-Caveat Lector- .............................................................. >From the New Paradigms Project [Not Necessarily Endorsed] Note: We store 100's of related "conspiracy posts" at: http://www.msen.com/~lloyd/oldprojects/recentmail.html From: "J Taylor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Miller, Lloyd" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: The New Latin: English Dominates in Academe Date: Wednesday, September 13, 2000 2:44 PM > Chronice of Higher Education > From the issue dated September 8, 2000 > > > > The New Latin: English Dominates in Academe > > By BURTON BOLLAG > > In chemistry laboratories in Jordan, university libraries in > Cambodia, and college classrooms in Sweden, an odd language is > in use. > > The language is English, which is increasingly becoming the > language of higher education and science around the world. The > development is being stoked by the growing integration of the > world economy, with the United States, the one remaining > superpower and the world's economic locomotive, at its head. > > The trend is also being fueled by the spread of information > technology, because a large amount of computer software is > written in English, and by the explosive growth of the > Internet, with more than 300 million users connecting to a > resource largely composed in English. And as colleges in more > and more countries compete for the tuition money that foreign > students can bring, the colleges are teaching their courses in > English, so the students won't have to learn Thai or Greek to > go to class. > > The development is unprecedented. Not even Latin, the European > scholarly language for almost two millennia, or Greek in the > ancient world before it, had the same reach. For the first > time, one language, English -- a bastard mixture of old French > dialects and the tongues of several Germanic tribes living in > what is now England -- is becoming the lingua franca of > business, popular culture, and higher education across the > globe. > > The expansion of English is even more striking in the > sciences. Ninety-five percent of the 925,000 scientific > articles published in thousands of major periodicals in 1997 > were written in English, according to Eugene Garfield, founder > of the Science Citation Index, which tracks science > publications. But only half of the English articles originated > in English-speaking countries. The trend toward publishing in > English began after World War II and has accelerated over the > past 20 years. > > Some find the dominance of English troubling. "Nobody > questions the value of having a lingua franca in academia," > says Tove Bull, rector of the University of Tromso, located > above the Arctic Circle in Norway. "But the university has the > responsibility to develop terminology in academic disciplines > in Norwegian." > > The Norwegian Language Council, a government body, was > particularly upset three or four years ago, when a Ph.D. > candidate wrote a doctoral thesis on Norwegian linguistics -- > in English. Ms. Bull, a former chairwoman of the council, says > she doesn't foresee restrictions on English. But, she says, > academics should be encouraged to write in Norwegian for the > public and to keep developing terminology in Norwegian. > > "I think we overestimate our ability to think deeply in a > foreign language," she says. > > The spread of English represents a serious cultural and > psychological imposition, say many in countries where it isn't > a native language. To get the same sense, Americans need only > imagine having to learn their calculus in German, or their > psychology in Chinese. "Every country loves its own culture > and language," says Ruben Umaly, secretary general of the > Association of Universities of Asia Pacific, which is based in > Thailand and uses English as its official language. But > English is increasingly the language of international business > and communications, he says, and "we cannot avoid > globalization." > > Some countries have tried. Flush with the national pride that > accompanied the wave of decolonization after World War II, > many new nations initially resisted the intrusion of English, > seeing it as a threat to their own languages, long neglected > under colonial rule. But in the last few years, with students > and their parents clamoring for more English, which they > regard as a passport to better careers, countries have > increasingly opted for what some already call "the world > language." > > Malaysia is a case in point. When Peter Chai Sen Tyng began > working toward a master's degree in psychology last May, he > knew that he would not be studying in the language he speaks > at home, Mandarin Chinese. Nor would he use Malay, the > language of his public-school education. His studies, like all > graduate programs in Malaysia, are in English. Mr. Chai, 23, > thinks it is worth the effort. "English has greater market > value," he says. > > At independence from Britain, in 1957, Malaysia's university > system used English. But by the 1980's, the country wanted to > demonstrate its linguistic independence and began the arduous > task of developing education programs in the main national > language, Malay. The effort did not last long. By the early > 1990's, the authorities found that a Malay curriculum "was not > realistic if they wanted to be competitive internationally," > says Mr. Umaly. > > Proficiency in English was made mandatory for university > admission, reading assignments in English increased, and the > English-speaking lecturers were invited to teach. Foreign > universities, including two from Australia and one from > Britain, were allowed to open branches in the country. > > "In our library," says Tan Sri Jalaludin, vice chancellor of > Putra University, a leading Malaysian institution, "most books > and journals are in English." > > The situation is similar in Singapore, the Philippines, and > the small, oil-rich sultanate of Brunei, as well as in > Malaysia's next-door neighbors, Thailand and Indonesia. On the > campus of Thailand's Chulalongkorn University, a student > sitting in the shade of a towering casuarina tree and enjoying > a tamarind drink, offers a more colorful purpose for English > than getting a job. "We often use English words to insult each > other," she says. "It doesn't sound as bad as in our own > language." > > On the Internet, the number of resources in languages other > than English is growing, but English still predominates. Like > students around the world, Bjorn Brevaas, a student of public > administration at the Netherlands' University of Twente, uses > the Internet to search library collections and databases, and > to read foreign newspapers. > > In Moscow, Beijing, and Seoul, thousands of private language > schools have opened to dispense English lessons to students, > business people, and bureaucrats who want to get ahead. > "Without the language, their opportunities are limited," says > Elena Ostrovidova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of > Education. In China, where using English could once could have > resulted in a prison sentence, the language is now on the > highly competitive national university-entrance examination. A > recent government survey found that 70 percent of urban > Chinese have studied English. University professors hold > "English corners" in community centers, department stores, and > parks around Beijing, where students can come to practice. > > South Korea's president, Kim Dae Jung, told his citizens last > winter that there was an urgent need for them to learn > English. Students at the country's three military academies > will be expelled if they cannot speak English. > > Such ideas are even beginning to gain ground in traditionally > insular Japan. But many Japanese fear that welcoming English > could threaten their cultural identity. This year, a > commission appointed by the prime minister released a report, > "Japan's Goals in the 21st Century," that said English should > be used in teaching and research and that called for the > number of foreign, English-speaking faculty members to be > "dramatically increased." That was hard enough for many > Japanese to take. > > But the report created real controversy with its > recommendation for a "long-term, national debate on whether to > make English an official second language." Ryutaro Ohtsuka, a > University of Tokyo spokesman who published his doctoral > thesis on human ecology in English 20 years ago, scoffs at the > idea. > > "Japanese culture can be expressed only in Japanese," he says. > > > As Arab countries have developed their universities in recent > decades, many have adopted English as the language of > instruction in science, engineering, and medicine, although > class discussion may revert to Arabic. Administrators are > trying to develop Arabic-language programs, says Marwan R. > Kamal, secretary general of the Association of Arab > Universities, in Amman, Jordan, "but it takes time." > > In Africa, one country, Namibia, shifted its entire > higher-education system in the 1990's from Afrikaans, a > language associated with apartheid, to English. In South > Africa, as institutions have opened to non-whites, English has > increasingly displaced Afrikaans. A few tentative efforts are > under way to develop courses in some of the widely spoken > African languages. > > The trend toward English is well advanced in the Netherlands > and the Scandinavian countries -- and with it, muted but > persistent concerns. Much of the assigned reading at the > region's institutions is in English, and if just one foreign > student is present in a class, the professor usually switches > to English. Graduate courses there are increasingly being > taught exclusively in English, as are a small but growing > number of undergraduate courses. > > The University of Copenhagen, the main institution in Denmark, > warned about the dangers of the trend in a 1995 strategic > plan: "The fact that English is going to be the international > scholarly language in the same way as Latin was in the > university's infancy and youth," the document said, "must not > mean that Danish becomes the language of the peasants, as it > was then." > > The growing internationalization of higher education is adding > to the pressure. Under the European Union's Erasmus program, > intended to help young people study outside their native > countries, 100,000 students crossed borders for one or two > semesters in the last academic year. They often attended > classes taught in English, because countries using less common > languages typically have to make such offerings to attract > foreign students. > > Eastern Europe has also been recruiting foreign students to > English-language programs, especially from Greece and Arab > countries. Eastern European faculty members seem ready to make > the linguistic shift. Tamas Lajos, a professor of fluid > mechanics and former vice rector for international relations > at Budapest Technical University, says that many faculty > members, especially younger ones, are happy to be freed from > an obligation to learn Russian, and have embraced English with > a passion. "I can hold a department meeting with no problem in > English," asserts Mr. Lajos. > > Outside of Europe, English-speaking countries have stepped up > their marketing of higher education to foreign students. > Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand > have all recruited record numbers of foreign students in > recent years, especially from Asia, with the United States > taking in nearly 500,000 in 1998. The English-speaking > countries have also opened distance-learning centers and > branches in developing nations. > > Now Asian countries are trying to turn the tables. Ninnat > Olanvoruth, secretary general of the Association of Southeast > Asian Institutions of Higher Learning, in Bangkok, says the > region is not just exporting Asian students, but is beginning > to import students from Australia and the West. "Most," he > says, "do their courses in English." > > Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia have witnessed a linguistic > struggle also experienced in countries such as Canada and > Chad: the competition between French and English. The last > decade has not been a happy one for lovers of French, who have > seen their tongue, once the language of royal courts and > international diplomacy, steadily displaced by upstart > English. > > In 1990, according to the publishers of the Science Citation > Index, 30.6 percent of scientific papers from France were > published in French -- the rest in English. By 1999, the > portion in French had halved, to 16.2 percent. > > French scientific conferences are now frequently conducted in > English, a development that, in the early 1990's, prompted the > authorities to threaten to withdraw government money from > meetings held in France and not conducted mainly in French. > The threat had virtually no effect. > > France spends some $300-million a year to promote the language > of Moliere and Voltaire around the world, according to the > French Ministry of Culture and Communication. Yet the sum has > done little to stem the onslaught of English. Vietnam, a > former French colony, used to conduct higher education and all > official business in French, and more recently favored > Russian. Today, Vietnam uses primarily Vietnamese, with > English by far the foreign language of choice. > > "The French government tries to keep French alive," says > Nguyen Van Dao, president of Vietnam National University, in > Hanoi. "But French is not so popular among young people. > Foreign companies use English. Students know English is > necessary for getting a good job." > > At the Royal University of Phnom Penh, the largest university > in neighboring Cambodia, students who take French and maintain > good grades receive $25 per semester from the L'Agence > universitaire de la Francophonie, a Montreal-based association > of Francophone universities that does not offer an official > English translation of its name. The $25 payment is > considerable in a country where the average income is about > $275 a year. Yet 91 percent of the students choose English. > > French authorities used to react very defensively to the > steady advance of "the language of Shakespeare," as they > respectfully refer to their linguistic archrival. As late as > four years ago, two private French-language watchdog groups > sued the Georgia Institute of Technology's campus in Metz, > France. The groups complained that the campus's Internet site > violated a French law banning advertising in English. The > courts threw out the complaint on a technicality. > > But in the last few years, the official French approach has > changed from attacking English to promoting multilingualism. > "There was a time we were very nervous about defending the > French language," says Eric Froment, secretary general of the > French Conference of University Presidents, in Paris. "Today > it's more [that] 'English is inevitable -- let's lead people > to speak other languages too.'" > > Despite concerns about the smothering of other languages, > despite resentment over the free ride the world's 400 million > native speakers of English are getting, many feel the > English-language juggernaut is unstoppable. > > Richard Brecht, director of the University of Maryland's > National Foreign Language Center, in Washington, says major > regional languages -- Russian in the former Soviet republics, > Spanish in Latin America, and Arabic in the Middle East and > North Africa -- are all that is slowing the advance of > English, and only temporarily. "This is the only real > challenge to English as the world language," he says. > > Bengt Streijffert, a top official at the University of Lund, > one of Sweden's large state institutions, says that English is > used for most intellectual discourse there and that Swedish > may soon just be used "at home and with the dog." > > "It is the universities," he concludes sanguinely, "which may > be leading the way into the abyss." > > Tony Gillotte, Bryon MacWilliams, Paul Mooney, Linda Vergnani, > and David L. 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