English as an Exclusionay Language
'That Danish top politicians say things they do not intend is easy to document, for instance when the former Foreign Secretary at the completion of an EU summit meeting referred to the ‘so-called Edinburg agreement’, implying that Denmark was not bound by what had just been laboriously agreed (the Danish cognate for ‘so-called’ serves purely to identify something, not to indicate a distancing from what is referred to, as in English). Or when the Prime Minister was asked at a press conference with Salman Rushdie whether there was clear evidence of a plot against his life, to which PM replied that he did not have ‘the ability’ to answer the question. What he presumably intended was that he was unable to answer the question, i.e. security reasons prevented him from doing so, as opposed to his personal mental faculties being inadequate.These examples demonstrate just how complex and treacherous a language English is, not least for experienced users of it as a foreign language' (Phillipson 2000:173)
I have had one episode like that, to say the least.
posted by Majid @ 4:38 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Every language (or even discourse) is exclusionary. The institutionalized words and linguistic structures determine how far ideas and concepts are from existence. Is'nt it so?
Dear Masoud,
You are generally right. There is dispute on the degree though.
The title of this post is not mine. It is the title of the article from which I took this small extract.
Hi there, Thanks for your comment in my webblog, and sorry for my delay! I am also a student, doing Astrophysics in Edinburgh. Honestly, I haven't actually had time to read your blog. will get back to it soon hopefully. Cheers,
Perhaps the most significant implications of using the English language in an international context is the people to whom its use gives an advantage, and in consequence, those to whom its use in official communications represents a fundamental disadvantage; not providing the non-native speaker with the same power to manipulate the language to their own advantage. Even using simultaneous interpretation reduces the impact of those choosing not to use English for it slows down the speed and eloquence of the message, and may alter the message slightly because the words pass through the mouth of a third party interpreter.
Rambling thoughts ;)
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