Linguistic Imperialism

Where do we see evidence of linguistic imperialism in the Anglophone world?

Linguistic imperialism is the transfer of a dominant language to other people. This transfer can occur any many different ways and poses a threat to many endangered languages and in turn cultures around the world. One example of linguistic imperialism in the Anglophone world is in the case of pop culture. Pop culture is nearly universal and is also predominantly communicated in English. English is rapidly becoming the dominant language and pop culture plays are large role in this. From songs to movies and television shows English is constantly being spread across the globe. This mainstream media is an important tool in defining what is the norm. This has a particularly large impact on today's youth as they are very susceptible to outside influences. Many kids are trying to conform to these mainstream norms , in this case, speaking English being the norm. As pop culture defines what is considered cool or popular this sends the message that in order to keep up with the times and stay modern and hip you need to know English. It is particularly dangerous that pop culture mostly targets youth as this leaves languages vulnerable. If the youth stop speaking the language then it is only a short amount of time before the language goes extinct. Pop culture gives English a certain sense of power through the way it is depicted and this is why it remains one of the more dominant and universal languages.