English grows and of the previous Empire. The possibility of expands has never occurred in the history as emergence of new empires like China would we have seen that English is not imposed by open the door to raise the competition force as most other languages. Furthermore, among the world economic growth which the conditions under which English spreads will be crucial in determining the future have not occurred compared to the previous dominant language. Crystal (1997) argued languages. However, new demographics, that in some countries such as Germany, political, economic, and linguistic changes France and Sweden economic investments might be developed and limit the future have been shifted from using the English

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies (www.eltsjournal.org) ISSN:2308-5460 Volume: 06 Issue: 01 January-March, 2018 Page | 159

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies (www.eltsjournal.org) ISSN:2308-5460 Volume: 06 Issue: 01 January-March, 2018 language into using the local language. This language of the globe. Linguistically, the economic national tendency is due to the characters of Mandarin do not match the strong demand among consumers for characters of most living languages, Indo- products and investments that have local European languages, English, Arabic, etc. favor (p. 126-127). Most of the U.S. external Nevertheless, China was unable to impose investments had involved educating the Mandarin during the Olympic Games in labor power using English. However, this is 2008, and the Chinese government was not the case. For example, there has been a forced to use Chinglish (using a Chinese noticeable decline in the Fordism notion in statement with its English equivalent) for China, particularly when the laborers succeeding the games. In addition, the role educational responsibility moved to Chinese of using globalization in its broad sense is institutions. In addition to the U.S. financial significant in the dominance of English; crisis, the strict laws against immigration globalizing the economy, politics, education and the lack of job opportunities in most and even the financial crisis, which wa English speaking countries, especially the finally illustrated at the G8 London Summit U.S. and the U.K. would have its impact on (2009) by Brown, the Prime Minster of the the future of the English language growth in U.K. when he described the financial crisis the world. as a global crisis that must need a global 6.3 Political and Cultural Perspectives solution. In most former British colonies, there 7. Conclusion have been calls to return to the original The purpose of this review was to shed languages, the basis of these calls according light on the interrelations between language to Crystal (1997) was due to and the power of nation (empire) hegemony. cosmopolitanism and the correlation We concluded that the English Empire between colonialism and English. Crystal might last as long as the economic, supported his claim by quoting the speech of technological, political, and military power Kenyatta, the president of Kenya in 1974, remains. However, this cannot be true when he said “The basis of any independent according to the previous empires and to the government is a national language, and we current situation of the world. For example, can no longer continue aping our former the current economic crisis of the U.S. has colonizers” (p. 124). Kenyatta‟s speech affected the entire world in general, and the reflects the influence of nationalism is U.S, in particular. Such failure may weaken growth in the decline of what is called the economic power and hence the military, colonist‟s language. Similarly, Gandhi, the technological, and the political power. The Indian revolutionary, addressed people in a English language; however, may last for speech against using English as an official years, but not forever, as a global language. language in India, as mentioned in Crystal The Mandarin language may stand side by (1997), he addressed that: side with English as international languages To give millions a knowledge of in the near future due to the hegemony of English is to enslave them…Is it not a Chinese products in the international market. painful thing that, if I want to go to a court The growing of the number of Mandarin of justice, I must employ the English learners among American children in the language as a medium; that, when I became past few years may followed by the spread a Barrister, I may not speak my mother- of Mandarin learners worldwide. tongue, and that someone else should have to translate to me from my own language? Is Nevertheless, more research studies need to this not absolutely absurd? Is it not a sign of be conducted in this prospective through slavery? (p. 124). which tracing the languages distribution and Gandhi was a revolutionary against the links them with their state dominance. invasion of English, and he played an important role in the decline of English in References India during his time. The independence of Balfour, S. (1997). The end of Spanish Empire the former British colonies and territories 1898-1923. Oxford: Clarendon Press. would have long term effects on the future Bart, E. (2008). English: No Longer the World Language. Posted to of English dominance, particularly when we http://www.cbn.com/700club/ CBN News consider the nationalism and anti- report posted to colonialism awareness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su6Iw In addressing the English decline, we LTuJWg&feature=related have to consider a replacement language; CNNMoney. (2009). Fortune: Global 500. though Mandarin has more than one billion Retrieved Apr 10, 2009, from speakers, we do not think it can be the

Hegemony of the Empire to the Language Hegemony: A Correlational … Al Tiyb Al Khaiyali & Omran Akasha

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International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies (www.eltsjournal.org) ISSN:2308-5460 Volume: 06 Issue: 01 January-March, 2018 Page | 161