A single Global Language vs Multi Language

Reading Exercise - 2 (Unit - 2)

Read the following passage and do the exercises given below:

There has been a debate competition in Gaurishankar Secondary School. Amrit Timilsina is the Master of Ceremonies (MC). Karma and Kabita are the speakers in the final round of the debate.

Read the transcriptions of the debate below, and note some important points Karma and Kabita presented to support their opinion.

For the motion: Using a single language is better than multiple languages.

Mr. Chairperson, respected teachers, and friends!

I would like to thank Mr. Timilsina for giving me an opportunity to express my opinion on the burning issue      “the fewer the languages there are, the easier the life will be’. Every year, several languages die out. Some people think that life will be easier if there are fewer languages in the world. I support this view.

As we know, the development of recent technology has a significant role to create a global village. People from any part of the world can communicate easily through the Internet. Due to the international importance of the English language, most people are reluctant to use their first language and are learning English. This shows that people prefer learning the language that helps them communicate in the global village to their own language.  Mr. Chairperson, using the same language would certainly aid understanding and global fraternity. People can communicate with one another without any problems. It unites all the people as global citizens. If everyone speaks the same language, there will be a clear understanding between not only countries but also people throughout the world. It would promote learning, the flow of information and ideas. For example, students don't have to translate the text into their mother tongue to understand. Ladies and gentlemen, economic growth is also possible by using single language as it can minimise various costs such as the cost of communication, translation, interpretation, etc. We won’t need interpreters in international conferences, seminars and workshops. Participants can easily express whatever they like in the language of common understanding. Thus, it can minimise the communication barriers and help international business, resulting in a healthier world economy.  Not only this, if a language is intelligible for all, members of security forces can easily investigate and understand national and international criminal plans. It may help in solving international and intercultural security problems too. To conclude, I strongly claim that using a single language as a lingua franca strengthens our fraternity, integrity, security and global understanding, in addition to helping international business and economy.

Thank you.

Against the motion:  Using multiple languages is better than a single language.

 Mr. Chairperson, respected teachers, and friends!

Thank you, Mr. Timilsina for giving me this platform to present my view on the issue. As we know every year several languages die out. With their death, the knowledge inherent there dies too. Though the previous speaker argued that the fewer the languages are, the easier the life will be, I strongly disagree with his arguments.

Mr. Chairperson, language influences our thought and our thought influences reality of the world around us. It means we perceive the world as per our linguistic background. Language also carries culture. Cultural and linguistic diversity have a reciprocal relationship. Therefore, there are obvious disadvantages of having only one global language. Firstly, it would mean that all other languages would eventually disappear and, along with them, their cultures too. Each culture is unique with its own way of life and own perspective of the world. Cultural diversity boosts tourism because it attracts tourists from different parts of the world. The loss of languages results in the loss of cultures and the loss of cultures leads to the collapse of the tourism industry because there would be no reason to travel for pleasure and interest if, all over the world, we have the same language and similar cultures. This finally leads to decline of the national economy of the countries which rely on tourism industry.

 Mr. Chairperson, using fewer languages also creates identity problems. The ethnic groups without their own language and culture lose their linguistic and cultural identity. Variety in literature is only possible through linguistic and cultural differences. It is impossible if we have a single global language. Likewise, each language has its own taste and own distinct quality. For example, the Sanskrit language is said to have musical quality. All these qualities get lost if people start using a single language all over the world. Furthermore, the fewer the languages are in use, the less the vocabulary in practice. Therefore, the less vocabulary in practice, the less imaginative and creative work is possible.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to ask Karma if he could understand all the varieties, i.e. dialects of his mother tongue. As we know, even the dialects are often unintelligible to all the speakers of the same language. Then, how can we think about the use of a single language all over the world? Is it practical? Is it possible? I think debating on such issue is just a waste of time.

Thank you.

 Exercise

A. Find the following words in the text above, and circle the best synonyms next to them.

(a) round :             circle                           session               gun discharge

(b) motion :          movement                  signal                 proposal for discussion

(c) issue :               subject                       edition               distribute

(d) view :               opinion                      scene                  watch

(e) reluctant :       unwilling                   enthusiastic       eager
(f) fraternity :       hostility                     friendship          fragment
(g) promote :       advertise                 encourage          suppress
(h) intelligible :    understandable     meaningless       clever
(i) integrity :        completeness         division               dishonesty
6) present:           now                          submit                 gift
(k) inherent:        in-built                     acquired              added later
(1) perceive :       understand             ignore                   hate
(m) diversity :     uniformity                variety                  regularity
(n) reciprocal :    mutual                       one-sided              better

B. Match the following words with their meanings:
Column 'A'                             Column 'B'
(a) conference             (i) particular evaluation of something
(b) lingua franca          (ii) meeting for lectures and discussion
(©) perspective           (iii) mixture of languages for communication
(d) decline                    (iv) regional variety of language
(e) dialect                     (v) get weaker
                                       (vi) that can't be read

C. Rewrite the following sentences indicating T for true statements and F for false ones:
(a) They are taking part in an essay competition.
(b) The motion of the debate is using the language.
(c) Karma is speaking for the motion.
(d) Karma says that economic growth is possible if we use single language.
(e) Kabita is speaking against the use of multiple languages.
(f) Kabita says that using single language may cause the identity problems.

D Answer the following questions.
(a) Who is conducting the debate program?
(b) What is the topic of the debate competition?
(c) According to Karma, when will the life be easier?
(d) Why are people not willing to use their first language?
(e) In what way does the use of single language promote the economic growth?
(f) How can the use of single language help in solving international and
    problems?
(g) According to Kabita, how does the knowledge die?
(h) What thing influences our thought?
(I ) How does the loss of languages affect the tourism?
(j) What kind of relationship do the cultural and linguistic diversity have?