[Air-l] English as a Language for International Communication

[Suely Fragoso]

I really think we are complicating a very simple matter here. English is the most widely known second language, and its users are highly spread out in the planet. That is why international communications tend to happen in English nowadays... Why is it so? Well, there are many interesting causes (historical, sociological, linguistic even) Some of them appear to be annoying for several non-English speakers, but I propose that we target the issue of how to make international communications  possible/effective nowadays for now. 
I will offer myself as an example (centered in belly-button, eh?): I can read 6 languages, but rarely get a chance to speak anything but English with most foreigners I meet. I remember talking to  several interesting researchers last year in Chicago: Dutch, Croatian, French... if we were to communicate, we had to find a common language, one all of us knew, and that was English. It would have been absurd to propose that everyone spoke in their native tongue - or, better to say, it would only make sense as an exercise of semiotics and after the 4th or 5th drink at the reception :)

I proposed the AoIR Latino (as Michel brilliantly nicknamed it) list to be 3-lingual because I suppose that every academic whose native tongue is Spanish or Portuguese can read texts on the other language, as they are very similar. I can also suppose that everyone in AoIR can read English (because conferences language is English and the main AoIR list is in English as well). However, the pluriliguistic approach would  not be applicable to the main AoIR list: please people, do not start writing in Croatian or Japanese and I promise not to write in Portuguese either! It should be enough revenge on the linguistic imperialists that we murder their language writing it so badly ;)

Sue

>>> japeks at hotmail.com 20/03/06 0:21 >>>
I concur Nathaniel,

Although there may be a lot of problems with English-only approach we have 
no practical choice either. We use English because this is where the action 
is. The problem gets only more compounded by issues of culture and identity: 
non-English scholars may find themselves comparing their work to that of 
English-only audience and get very little in return. Those who read text 
translated from English in their native language, (not only Japanese, why 
would it be different in any other language?) may not always appreciate and 
seek value in their own neck of the woods following models from the 
English-speaking world, not always helpful and even less reflective of their 
own realities.

Jarek Janio
Santiago Canyon College
Orange, California


>From: Nathaniel Poor <natpoor at umich.edu>
>Reply-To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
>To: geert lovink <geert at desk.nl>
>CC: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
>Subject: Re: [Air-l] AoIR in Latin-America
>Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:44:50 -0500
>
>I was thinking: "If we spin off the people who don't speak
>English.... who may not even be on the list in the first place...
>then we will have a more restricted view of the Internet..."
>
>pero si, entiendo que es un problema con las idiomas del mundo... y
>ingles... y el internet...
>(but yes I understand that it's a problem with languages of the
>world... and English... on the net...)
>I also understand there is, currently, no easy answer to the issue of
>"we speak different languages but want to talk to each other"
>actually I had my undergrads read... something... from the "ferment
>in the field" edition (1980s?) of the Journal of Comm, that had a
>dialog where Ev Rogers was one of the people, and he, I think it was
>him (apologies if I am wrong), had an interesting point about
>language where he said, for instance, English-language researchers do
>get a lot of material to read, but at the same time a lot of it is
>translated, so, the example he used was the Japanese, the Japanese
>can get most of the English material in translated form, but Japanese
>work is rarely translated into English
>now I don't know if that was true then or even true now, but for me
>it was an interesting point about how language issues may not quite
>cut in expected ways
>
>I feel that if we spin off non-English, then as you write there will
>never be any postings on the list in languages other than English!
>(but not like I am fluent in anything but English, my Spanish is not
>very good, and honestly I find my near mono-lingualism a problem)
>maybe it is chicken and egg...
>
>but, now that I have a better understanding of how it might work I
>think it sounds like a solution worth trying
>Sue is going to be a "go-between", and perhaps some others will also
>be on both lists and can cross-post *and* translate
>that would be really cool....
>so instead of creating different lists that are very separate, there
>can be communication! (my PhD is in Comm)
>
>I am also glad the AIR conference is in different parts of the world,
>although that may only avoid American-centrism, but we are a young
>organization and these things take time (there is always ICA....)
>
>
>On Mar 19, 2006, at 4:03 PM, geert lovink wrote:
>
> > hi, i was a bit surprised about your remark on the aior as the list
> > and organization is so deeply anglo-centric. there are NEVER any
> > postings on that list in languages other than english. so what does
> > that 'regardless of language' means to you? there are hardly any
> > lists, sites, blog or journals that are poly-lingual. best, geert
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>---------------------------------------------
>Nathaniel Poor, Ph.D.
>www.umich.edu/~natpoor
>Visiting Assistant Professor
>Communication Studies Dept.
>Albion College
>http://www.albion.edu/commstudies
>
>
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