Between Global Reach and Cultural Erasure: English Hegemony, Linguistic Diversity, and the Politics of Language Survival in the Age of Globalization
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69760/egjlle.2602033Keywords:
English as a global language, language extinction, linguistic diversity, globalization, linguistic imperialism, language ecology, language preservation, multilingualismAbstract
The unprecedented global ascendancy of English as the dominant medium of international communication, scientific discourse, and digital exchange has generated a debate of profound theoretical and sociolinguistic consequence: does the structural dominance of a single global language constitute an existential threat to the world's extraordinary reservoir of linguistic diversity? This article systematically investigates the relationship between English global hegemony and minority language decline, examining the sociolinguistic, socioeconomic, educational, and ideological mechanisms through which language shift occurs in multilingual communities. Drawing on theoretical frameworks of linguistic imperialism, language ecology, and reversing language shift, the study analyzes the multifactorial nature of language endangerment, demonstrating that the decline of minority languages is not reducible to English dominance alone but results from the convergent operation of globalization, urbanization, migration, educational policy, technological mediation, and the symbolic economies of prestige that determine which languages are perceived as valuable. The analysis identifies the conditions under which English and minority languages can genuinely coexist within sustainable multilingual ecosystems, and proposes the principles of an ecologically balanced language policy framework that supports linguistic diversity as a form of intangible cultural heritage while enabling communities to access the communicative and economic resources that global English provides. The article argues that the central challenge is not the fact of English's global reach but the ideological conditions under which it operates — conditions that can be contested, reformed, and redirected through principled multilingual education, community-based language revitalization, and institutional recognition of linguistic rights.
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