«The New Language Landscape» - Great Essay Sample

Introduction

The author of the globalization essay makes her argument based on the wide spread of English language in India while curtailing the local languages. The essay indicates that due to the changes in environment that generation X children is growing up; most of them have resulted to learning English than their mother tongue languages. The author poses the question, “has English become the new mother tongue in many homes?” which she goes on to respond as, “given the environments in which Gen X children are growing up, the answer seems to be ‘yes’. (Sharma)” Further, the author’s argument is one-sided as it speaks more of how use of English language is slowly eliminating the use of mother tongue languages in India. Using the article, we derive the thesis, “English is becoming a common language to Indian children against their own mother tongues.”

The claim is supported by three major reasons including the fact that most parents in intermarriages wish that their children learn a common language other than two different languages where English seems to be the easiest to learn. Again, there are effects of globalization with parents preferring the language to equip them with ability to perform in a global environment. Finally, there was need to train children in English language to give them better understanding in schools and other environmental activities.

English is becoming a common language to Indian children against their own mother tongues

Children from parents with different languages are more likely to get introduced to English language as their mother tongue. From an analysis of responses made by couples who are from different regions, their mother tongues are harder for them to learn at that age and thus use English as a common home language. It is from this home usage of English that children get used to it than the local mother tongue languages that belonged to their parents. The author writes, “Perhaps parents feel it is better to communicate in one universal language than to speak to the kid in two regional languages (Sharma).” This further explains that parents are fast accepting the need not to put the child into handles of learning two languages which even they themselves do not have a full understanding of both of the languages. In fact the author supports the argument by providing evidence based on interviews from a number of respondents.  

Globalization is leading to the wide spread of English language. Ms. Reshma Sharma, the author of ‘The new language landscape’, explains that English is becoming a global language that is easily adopted in many homes, cities and schools. She argues that some parents prefer the language to properly prepare their kids to fit into the global environment where English is the commonly used language (Sharma). For example the author writes, “The presence of international schools in cities and strict codes in even regular schools on the use of one common language has somehow pushed English into homes as well.” In fact, most parents argue that English is core and communicate to their children using it, insisting that the kids will learn the use of other languages at an old age if they feel interested in them.

Use of English in schools and other social joints is giving advantage to English over local mother tongue languages. Continued use of English in Indian schools has put the local languages to a point of extinction. Most people now use English as opposed to other languages especially in cities. Further, the fact that English is also an official language has promoted its use in the entire country. This has pushed parents to believe that their children will only learn new things and understand the society better if they learn and use English. The author states,” I feel parents like me have started stressing English because we see children are not able to understand much if they are not fluent in this language and somehow it has become the common spoken language in activity centers, play areas, in upscale apartments and so on (Sharma).”

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is now clear that the author sees the future of English in India flourishing as that of the local languages keeps on declining. Indeed, she evens argues of a situation that might arise in future where people will be required to go to school and learn mother tongue languages which will have already been replaced by English. In this regard she poses the question, “Fifty years down the line, will we be surprised if English becomes the single spoken language and kids go to special schools to learn India's regional languages? (Sharma).”  The question will simply have a yes answer. Further, the author’s essay is logical and properly supported as well as organized, simplistic and making a logical appeal.