Talking to Machines: The Political Ascendance of the English Language in Computer Programming by Ejilayomi Mimiko B.A. (History), Simon Fraser University, 2018 Extended Essay Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the School of Communication (Dual Degree Program in Global Communication) Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology © Ejilayomi Mimiko 2019 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2019 Copyright in this Work rests With the author. Please ensure that any reproduction or re-use is done in accordance With the relevant national copyright legislation. Approval Name: Ejilayomi Mimiko Degree: Master of Arts Title: Talking to Machines: The Political Ascendance of the English Language in Computer Programming Supervisory Committee: Program Director Katherine Reilly, Professor Yuezhi Zhao Senior Supervisor Professor Katherine Reilly Program Director Associate Professor Date Approved: 29th August, 2019. ii Abstract This essay explores possible reasons Why English has become the "default" natural language from Which programming commands are borroWed. Programming languages like C, C++, Java and Python use English keywords exclusively. The essay explores the social factors that underlie this phenomenon and how traditional poWer hierarchies are perpetuated. The essay is a critical response to the emancipatory rhetoric that ushered in the creation and popularization of the digital computer. It uses the story of ALGOL project to illustrate how technical goals are shaped by social factors Which inevitably reify inequality into technological artefacts. ALGOL, an attempt to create a standardized machine independent universal programming language, While answering a significant amount of technical questions, did not bridge the natural language gap. By Way of historical exploration, I argue this result is an expression of American globalization of the computing industry. Keywords: Computer Programming; English Language; Linguistic Imperialism; Media Archaeology; Communication Studies iii Dedication For the person I started Writing my first essays to, the woman Who stopped everything to make me Whole When I Was incomplete and the man Whose path I failed to neglect. Emiope, Mǎàmi and Daddy iv Table of Contents Approval.......................................................................................................................... ii Abstract...........................................................................................................................iii Dedication ...................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ v List of Figures ................................................................................................................ vi List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1. Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 1.1. Programming and Binary representation .............................................................. 2 1.2. English and Computer Programming .................................................................... 4 Chapter 2. Computing Technology and Society ...................................................... 7 2.1. Philosophies of Technology .................................................................................. 7 2.2. Social Dimensions of Computing Media ............................................................... 9 2.2.1. Media archaeology of Computational Media .................................................. 9 2.2.2. Computers as Organisms ............................................................................ 10 2.2.3. Race and Computer Architecture................................................................. 11 2.2.4. Noise and Computation ............................................................................... 12 2.2.5. Reactionary Standardization........................................................................ 14 2.3. Effects of English Centered Programming .......................................................... 14 Chapter 3. Linguistic Imperialism ........................................................................... 17 3.1. European Linguistic Expansion .......................................................................... 18 3.2. The Spread of English ........................................................................................ 18 3.3. United States takes the Linguistic Helm.............................................................. 19 3.4. English and European Languages ...................................................................... 20 3.5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 4. The Development of the American Computing Industry ..................... 23 4.1. The American Iron Triangle ................................................................................ 24 4.2. Coming to Europe .............................................................................................. 26 4.3. United States of European Countries ................................................................. 28 4.4. Programming Language and Natural Language ................................................. 29 4.4.1. Development of High-Level Programming Languages ................................. 30 4.4.2. Programming as Language ......................................................................... 33 4.5. Linguistic choices: ALGOL, SIMULA, C, C++ ..................................................... 35 Chapter 5. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 39 5.1. Parallels of Emancipatory Rhetoric ..................................................................... 40 5.2. Points of Control and Access .............................................................................. 41 5.3. English and Technical Democracy...................................................................... 42 References .................................................................................................................. 43 v List of Figures Figure 1.1: Python Keywords .......................................................................................... 5 Figure 1.2: C keywords ................................................................................................... 5 vi List of Acronyms ACM Association of Computing Machinery COBOL Common Business Language DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency EDVAC Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer ENIAC Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer FORTRAN Formula Translation GAMM German Society for Applied Mathematics and Mechanics GE General Electric IBM International Business Machine ICC International Computing Center IFIP International Federation for Information Processing IMF International Monetary Fund MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NDRC National Defense Research Committee NSA National Security Agency ONR Office of Naval Research OSRD Office of Scientific Research and Development R&D Research and Development RCA Radio Corporation of America SQL Structured Query Language UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNIVAC Universal Automatic Computer US United States USAID United States Agency for International Development vii Chapter 1. Introduction “If we want America to stay on the cutting edge, we need young Americans like you to master the tools and technology that will change the way we do just about everything.” - Barack Obama 1 The computer noW plays an undeniably fundamental role in the Way We live in the 21st century. This has been documented, researched and over-debated. More than an instrument to make lives easier, It has become the source of meaning and, at other times, the source of unmitigated disaster (“Google,” n.d.). This document is a product of Work done entirely through the assistance of various computers. At the same time, there is an ever-increasing number of devices and systems that have become computers. The definitions of What computers are is becoming more inclusive. This is due to the ever- increasing ease With Which computing machinery and memory can be cramped into small tiny chips (Ensmenger, 2010, p. 4; O’Regan, 2012, pp. 29–30). Entire cities, cars, pens, fridges, microWaves, traffic lights, have been embedded With tiny computational devices that have made them very responsive to human interaction. The development of netWork computing, best exemplified by the internet, ushered in With it, the information age. Theoretically, everyone can be connected to this great netWork. Making access to information appear more democratized and decentralized. This alloWed the compression of time (and partly space) at such a high magnitude that relative to the neW millennium, human life Was drudging along at speeds analogous to that of an Aesopian tortoise. Summarily, the ubiquity of the computer in our daily lives cannot be understated. It is with these in mind that this project addresses a fundamental question – HoW have we been communicating With the device that