English, it is a language that has continued to captivate much of the world as it resumes its ascent in global use further into the 21st century. Blogger Dennis Baron discusses the matter to not only his readers’ but also English speakers on his 2010 article “Who Owns Global English?” in his The Web of Language blog. Baron addresses a variety of interesting stances on the impact English has on the current world and questions whether or not there really is a “pure form” of English to incline towards. Through the use of different slogans, foreign words, personal experience, and stark comparisons amongst opposition and advocates on the growth of English, Baron manages to maintain a sense of dignity in what he says and attempts to grasp readers’
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When mentioning the argument of Chinese supporters in favor of borrowing English words in their language, Baron points out specific Chinese words “like shijie, ‘world,’ and zhendi, ‘truth’” and indicates that they “come from Sanskrit and Pali” (Baron 37). This indicates that he is well-informed regarding the arguments that supporters of global English like the Chinese supporters here are aware of. He eventually goes onto mention a French quote from a London Times TV critic who stated “Plus ça change, plus c 'est la même Doctor Who.” Baron even makes it evident that “Kamm, a Times leader writer, believes that to be correct, the reviewer should have written “le même Doctor Who,” or much rather “prefer no French at all” (Baron 37). In this manner, Baron gives us readers’ the sense that he really attempts to gather viewpoints from both sides of his argument rather than just incorporating an understanding from one side. This relegates to the audience that Baron is a resourceful writer that isn’t just writing merely based on …show more content…
When articulating his stance as to how English is no longer a language subdued to particular regions of the globe, he emanates a sense of concern when mentioning that “objecting to the English of advertising seems” to be “hopeless” (Baron 37). Hopeless is an instrumental choice of diction in that sentence essentially because it is a word that is primarily used when a person feels they can no longer continue to battle for a lost cause. He juxtaposes this hopeless vibe in the following paragraph when he connotes that “The ancient Romans may have felt a similar loss of linguistic control as their empire slipped away and Latin started its long segue into Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, and the other Romance tongues” (Baron 37). Another indication of Baron’s intense feelings of hopelessness here is by his insinuation that the ancient Romans perhaps “felt a similar loss of linguistic control” (Baron 37). Once again, Baron transmits his anguish for an uncertain future for the English language as he states that “For now,” “it doesn’t look like English is breaking up the way Latin did. But it could” (Baron 37). These last few sentences indeed allows the audience to feel as though Baron truly cares for the English language, and as such, it does much to strengthen his argument as something that’s
When mentioning the argument of Chinese supporters in favor of borrowing English words in their language, Baron points out specific Chinese words “like shijie, ‘world,’ and zhendi, ‘truth’” and indicates that they “come from Sanskrit and Pali” (Baron 37). This indicates that he is well-informed regarding the arguments that supporters of global English like the Chinese supporters here are aware of. He eventually goes onto mention a French quote from a London Times TV critic who stated “Plus ça change, plus c 'est la même Doctor Who.” Baron even makes it evident that “Kamm, a Times leader writer, believes that to be correct, the reviewer should have written “le même Doctor Who,” or much rather “prefer no French at all” (Baron 37). In this manner, Baron gives us readers’ the sense that he really attempts to gather viewpoints from both sides of his argument rather than just incorporating an understanding from one side. This relegates to the audience that Baron is a resourceful writer that isn’t just writing merely based on …show more content…
When articulating his stance as to how English is no longer a language subdued to particular regions of the globe, he emanates a sense of concern when mentioning that “objecting to the English of advertising seems” to be “hopeless” (Baron 37). Hopeless is an instrumental choice of diction in that sentence essentially because it is a word that is primarily used when a person feels they can no longer continue to battle for a lost cause. He juxtaposes this hopeless vibe in the following paragraph when he connotes that “The ancient Romans may have felt a similar loss of linguistic control as their empire slipped away and Latin started its long segue into Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, and the other Romance tongues” (Baron 37). Another indication of Baron’s intense feelings of hopelessness here is by his insinuation that the ancient Romans perhaps “felt a similar loss of linguistic control” (Baron 37). Once again, Baron transmits his anguish for an uncertain future for the English language as he states that “For now,” “it doesn’t look like English is breaking up the way Latin did. But it could” (Baron 37). These last few sentences indeed allows the audience to feel as though Baron truly cares for the English language, and as such, it does much to strengthen his argument as something that’s