Who Profits From Global English? Reply to Hultgren

Hartmut Haberland

doi:10.35360/njes.584

Abstract

In my reply to Hultgren, I suggest introducing further aspects into the discussion of ‘global English’, like the question not only of ownership of a language but also of ownership and control of the communication channels, the problematic status of metaphors like ‘market’, the connection between global English and the narrowing of the base of available knowledge, the importance of a shared language, and the relevance of the ideology of globalism for discourses of global English.

Highlights

When I read Hultgren’s position paper, I immediately agreed with her that it is not language that is the problem at the bottom of it all, but something else—but what? And a sentence popped up in my mind, again and again, something that Bertolt Brecht said in 1935 at the Premier Congrès de l’Association Internationale des Écrivains pour la Défense de la Culture in the Mutualité in Paris, “Kameraden, sprechen wir von den Eigentumsverhältnissen!”Talking about ‘ownership and control relations’ requires making clear who owns and who controls what
Some people have got the impression that Robert Phillipson—in his manifold contributions to the analysis of linguistic imperialism—is mostly concerned with politics, ideology and hegemony
“Who Profits From Global English? Reply to Hultgren.”

Summary

Introduction

When I read Hultgren’s position paper, I immediately agreed with her that it is not language that is the problem at the bottom of it all, but something else—but what? And a sentence popped up in my mind, again and again, something that Bertolt Brecht said in 1935 at the Premier Congrès de l’Association Internationale des Écrivains pour la Défense de la Culture in the Mutualité in Paris, “Kameraden, sprechen wir von den Eigentumsverhältnissen!”Talking about ‘ownership and control relations’ requires making clear who owns and who controls what. We are left with the task of finding out what worries so many people and makes them think that the global role of English is at the root of certainly not all, but some, significant evils.

Results

Conclusion