...Cultural Studies Mr. Looi van Kessel, M.A. The English language in Turkey – A case study of linguistic imperialism English is considered to be the world’s lingua franca. It is the most extended language in all kinds of international interactions, including trade, culture, and academia. This is considered to be a factual statement and not a normative one. Certain scholars have considered the rise of English as a positive process in normative terms, while others have critiqued it as a form of imperialism. However, both sides of the argument agree on the principle that English is indeed the global language (Lin and Martin 116). The effects of English linguistic imperialism can be found in a plethora of countries, but they are mostly evident in countries that adopt official language policies to encourage the use of English in order to position themselves closer to the Western world. That is the case of Turkey which has favored English teaching and usage since the late 19th century (Doğançay-Aktuna and Kiziltepe 254-257). Furthermore, this official language policy and its consequences are most noticeable in academia, an environment where English has become an essential tool for participating in the international scientific community. This essay will discuss the case of Turkey as a country that has been directly impacted by English linguistic imperialism, resulting in a struggle between the economic benefits of expanding English usage, and the existence of a nationalist agenda for...
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...from the Civil War and reconstruction while facing the struggles of racism and desegregation. Hughes’ personal struggles began very early in life with the divorce of his parents. His father relocated to Mexico because he, as a black man, was not allowed to take the Bar Exam in America. His mother was a teacher and political activist who moved frequently with her husband to find work. As a result of financial struggles, Langston was primarily raised by his maternal grandmother after the divorce of his parents. Not understanding why he was not allowed to live with either of his parents was a source of much hurt for him. “These feelings of rejection caused him to grow up very insecure and unsure of himself” (www.kansasheritage.org). Following the death of his grandmother, he lived briefly with his mother and step-father but did not move with them when they relocated again to find work. As a child, his circle of support was often the small group of blacks living in his community. As a young African-America adult, he found a kinship in Harlem, New York’s New Negro Movement (Harlem Renaissance). While the poem “Theme for English B” is not autobiographical, the insecurity Hughes felt as a young man is echoed in the struggle of the poem’s unnamed protagonist to find himself, his truth, while enduring the racism and struggle for social equality that all blacks were struggling with in America at that time. Theme for English B is a poem about a young African-American student attending...
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...Rodriguez uses his transformation from a primarily Spanish speaking person to a primarily English speaking person to promote the rewards of assimilation by describing his struggles as an English language learner. By describing his life as an English language learner, Rodriguez highlights the struggles a non-English speaker has to face and implies that someone who knows English will not have a problem. Rodriguez begins describing his life before his introduction to English. As a Spanish speaker through his infancy and his toddler-hood, Rodriguez had difficulty adjusting to a new language when he was forced to learn English. Although Rodriguez garnered enough English to perform basic tasks, he still struggled to adapt and understand complex...
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...awareness in the Muslims for political struggle. The abrogation of Bengal Division was the step that compelled Muslims to think over their miserable plight and start a political struggle to get their legal share in the united India. The era of 1906 also brought some positive signs in the history of mass communication of the sub continent. The leading personalities that marked the era for their courageous and bold journalistic services were Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. All these famous personalities used print media to provoke the people for their political struggle. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan started to publish a newspaper ‘Zimindar’. This paper started to write articles that were full of political thoughts and Muslim unity. Soon this newspaper earned a great repute among the people. It is said that Zimindar was so popular among the people that even illiterates spent 1 paisa to pay the price of Zimindar and 1 paisa to that person who read that newspaper for them. This popularity was disliked by the English rulers and no of times Zimindar was banned over a specific time period. During the First World War, Turkey was supporting Germans and people of united India were very eager to know the real situation of war. Maulana often started the paper with the World War news in which the success stories of Germans and Turkish were quoted. This was definitely hated by the English Rulers so they compelled Maulana Zafar...
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...formation of identity and the gradual development of personal esteem. Despite the ubiquitous nature of lingua franca such as the English language, people who are conscious of their indigenous identity are keen to incorporate aspects of their mother tongue in common languages. However, not all individuals feel proud of expressing their forms of synthesized language. The relationship between cultural identity and language is mutual. Language plays a vital role in placing an individual in an appropriate societal position (Val and Vinogradova 2). Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue and Anzaldua Gloria’s, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” are exquisite examples of the formation of language and cultural identities due to interactions with American culture. A comparative analysis of both texts can reveal that each author...
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...Firoozeh Dumas recollects a story from her childhood: “I once again told her that I spoke Persian and I could just tell that the boy did not. ‘Could you just try?’ she pleaded. Just to get rid of her, I walked up to the boy, who, breaking all stamina records was still crying, and said in Persian, ‘Are you Iranian?’ The boy stopped crying for a moment, then let out the loudest scream heard since biblical times. Not only was he separated from his loved ones, he was now trapped in the tower of Babel” (Dumas 21). Dumas was lost at Disneyland when a white woman asked her to speak to a boy. She explained to her that they did not speak the same language, but she was too ignorant to accept it. The barrier between English and other languages makes it very quick to get judged. Not knowing English well can make success in the everyday things in life a...
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...Life is a long road that consists of bumps. These bumps teach the real meaning of life. Life is not fair nor is it easy. Rather it is demanding and challenging. Life is a pathway that one journeys through individual experiences leading to life time lessons. Struggle is an imperative element of life that marks the beginning of true success. The conflicts we bare throughout our lives are like hurdles. Once these hurdles are crossed, next is what victory awaits. Booker T Washington also proclaimed that, “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles overcome while trying to succeed,” which reflects that one’s experience and struggle can provide a person with unique opportunities...
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...backward, tracing the transition the girls had to make as they strive to create an identity that is both Latina and American. As implied in the title, language plays a vital role in the transculturalization of the Garcia girls, into their assimilation into American popular culture. The acquisition of English language skills as well as American argot was a vital step in the Garcia girls' forging of their dual identity. Their struggle with the language is symbolic of each sister's struggle to create a cohesive cultural identity that blends their Old and New World heritage. For the Garcia girls, the manner of speech, how they sound as they talk, matter as much as their grasp of the English language. The stories are told in first person narratives, showing how every member of the immigrant Garcia family struggles to tell their stories using the inadequate vocabulary, the incomprehensible grammar and the jagged voice rhythms of their adopted language. In the novel, the Garcia girls see Spanish as the mother tongue, which represents their refuge (72). In contrast, English is more than a difficult second language. For the members of the Garcia family, the sheer difficulty of mastering the English language is a constant reminder of their alienation. Their accents brand the Garcia girls as strangers in a strange land. This alienation is particularly evident in the story...
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...authors use dilemma in their biography titles is explored individually and then compared. The dilemma of John Winthrop and the Puritans is depicted throughout the biography. It is clear that the dilemma they faced was surrounded by their religious views. Winthrop and the Puritans embraced religion so much as to move to New England and create the “kind of society that God demanded of all His servants but that none had yet given Him (Morgan, 42).” Morgan puts a lot of effort to show the reader that the Puritan view of religion was plagued with the idea and question of what responsibility does a religious person owe to society. Morgan argues that this question and dilemma that Winthrop and the Puritans faced is in fact the reason for the struggles and accomplishments the Massachusetts Bay Company experienced in their attempt to create a new society. Morgan wants the reader to believe that the Puritan dilemma was just as important as any other conflict by stating what the Massachusetts Bay Company meant to Winthrop. When writing of Winthrop, he says “ Having learned to use the good...
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...The House on Mango Street is a coming of age story about a young Mexican-American girl named Esperanza, who struggles to figure out who her real self is. Such as, self-definition, ethnicity, language, and economic status. All these factors play a role in which she learns that what defines her is her ability to tell stories. Her writing allows her to express those aspects of her life and allow her to step out of her comfort zone about her background and how she feels towards defining herself. A common theme in House on Mango Street is the struggle of identity. Esperanza has to define herself both as a woman and as an artist, which changes throughout the novel. In the beginning of the novel Esperanza wants to separate herself from her family and heritage by changing...
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...The Bus Driver My parents have been multilingual for as long as I can remember. I never really thought about how they had to learn English to adjust to the United States. I can’t speak another language, but I understand my parent’s native tongue pretty well. The most memorable encounter I had with multilingualism was with my bus driver in middle school. His name was Carlos Knight. Although we just called him Mr. Knight. Mr. Knight spoke English but it was heavily accented and butchered. Spanish was clearly his first language and he spoke it often, even when giving directions to passengers. I never really understood what he was talking about in English or Spanish. I did not start learning Spanish until High School, so a majority of what Mr. Knight said sounded like gibberish at the time. I was younger then and certainly not as wise. I along with the other kids on the bus would torment poor Mr. Knight relentlessly about his speaking. Regardless of how clear his words were, we would all pretend like we didn’t understand what he was saying. I remember one time we had to take an alternate route that meant crossing the railroad. When you’re in a railroad crossing, you have to be completely silent. Mr. Knight yelled out “Silencio’, which from context clues could easily be referred to as silent. Instead of reaming silent though, we all screamed at him that we didn’t understand what he was saying. It was funny then, but looking back it seems mean and potentially dangerous...
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...novel, only slightly marred by MacLennan's over-idealistic nationalism. The Canada that MacLennan presents, a country in which a citizen is either French-Canadian or English-Canadian (or a rare hybrid) never really existed, but the political climate prompted by this illusion is still with us. MacLennan's novel is one of the most sympathetic (and readable) literary chronicles of the tensions and misunderstandings that gave birth to modern Quebec. --Jack Illingworth “Two solitudes”, which was written by Hugh McLennan at 1945, was his most famous novel. The Author, Hugh MacLennan was born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, 1907. There are about seven novels, travel books and uncountable essays that mediate between the European cultural heritage and American vigor and idealism. “Among his many honors, he won five Governor Generals Awards.” And finally, Hugh MacLennan died in Montreal in 1990. It was a literary allegory for English and French Canadian from 1917 to 1939. The author divided this novel into 4 parts. “It is set during World War I, and a cast of “archetype” characters relay the story, being representations of French Canadians or Catholics or Businessman during this time period.” The novel’s plot was focus on the life of the fictional character named Paul Tallard, who is struggling between the differences of his English and French Canadian identities. According to the analysis that I found on the Internet, someone said that “There is only one sentence in the whole novel containing...
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...Mohammed Alabdulwahid Reg Johanson English 103-04 Ode to the joy of yes moments The struggle to create awareness Tears for the sake of joy There have been many negative issues covered in our class throughout this semester. Issues have ranged from social injustices, colonialism, and women’s rights. Some included personal tragedies concerning women of Aboriginal descent living in British Columbia. It has been quite emotional at times to actually read about the struggles that have taken place right here in British Columbia regarding immigrants and Aboriginal people. We even got to meet the author of Mercenary English, Mercedes Eng, in person to make the words of her story really come to life. However, not all of the books we have studied convey negative outlooks of certain problems being faced. There have been positive social changes, personal victories and many moments that make the reader believe things can be made right if an effort is put into it. This research essay will focus on the positive view portrayed in three books studied this semester which include: Mercenary English, Active Geographies-Women and Struggles on the Left Coast and the Unnatural and Accidental Women. The positive themes discussed will display triumphs on a personal level, meaningful change on a social stage and a look at how social activism deeply connects people together. Firstly, Mercenary English has a very unique way of showing social injustice, believed to be carried out in the eyes of its...
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...six years in Japan working twelve to fourteen hours every day until he was finally able to afford a trip to America. He worked in restaurants and manufactured car parts. Desperate for money, he said, “There wasn’t much choice”. Arriving in New York at the age of twenty-seven with minimal English, even understanding the news was impossible due to the language barrier. The lack of English also deprived him of financial opportunities. Since he grew up in China, all of his connections were back home. Immigrating to America robbed him of connections and lacking english made it harder rebuild it. My mother immigrated from China at the age of twenty-three. She worked as a restaurant cashier and lived in a house that her boss rented for his employees. It was a...
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...A BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH LITERARY (STANDARD) LANGUAGE ( From: I.R.Galperin. Stylistics. Moscow: Higher School, 1977. pp. 41-57) Up till now we have done little more than mention the literary (standard) language, which is one of the most important notions in stylistics and general linguistics. It is now necessary to elucidate this linguistic notion by going a little deeper into what constitutes the concept and to trace the stages in the development of the English standard language. This is necessary in order to avoid occasional confusion of terms differently used in works on the history, literature and style of the English language. Confusion between the terms "literary language" and "language of literature" is frequently to be met. Literary language is a historical category. It exists as a variety of the national language.' "It must be remembered," said A. M. Gorki, "that language is the creation of the people. The division of the language into literary and vernacular only means that there are, as it were, a rough unpolished tongue and one wrought by men-of-letters."1 The literary language is that elaborated form (variety) of the national language which obeys definite morphological, phonetic, syntactical, lexical, phraseological and stylistic norms2 recognized as standard and therefore acceptable in all kinds and types of discourse. It allows modifications but within the frame work of the system of established norms. It casts out some...
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