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Here are some interesting chunks of information from some of the reading i’ve been doing:
Language as Power on the Internet
“It was the World Wide Web with its user-friendly graphical interface that sparked the explosive growth of the Internet. Because of the economic supremacy of the United States and the Internet’s historical roots, the dominance of English was reinforced when the Internet began to be used for commerce.”
“English is the mother tongue of many nations, and is rapidly coming to be spoken by more people as a second tongue than as a first (Weiss, 2005). Only 16% of European Union members claim English as their mother tongue, but an additional 31% claim it as a second language (Spurdon & Carr, 2004).”
“Despite the large base of English speakers, even more people in the world speak Chinese than any other language (see Table 1), and the Internet usage of Chinese speakers is growing rapidly. Further, Chinese is becoming increasingly popular as a second language in countries around the globe
(Graddol, 2006). Yet, when more Chinese speakers start using the Internet, English may still remain the language of the Internet…”
“At times language is used as a tool of both oppression and social mobility, or at least it is perceived as such by individuals who do not speak the language. The use of English is playing a key role in structuring inequality in developing economies (Graddol, 2006).”
Madelyn Flammia, Carol Saunders, 2007, ‘Language as Power on the Internet’, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, vol. 58, no. 12, p. 1899-1903.
Leaders Understand the Power of Words
“…effective speeches rely on powerful words, powerful ideas, content, and passion.”
“His “I have a dream” speech will live forever in history and today is translated into more than 15 languages that can be heard and viewed by people throughout the world thanks to computer technology. Dr. King’s speeches are powerful because he spoke passionately about his beliefs and then followed up with commitment.”
Robert E. Millward, 2007, ‘Leaders Understand the Power of Words’, Journal of Leadership Studies, vol. 1, no. 3, p. 81-83.
I’m still finding it hard to really link the research i’m doing to a solid concept or direction that i can take it… Oh well, just need to read more.
Alex.
