By Daniel Ward
updated
Wed, Mar 7, 2012 09:15 AM
According to some English-only activists who always seem to
re-emerge in election year, and even former treasury secretary,
Lawrence H. Summers, English's pre-eminence as a global lingua
franca has rendered it unnecessary for English speakers to cater to
speakers of other languages let alone waste valuable time learning
their languages (New York Times, 1/20/12) .
Of course, English is of enormous value and its use as common
means of communication should not be underestimated. Everyone
should be given the opportunity to learn English not only for
practical, economic reasons but also so that they can share in its
abundant vocabulary, its literary treasures, and even its comedic
value. It is for these same reasons that it would be a great pity
for English speakers to miss out on the joys that are part and
parcel of learning another language.
Yes, you can probably get by well enough just speaking English
with a handheld translator at the ready in case you encounter a
"foreigner" - and that's exactly what anyone who doesn't speak
English will remain to you - a "foreigner." So will their culture.
And, lost to you will remain all the possibilities to which that
cultural knowledge may lead.
Armed with a calculator, you can probably also get by without
learning any math, especially algebra (or al-jebr to give it its
original Arabic name), as long as you know your Arabic, or possibly
Roman (Latin) numerals. You may struggle with a lot of concepts,
always pay by card, and find computing pretty tough but you'd
survive. Thankfully, nobody is seriously suggesting that math
classes should be optional let alone dropped from the
curriculum.
Monolingualism should not be part of any young person's
vocabulary: it is an acceptance of limitations. Over three quarters
of the world's population is bilingual. Children all over the world
cope perfectly well with learning in two, and often three,
languages. They manage to use the right language for the particular
situation automatically. Bilinguals even claim that their
personalities change according to the language that they are
speaking. Maybe the human brain is wired to work multilingually.
American kids are just as capable as any in the world, and they
shouldn't be denied the opportunity to broaden their horizons,
develop their personalities, and flex their gray matter.
There are plenty of practical reasons for being multilingual -
business, security, travel, friendships, information, mental
agility to name a few - but languages are also a pleasure, an
indulgence, they lend new insight to a familiar world and they
unlock the doors to less familiar worlds. Language can be a
powerful tool for shaping abstract thought. When sensory
information is scarce or inconclusive, languages may play the most
important role in shaping how people think.
Thinking, not performing tasks, is what a well-rounded education
is supposed to encourage.
Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco, a professor of globalization and
education at New York University and author of Educating the Whole
Child for the Whole World, responded to Summers' assertion with
compassion: "The idea of education as the foundation for an
engaged, mindful, citizenry to intelligently deliberate and decide
the pressing issues of the day is being ignored in today's
education debate."
Diversity is a catalyst for development. We need people of
different characters and personalities to stimulate discussion and
progress. We need scientists, computer programmers, artists, and
poets. By the same token, linguistic and cultural diversity enhance
our lives. People communicate using a multitude of languages that
vary considerably in the information they convey and may even
impart different cognitive abilities.
Learning a new language requires effort and investment, as does
the provision of services to enable inclusion of those who are not
fluent in the dominant language, but the returns cannot be
quantified in mere economics. Multilingualism presents new insights
into the world, offers different opportunities, and, quite simply,
makes life more interesting. As the eminent linguist and founder
director of the Central Institute of Indian Languages D.P.
Pattanayak put it, "one language is not only uneconomic, it is
absurd."
Daniel Ward is the Editor for Language Magazine in Los Angeles,
CA
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