Joshua A Fishman on Language Policy and

Linguistic Imperialism.

BornJuly18,1926InUSAMarch1,2015
AnAmericanlinguistwhospecializedinthesociology

oflanguage,language
planning,bilingual

education,andlanguageandethnicity.
Philipson:
o ItisonlyFishman,who,aswellasanalyzingthedegreeof
`anglification'ineachstate,speculatesonEnglishbeing
reconceptualised,frombeinganimperialisttooltobeinga
multinationaltool...
o Englishmayneedtobereexaminedpreciselyfromthepointof
viewofbeingpostimperial(...inthesenseofnotdirectlyserving
purelyAngloAmericanterritorial,economic,orculturalexpansion)
withoutbeingpostcapitalistinanyway.
ReceivedaprizefromtheYIVO(InstituteforYiddishResearch)forabook
onbilingualism
TaughtthesociologyofLanguage
Wrote1000articlesandmonographson
o Multilingualism,
o Bilingualeducation
o Minorityeducation,
o SociologyoftheYiddishlanguage,
o Languageplanning,
o Reversinglanguageshift,
o Languagerevival,
o 'Languageandnationalism',
o 'Languageandreligion',
o 'Languageandethnicity'.
CreatedGradedIntergenerationalDisruptionScale
o PartofEthnologue:thisisatoolthatisusedtomeasurethestatusofa
languageintermsofendangermentordevelopment:
LanguageStatus
EndangermentIndicator
Wrote:
PostImperialEnglish:StatusChangeinFormerBritishand
AmericanColonies,19401990withAndrewW.Conrad,AlmaRubalLopez
OnEnglish:
o Neverbeforeinhumanhistoryhasonelanguagebeenspoken(let
alonesemispoken)sowidelyandbysomany.1
o PredictsalossofhegemonyforEnglish,infavorofregional
languages,andthefutureextinctionoftheleastspokenminority
languages.2
1
2

The new linguistic world order. Foreign Policy. 1999,

The new linguistic world order. Foreign Policy. 1999,

Historically,languageshaverisenandfallenwiththemilitary,
economic,cultural,orreligiouspowersthatsupportedthem.
Beyondtheebbandflowofhistory,thereareotherreasonsto
believethattheEnglishlanguagewilleventuallywanein
influence.
ThereisRegionalization(thetendencytoformdecentralized
regions)andwithitthespreadofregionallanguages.Arabic,
Chinese,Hindi,Spanish
o ThespreadofEnglishiscloselylinkedtosocialclass,age,gender,and
profession.
o Reconceptualizeitasmorebusiness,elitistlanguage(postimperial
butnotpostcapitalist):
Englishmaywellgravitateincreasinglytowardthehigher
socialclasses,asthoseofmoremodeststatusesturnto
regionallanguagesformoremodestgains.Itmightevenhelp
thefutureofEnglishinthelongrunifitsproponentssought
lesslocalandregionalsupremacyandfewerexclusive
functionsintheUnitedNationsandintheworldatlarge.A
bullyismorelikelytobefearedthanpopular.3
o OnEnglishBiliteracy
Englishliteracycannotfillthefunctionsofethniclanguage
literacy
Oneneedsthantwo"culturesofreading"fortwodifferent
languages

Fishman believes in many English forms.

Onregionallanguages:
o Someregionallanguagesarespreadinginpartduetotheeffortsof
organizationsandgovernmentcommittees
o Locallanguagesserveastrongsymbolicfunctionasaclearmarkof
"authenticity",sopeoplebecomeattachedtothem.
Localtonguesfosterhigherlevelsofschoolsuccess,higher
degreesofparticipationinlocalgovernment,moreinformed
citizenship,andbetterknowledgeofone'sownculture,history,
andfaith.
o Asaresult,neverbeforeinhistoryhavetherebeenasmany
standardizedlanguagesastherearetoday:roughly1,200.

Multilingualismwillbevictoriousasitallowsapeoplethischoice.

ThereisnoreasontoassumethatEnglishwillalwaysbenecessary,asitis
today,fortechnology,highereducation,andsocialmobility,particularlyafter
itsregionalrivalsexperiencetheirowngrowthspurts.
o Latin&French.

The new linguistic world order. Foreign Policy. 1999,

Questions:
HowdoyoufeelaboutEnglishacquiringitsownstrongregional
idiosyncrasies,asitspreadsindifferentpartsoftheworld?Couldthisbethe
creationofanewlanguage?Whatdoyouthinkofthepossibilityofplural
Englishs?
WhatistheFutureforLinguisticImperialistlanguagessuchasEnglish?