Pangeran Pamekasan: ENGLISH AS A KILLER OF ANOTHER LANGUAGE

ENGLISH AS A KILLER OF ANOTHER LANGUAGE

By: Zainal Arifin S.Pd.I

Abstract: Nowadays, a language has significant development. Of course, in its using language depend on the speaker. When the speaker’s paradigm changed, language must be change automatically. For instance, we are as language students care to this problem, because a language is not just used by us but this is would be used by next generation after us.

This is our responsibility to make maintenance about language loss so that language is not just as the tool of communication that can change in every time but this is part of the art and culture too.

In this problem, sociolinguistic study has significant role to overcome all of accident that befalling a language. By this article I try to analyze the problem and its solution about language loss and death.

Key word: Language development, and mother tongue replacement.

As we know that english has important role in language development, because of english considered as international language that used by almost all of people around the world. English was using in every country as foreign language and/or as the second language else. That why english almost replace another language.

When we are talking about language replacement like this case, actually we are facing something unpreditable before, because language replacement occur without we has known. This case that called by language shift. Why language shift or language replacement can be? This is big question for us.

As an example of language replacement is death of mother tongue because of international language, for instance English. English has most important role in every language, in the fact; English was learned in every country around the world. English is called as international language because of English promoted by its speaker with political, cultural, economical and educational action. And other hand, English speared around the world by migrant, typically migrant are virtually monolingual in their mother tongue, their children are bilingual, and their grandchildren are often monolingual in the language of the host country[1].

Another hand, Technology, Economical activity uses english as the tool of communication. So everyone who has occupotion in international public must know and can use english otomatically. That hardly mother tongue be exist, it’s almost shaldom to used, and the result that can occur is mother tongue will be dead even loss from thier own counry (non-english country).

A language is often declared to be dead even before the last native speaker of the language has died. If there are only a few elderly speakers of a language remaining, and they no longer use that language for communication, then the language is effectively dead. A language that has reached such a reduced stage of use is generally considered moribund. Once a language is no longer a native language - that is, if no children are being socialized into it as their primary language - the process of transmission is ended and the language itself will not survive past the current generation. This is rarely a sudden event, but a slow process of each generation learning less and less of the language, until its use is relegated to the domain of traditional use, such as in poetry and song. Typically the transmission of the language from adults to children becomes more and more restricted, to the final setting that adults speaking the language will raise children who never acquire fluency[2].

Linguists distinguish between language death and the process where a language becomes a dead language through normal language change, a linguistic phenomenon analogous to pseudo extinction. This happens when a language in the course of its normal development gradually morphs into something that is then recognized as a separate, different language, leaving the old form with no native speakers[3]. And based on this statement we may smile because formal or old english its self has been replaced by modern english. For example, Old English may be regarded as a dead language, with no native speakers, although it has never "died" but instead simply changed and developed into Middle English, Early Modern English and Modern. Thi indicates that english is not consistant and english has not survive as pure language.

But we have to admit that however english stiil promoted by its native, english can be exist as international language. The other language specially mother tongue just as justivication that some country has national laguage, and the important to use is english. Almost all of everything uses english, technology, politic, economy, and others uses english. Because of english can replace another language (although indirectly) that why english has been decribed as a killier another languagge.

But we have an obligation to make some protection to our mother tongue, its way is simple, we have to learn, use and proud of our mother tonguage for instance Indonesian language, thta’s called as language maintenance. We admit that we have to know english but we have to protect our mother tongue else.

REFERENCES

Janet holmes, An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Second edition: New Zealand, 1990

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_death. Has browsed on April, 26th 2011

http://www.answers.com/topic/extinct-language. Has browsed 0n April, 25th in 2011