Though out the semester the topic of multilingualism has been examined in a way that I would describe micro. The global landscape of multilingualism and where it is headed has never been a topic. Recently a read an article in the Wall Street Journal called, "What the World Will Speak in 2115" written by Dr. McWhorter a professor at Columbia University. The article's project is best summarize by its well choose tagline which says, "A century from now, expect fewer but simpler languages on every continent"(McWhorter). Part of his explanation for this is that, "It is easy for speakers to associate larger languages with opportunity and smaller ones with backwardness, and therefore to stop speaking smaller ones to their children."(McWhorter) On top of the pure difficulty of passing a language on within a small community. I wonder if in McWhorter's prediction he adequately accounts for role of cultural pride in keeping languages alive? That despite the constant shift towards fewer languages spoken by more people, people who take great pride in the language of their culture will fight tirelessly to revive and keep their language alive.
Works Cited
MCWHORTER, JOHN. "What the World Will Speak in 2115." WSJ. Wall Street Journal, 2 Jan. 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. .
Works Cited
MCWHORTER, JOHN. "What the World Will Speak in 2115." WSJ. Wall Street Journal, 2 Jan. 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. .