Language

18/6/2023

‘Sometimes a language does exactly what we think it should; sometimes it goes places we don't like and thrives there in spite of all our worrying.’ (Kory Stamper)

I taught English recently at a Montessori school in Germany. I was struck by the amazing level of conversational English of some of the students, and asked how it was possible that they could understand and speak so confidently and fluently at such a young age. Almost all replied that they have learned spoken English via online computer games, where they interact informally and socially with other young people from all over the world. English, for them, isn’t just another foreign language. It’s a form of linguistic currency that enables international communication, relationships, learning and fun.

I find myself wondering what the impact will be over, say, 30 years of so many young people 'rubbing shoulders' with international English in this way. I won’t be around then to know the answer to the question, but I suspect that German, currently with 16 different ways to say, for instance, the English word ‘the’, will become simplified in common usage, so that speakers will start to use just one form of definite article in their own language too. We may also see conventions in other increasingly-international languages, such as Mandarin Chinese, influencing how other languages are used.

What do you think?

12 Comments

Kathrin Hoffmann

18/6/2023 06:19:40 pm

Hi Nick, I recently spoke to a German teacher in our high school about how frighteningly bad students are at writing in German. Unfortunately, they also speak worse and worse. Letters are not said, the grammar is misused, they probably don't know because nobody at home notices. Our question: Should we focus on this in the classroom? Or will typing and dictation programs take over in the foreseeable future, making it unnecessary to teach it in schools? We also understand each other when we talk and write with mistakes. Will foreign languages displace our German in the next few years because more and more people are speaking to each other in these languages and more and more expressions from foreign languages are being adopted into German? Or are we the last advocates of flawless German that pupils should be shown in the safe environment of school. Who can then also carry it to the outside world if they have a fine sense of language or understand the importance of the matter. A difficult subject...

Nick Wright

18/6/2023 11:52:11 pm

Hi Kathrin and thank you for posting such an interesting and thought-provoking response. I had a conversation along similar lines recently with a former head teacher of a primary school in Germany, who commented that German language teachers find themselves more and more having to correct 'incorrect' German learned informally outside of school.

I agree that, very often, speakers of different languages are still able to understand each other, even when they talk and write with mistakes. Furthermore, I notice in my own work with students that an over-preoccupation with and anxiety about accuracy (vocabulary and grammar) can actually significantly inhibit fluent, free-flow conversation.

That's an interesting reflection on the potential implications of advances in language-related technologies. I had a similar but different conversation with people at the UK's Action on Hearing Loss about the potential impacts of, say, speech-to-text combined with augmented reality technologies on use of signing as a cultural language for people who are deaf.

It's an interesting reflection on the possibility of language displacement too. I would be surprised if national or local mainstream languages become completely replaced by international languages, although the latter (or at least linguistic influences from them) may be come even more common as language-in-use on an everyday basis.

I do wonder about the significance of shifts in language on sense of identity, culture, creativity and innovation - and the risks of international 'group-think' if more and more people speak only one language and become, therefore, trapped together in its implicit cultural biases and meanings. (See: https://www.nick-wright.com/blog/more-than-words-can-say)

Ian Brownlee M.Ed-TEO MEd-TD, MTNLP

18/6/2023 11:23:39 pm

Nick, I suggest that you investigate the area of Language Universal and how there are many elements that occur in many other languages which when used can make learning them easier.

18/6/2023 11:27:05 pm

Hi Ian. That reminds me of some of Noam Chomsky's observations and ideas about language. In case of interest on that theme: https://www.nick-wright.com/blog/immersion

I'm also inspired by Michel Thomas' approach to language teaching and learning. He starts with common points of reference in different languages and builds out from there.

19/6/2023 12:55:03 pm

Chomsky's idea were an essential part of my university studies and then research into CLL, Gattegno's Silent way, Direct Method, and a whole range of other language teaching methods. This led into NLP and Ericksonian hypnosis, Etc.

19/6/2023 01:00:57 pm

Hi Ian. That sounds like quite a journey! I like the Direct Method's emphasis on immersion. I like Community Language Learning's emphasis on enabling fluency. In case of interest, here's a brief example of my own experience of using The Silent Way: https://www.nick-wright.com/blog/the-silent-way

Danielle Simpson

19/6/2023 12:01:13 am

Hi Nick. Thanks for writing about languages like this. I can't imagine Chinese replacing English as the global lingua franca. English is so embedded in everything. Do you think it will?

19/6/2023 12:04:40 am

Hi Danielle. You're welcome. That's a good question. To be honest, it's difficult if not impossible to predict with any degree of certainty at this point in time. I found this article by Jeffrey Gill in Asia Times (2019) on that theme very interesting and useful: https://asiatimes.com/2019/03/will-mandarin-be-the-next-global-language/

Jasmin

19/6/2023 09:47:27 am

It wouldn't be surprising for young Germans to speak fluently and confidently in English considering that English is a West Germanic language (Herzog, MI, et.al.2023). As we know it has its origin in Germanic tribes who migrated to the UK around 400-500 AD. Although languages are defined by rules, they are by no means static, and evolve over time.

19/6/2023 01:05:57 pm

Hi Jasmin. Yes, the English language has its roots in a number of different languages, including Germanic. We can see this historical relationship and influence reflected today in some commonalities between modern English and modern German. I'm interested too in 'how' these young people I encountered were learning English, that is: by a kind of immersion in English as an international language via online computer games.

Paul Edwards

19/6/2023 02:02:08 pm

Interesting conversation between you and Ian. I've never heard of community language learning. Can you point me to further info on it? Thanks!

19/6/2023 02:07:12 pm

Thanks Paul. This short introductory piece from the British Council website may be of interest? https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/community-language-learning

It's very different to the Direct Method, in that it's normally used with groups where all (including the teacher) can speak the participants' first language.

In the Direct Method, with which you may be familiar, the teacher would only use the language that learners (who may speak different languages to one another) want to learn.

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