Realities and Myths of Linguistic Imperialism

This is a response to Alan Davies’ s review article ‘ Ironising the Myth of Linguicism’ (1996). It summarises principles for the analysis of linguistic imperialism and demonstrates that the phenomenon is far from mythical. The theoretical anchoring is followed by a response to some of the specific points raised by Davies so as to show that his fairly sweeping generalisations are not justified. In conclusion, issues of educational aid, its myths and realities, are raised and some pointers for future action indicated . o scarcely any attention has been paid to what I believe is the privileged role of culture in the modern imperial experience, and little notice taken of the fact that the extraordinary reach of classical nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European imperialism still casts a considerable shadow over our own times o direct colonialism has largely ended; imperialism, as we shall see, lingers where it has always been, in a kind of general cultural sphere as well as in specific political, ideological, economic, and social practices. (Said, 1993: 3‐ 8) Linguistic Imperialism Part of the cultural sphere that Edward Said alludes to is the linguistic legacy that imperialism has bequeathed to us, and the ways in which this inheritance is being enjoyed down to the present. Linguistic imperialism is not a simple matter, which is why it needs book-length treatment (Heath, 1972; Mu hlha usler, 1996; Pennycook, 1994; Phillipson, 1992a), so that claims and analyses can be stringently and validly grounded, publicised and assessed. My book is controversial, as it asks awkward questions, and challenges the established order to which I belong by background and experience. I am fully aware of the need for more refined analytical tools for coming to grips with linguistic imperialism, and many more aspects of the problem need to be explored. The reception of my book (reprinted twice in four years; plans for translating it into Chinese, French, Japanese and Korean; over 30 reviews, many of them enthusiastic) suggests that the issues are of increasing interest and that in the judgement of many people I seem to be on the right track. In my usage, linguistic imperialism is a theoretical construct, devised to account for linguistic hierarchisation, to address issues of why some languages come to be used more and others less, what structures and ideologies facilitate such processes, and the role of language professionals. My book primarily concentrates on English, and specifically on applied linguistics and educational aid. Far from wishing to ‘ escape’ history, as AD suggests, it attempts to bring into sharper