Dominance of English Online and its Threat to Other Languages
The internet as a source of information is not always fair to researchers. some cannot find sources in their native tongue and need to learn another language to find the sources they need, others cannot publish their work unless it is written in English. your task is to write a paper that consists of two sections:
A. Theoretical Section:
1. The dominance of English online as a phenomenon
2. The threat this poses to other languages
3. Kornai (2013) argues that "while clearly digitally vital, [Arabic] has not reached thriving status yet". How far do you agree with this statement?
B. An Empirical section:
1. Choose a term and use the Google search engine to research this term both in Arabic and English. Compare the results in terms of their total number and their reliability.
2. Interview at least two students whose major is not English and explore the challenges of learning in another language with them. Do they prefer studying in English or Arabic? Can they find sources in Arabic? Does the use of English as the medium of instruction pose challenges? What was their language of instruction in high school?
End your project with some suggestions to help develop research in Arabic and increase the presence of Arabic online.
You are advised to:
1. Follow MLA guidelines in formatting your paper.
2. Use the sources on your course page. You should have at least four sources.
3. Respect the privacy of your participants and do not mention their names, explain to them the reasons why you are doing this research and their freedom to withdraw from the project when they need.
4. Your paper cannot be less than 1700 words.
I did the interview with 2 student
One was in a private school and is a graphic design major her name is Noor. While the other is an engineer student and studied in a government school her name is Sarah.
Noor said, "It was easy to transition from high school to university because most of the content were similar. The language part of my major isn't as difficult as the work I have to do as a graphic design."
Sara said, "Because I came from a government school I took IEP for a year before entering first year. I found it very difficult taking English classes because it was hard having to write essay and understanding what the professor wanted. Since Auk is mostly in English I have to stay after class is finished and talk to my professor and ask question. I understand better is if the professor is Kuwaiti but because they manage to help me understand faster. Other than that even now taking classes that involve my major I still have to stay behind and ask questions."
Institutional Affiliation
Course Code/Title
Instructor
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English Globalization
Introduction
The advancement in Internet technologies has made text-based communications through computers and mobile devices a commonplace phenomenon globally. The nature of such communication and, to a larger extent, how it impacts language has attracted increasing interest among researchers seeking to understand how text-based communication differs from speech as a linguistic output (Alsulami 257). While the Internet has become an important source of information among researchers, it has not always been fair as some face challenges finding sources published in their native languages. This limitation drives researchers to learn a different language of the sources they find online. Besides, other scholars have encountered issues during publication as their work cannot get published unless it is written in English. From the linguistic perspective, Mohammed (5) has attempted to understand the impact of globalization on people by considering the role of English and the state of other languages in a globalized world. Using theoretical and empirical approaches, this paper explores the impact of English globalization and provides suggestions to develop research in Arabic and increase the presence of Arabic online.
Theoretical Perspective
The dominance of English online as a phenomenon
Giannakoulopoulos et al. (9) note that more than 80 percent of content published on the Internet is in English. Since the beginning of the Internet and the Worldwide Web, English has been predominant compared to other languages. In the Western world and many other countries, the English language remains the most overriding language, and its impact can be manifested in almost every aspect of communication. Giannakoulopoulos et al. (1) have studied the use of different languages in websites among the European Union (EU) member states to gather data about the prevalence of English as a language. Results from more than 100,000 websites in EU member states indicate that more than a quarter of all websites in non-English speaking EU member states use English. Besides, the study reveals that English appears in a vast majority of websites with bilingual and multilingual functionalities. In addition, the findings show that English is the only language used in many monolingual websites.
Giannakoulopoulos et al. (1) have also found that in many cases, English has become a language of preference over the national languages in many EU member states. In another observation, the study shows a moderate association between the population of member states and the availability of English on their websites. A similar trend is observed with the levels of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These associations demonstrate that smaller countries will tend to prefer English content in their websites to establish stronger ties and presence internationally. Linguistic researchers have expressed concern about the dominance of the English language online as language plays a critical role in national identity. However, to facilitate international communication, the EU member states, including Europe, have embraced English as a lingua franca for many years. A study by Giannakoulopoulos et al. (1) has provided data and invaluable insights that add to the debates about the proposed changes in the national identity of non-English speaking EU member states. The researchers have chosen the EU member states as representative of the nation-states and focused on the impact of language since it is the fundamental determinant of national identity.
Threat to other languages
English is a potential threat to other languages and cultures as it molds individuals to communicate and behave like the English people. Studies have shown that people learning English as a second language are often forced to communicate and behave as Britons or Americans, thus ditching their cultures and adopting foreign values (Mohammed 9). While English has had positive impacts in breaking communication barriers among people from diverse cultural backgrounds and establishing more cohesive communities devoid of cultural differences, the language has become a serious threat to the growth and development of other languages and cultures. Studies about the globalization of the English languages have characterized English as undeniably international and global and compared it to other languages in the world such as Arabic and Latin. However, as Mohammed (9) observes, the dominance of the English language has become a threat to ancient languages like Latin, which is no longer used since its diversity use largely degenerated.
Like other languages such as Arabic, Latin, and Turkish, English was not global and socially and geographically limited. However, with globalization, English has transcended boundaries and penetrated barriers to become an international language while suppressing other languages (Giannakoulopoulos et al. 3). Besides diplomatic and political factors, Giannakoulopoulos et al. (3) identify some of the factors that have enabled the fast spread of English. One of these reasons is that English has a vast amount of literature that has been published both online and in print media. As the English language threatens the use of other languages, societies will continue to witness a loss of fundamental concepts about their cultural practices and values because the English culture is broadly based on the traditions of the English-speaking states such as the United States and Britain.
Arabic and Thriving Status
In investigating the thriving status of the Arabic language, Alsulami (257) has discussed important concepts regarding the Arabizi phenomenon. Arabizi, a...