Linguistic
imperialism is defined as the transfer of a dominant language and aspects of
its culture, to speakers of other languages. Linguistic imperialism occurs
when the language of a large or dominant population or the language of power
transfers to other people in the same or neighboring areas. There are many
types of linguistic imperialism and many causes of it. Causes include
immigration, education, trade as well as religion. Such changes in language can
be forced or can take place through natural changes.
Immigration
is a large cause of linguistic imperialism. This is most often seen as the act
of an invading or migrating people making others learn their language. From
research, it was discovered that at the end of the Roman Empire in the 4th and
5th centuries AD, a number of Germanic peoples moved westward into the Empire’s
territories. Of those invading powers, many took control of the area, but their
responses to the indigenous language varied. The Angles, Saxons and Jutes managed
to eradicate the language of the native Romano-British. On the other hand, the
Franks who invaded Gaul and the Ostragoths, who invaded Iberia, both adopted
the language of the native population. From this we could see how there are two
main ways that immigration can cause linguistic imperialism; from invading
countries forcing their language on the country they are invading and
eradicating it's language or from immigrants adopting to the language of the
country they migrated to. We could argue that perhaps when we consider some practices that were
done , and are still done, in the context of immigration presently as
linguistic imperialism. When immigrant children are taught the language of the
place they are migrating to, they are taught to speak the language and given
the idea that the reason they are there is to learn the language. It was
realized that advice that teachers usually give to parents is to speak and
practice the language at home; this is when neither parents nor children speak
that language and have a chance to speak their original language. And
thus children start losing their original language and associated traditions
and culture.
We as human
beings live in a world categorized by gender, race, nationality, culture
and language. We cannot separate these aspects in life because we
need them all and language plays an essential part as it distinguishes us from
other ethnics in the world. Language in the context of social identity is
describes in terms of cultural specific vocabulary, context-sensitive topics
and shared attitudes. Language is naturally essential to the expression of
culture and is a medium
of instruction and a way of communicate and preserve values, beliefs
and customs. this is why linguistic imperialism is believed to indeed be a
social tragedy. When a language dies, so much is lost because the
traditions and history it once preserved is lost with it. We could see these
effects in many endangered languages presently and immigrant or
third-culture children.