Doubletalk: The impact of English globalization

Do you remember Doubletalk? It was that weird “dialect” of English that was spoken all over the school grounds. Children of the 90s most likely experienced it, or even spoke it. Since I am a creation of the 90s, I would know. Doubletalk was an alteration of English, and it turned English into this special little language that only fellow classmates were able to decode. This was done by altering the endings or beginnings of words to make them appear as if they were new exotic words. Different dialects of English are plentiful, and different cultures make English their own just like I did as a child.

The globalization of English would have a massive impact on the language itself due to the fact that the language would be altered. This alteration would be on the premise that the language would be introduced to new cultures, which consist of different languages. This globalization of English would also influence the evolution of English because of its expansion and alteration. Undoubtedly, if English were to actually be globalized then the English language would have a huge expansion and alteration. This idea that English would change and grow is based off of the idea of dialects. There are many different dialects of English, which range from Doubletalk to black speech, or African-American vernacular English. African-American vernacular English represents the change or evolution and expansion of the English language, which in turn represents the impact that globalization could have on English.

African-American dialect represents the impact that globalization would have on the English language through alteration. The origin of black speech was said to be “after the great migration to the North from World War I to the 1970s, blacks were segregated in urban ghettoes, had less contact with whites than they had in places like Springville, and their speech began to develop new features, as all human speech does when people are separated culturally and have little communication” (MacNeil). This separation altered English language because blacks were not in contact with whites to be taught the correct format of English. African-American vernacular English is a dialect of English, and “is recognized as having its own internal consistency and grammatical forms" (MacNeil). Black speech not only altered the English language, but it expanded it, thus enacting evolution of the English language.

Though Doubletalk was created for fun and secrecy on the playground, it still gave children the ability to communicate through an altered form of English, much like blacks are able to communicate efficiently though African-American vernacular English. If English were to globalize, then the language would change and expand. Dialects show that this would happen if other languages and cultures were to conform to the English language. This is simply because if the English language changes with people who already speak English then it will undoubtedly change with people of another language. It is also clear that the environments in which people are in help change and expand English language. There are many different dialects in the world for every culture. Dialects alter and expand English language, and with the globalization of English it would definitely change and expand as well.

Works Cited
MacNeil, Robert. “Do you Speak American?.” Exploring Language. Ed. Suzanna P. Chambers. New York: Pearson, 2010. 147. Print. 8 March 2011.