Dual Language Society

 It is interesting seeing how even a change in language within a society can symbolize globalization and the catalytic causes behind it. Since I identify largely with white America, where a large bulk of the population is monolingual, I have not been super exposed to cultures saturated in two or more languages. Here I have seen at least two stages, and heard about a third in Ghana’s language development. I have talked to the much older generation, that did not have access to formal education, and can only speak Twi, the younger generation of middle-aged adults and the youth, who speak Twi and English separately and also often Twinglish to each other, and I have heard about kids in the big cities like Kumasi who come visit their grandma in Wiamoase and can only speak English.

The last stage frightens me a bit, because there is value in every language – language is one of the most significant symbolic elements of a society and its values and history – and since globalization is sweeping from the English speaking West, it sometimes dashes away native languages. I think if Twi or any other traditional language is wholly diminished, a society could risk losing a substantial part of its culture permanently.

However, I do not think it is a bad thing altogether that English is now becoming as prevalent as Twi in Asante, Ghana. It holds history, albeit a regretful one. When I helped teach a couple of English classes at the secondary school here in Wiamoase, I explained that I would be teaching American English, which has a completely different diction than what they have been used to – British English. If you discuss this with the teachers, they are very prompt and blunt to respond that they learn British English because the British were their “colonial masters.” They know the history behind why their education systems, and other formal sectors, are now patterned after the British, and all of this is sort of embodied in their use of British English as well.

No matter how sad the history, I think that knowing the history of one’s spoken and written language has import, because this holds specific keys for one to understand their own culture and history, which are fundamental elements of what makes up each individual in a country.

Also, especially as a student of cultural studies, I am just envious of people who are multilingual, because obviously this skill allows for highly effective cross-cultural relations, and the understanding of various social planes and where they overlap. It is apparent to me that although I (sadly) failed to study another language at the undergraduate level, this may need to play a big part in my future education.