The Influence of Political Power on Language - Case Study Example

The Influence of Political Power on Language Has Political Power influenced Language use in Modern China? Power usage and its distribution among the citizens of a particular nation affect other aspects of life. The political power that is rested upon the ruling elite and the politician in the country affect the relationship between, and among the people. The citizens of a given state interact through language which is developed in case of different ethnic communities. In the modern society, associated with stiff power competition and mass movement, the use of common language can either motivate the coordination process or may in the other way appear challenging if there is no common language (Houghton, 2007). The close connection between the political and language used in the state necessitates the investigation of how political power influenced language and on the other hand language influencing power distribution. This paper seeks to analyze the relationship between political power and language in the modern china. The People’s Republic of China China is a sovereign state that is found in Eastern Asia. It is the most populated country in the world. The population is over 1.35 billion which is distributed within the 22 provinces and 5 regions. It is a single party state that is governed and ruled by Chinese Communist party with the capital city in Beijing. China covers a proximate of 9.6 square kilometers becoming the second largest country in the world. The population and large land mass comprise of a large ethnic groups that speak different languages. The political movement of China is traced right from the dynastic period in which the language was used to govern and to rule (Edward 2006). The dynasty adopted official speech used in court based on the Beijing standards. The ruling government during this dynastic period established orthoepy academies to reform the pronunciation to confirm to the Beijing standards. The standards set for the student produced the members of the state that could speak one language to make ruling easier in all the provinces. In 1912, the Republic of China was established that overthrew the dynasty. The new government constituted a commission to reinforce the common national language. The commission consisted of politicians and language experts that came up with a national language and a standardized unification of pronunciation. The political leaders and language experts determined the common language that the members of the state to speak to each other. Common language unites the citizens and eliminates the sense of ethnicity. The political forces in China also introduced a dictionary of national pronunciation which contained Beijing dialects. It is farther argued that national language and standard dialects facilitate the interaction and emergency of radical group and revolution that are opposing the ruling government. In such cases the use of national language sensitizes the citizen to focus on their rights of speech, movement and property. The national language is a sense of national unity, and the national anthem is sung by everyone as a sign of commitment to the ruling government. The ruling government usually makes changes in the national languages in order to achieve its goal. The economic, cultural and social demands are determined by how power and authority is distributed among the people. Republic of China The Republic of China was established in 1912, the provisional president unfortunately the president later gave to the Qing general that proclaimed the emperor of China. He died in 1916 the death resulted into political fragmentations. In the later 1920s the country was reunited with a series of military and political movement in the North. This movement transformed China in modern democratic state in which the citizens could express themselves. Political fragmentation disunited the people and also hindered the development of common language to be used to in administration. The communist party controlled the main land of China. The chairman of this political made a public declaration of People’s Republic of China. The new political party encouraged the population growth. The Republic of China is one of the few worlds’ that are still practicing communism and socialism. The communist government is characterized by authoritarianism. The authorization is eminent in the restriction in many areas as access to internet and modern technology in communication. Moreover, the freedom of expression and assemblies are minimized and therefore people express themselves in the public. In addition, there are few formal social organizations and few religious groups that advocate for the changes in the community. Language is developed and strengthened through social interactions. The freedom of expression and social movements are the better avenues to develop the standards that serve the whole community. When the ruling government restricts the individual’s ability to express the ideas in public, common language cannot be developed and therefore it hinders the development of the national language among the Chinese. Religious practices and belief form the strong networks to promote the national language. The believers share common language in their conversation and in school. When the ruling government limits the religious practices, they also limited the process of acquiring the new language and developing and maintaining the standards that had been set by the former government. Language development begins when the child is born. When the child is exposed to different languages, they will become acquainted with the national language. The ruling government on the contrary restricted the number of children given birth. The parents would give birth to small number who could only restrict themselves to their mother tongue as compared to a bigger number that will interact with other from other ethnic groups. The common language facilitates the formation of social groups and movements that advocates for marginalized community and human rights (Anne, 2006). The ruling government in China discouraged the formation of these groups that will unite various ethnic communities. The groups were restricted and could not advocate the agenda which affected the community. In regard to this, the language could not be developed fully as result of the excessive authority from the ruling government. Language Development The national language that is used by the government in most of the institution and media was Mandarin. Various programs were introduces by the government to unify the national language which resulted in the in the modern standard Chinese. The common Chinese language is used in the schools to give instruction. The rich ethnic group that depend on the economic prosperity of China, has in turn challenge the government to develop a standard language to used in the business set up and in the learning institutions (Richard, 1991). The business activities are social entities where individuals learn new language and unlearn the old pronunciation. The government controls these activities and the people that are involved in them. It allows foreign relation and international trade between China and other countries. In the international set ups, the Chinese is used by other countries as Japan and Taiwan (Bob, 1998). In order to make trade stronger and regional integration, the government of China has introduced in its curriculum linguistic studies to all students. Even though they come from different background and ethnic groups, the government encourages the use of national language in the learning institutions incorporating all students and staff members. The student graduating from such institutions can easily communicate with other people from their countries that speak the Chinese language as their foreign language. The partnership that the ruling government enters with other nation also encourages the citizen to learn other languages to foster international relation. The initiative is promoted by the government allow the citizen not only learn national language but also foreign language from other countries (Gunde, 2002). The ruling government controls the mass media communication by regulating and assessing the information before it is relied to the public. Only the accepted information written in the best language, the government allows to be published. In its regulation of print and electronic media, the government suppresses the freedom of expression and language exploration. The limitation of media activities also affects learning processes of new languages. Language is fully developed when it is written. The interaction is farther reduced through the government actions (Challen, 2005). On the other hand the citizen can used language positively to criticize the government and challenges its policies that affect the welfare of the citizens in the country. It is through national language that the mass movement is formed by large groups of people that force the government to respond to basic needs. The mass movement might form a political party that usually challenges the ruling government to change the constitution and section of the law that suppress freedom of expression in the print and social media. Different ethnic communities who share the similar language get united for common goals in life (Goucher & Walton, 2013). In China the government uses propaganda as the means to suppress the voice of the citizens. The languages used by the government to pass the information to the public persuade them to accept the actions of the ruling government regardless of its negative effects. China is a single party system that discourages the democratic rights of the citizens. The decision is made through rational process and consultation among the citizens in the country and to express their ideas and feeling through what they say and their reactions towards issues affecting them (Mitter, 2003). In China the use of language among the citizens are limited because the democratic rights are limited. In turn lack of democracy has affected the kind of political leaders that are elected in the decision affect the language used in the country. The citizens cannot express their interest and desire that will give them the quality leadership that will allow the freedom of speech and movement hence China will remain in democratic darkness. The single party that practice communism is associated with bureaucracy which influences the flow of information. The long step involved in the passing information from one step to another discourages the development and usage of language among the citizen. The citizens find it difficult to access their leaders and hence they withdraw from communicating important information to their leaders. The long system of communication inhibits even the language that is used in the process (Dahlman & Jean-Eric, 2011). The ruling government may reject the proposals made by the people based on the language that is used. The ruling government has the standard format which all the communication should follow, and failure to meet the standard, it will be rejected. In conclusion, the use of power and its distribution among others the leaders adversely affect the development and the use of language in any government. The case of China is mostly affected because they have single party that is authoritarian, limits the freedom and expression and the use media which act as the avenues through which language is developed and practiced. References Gunn, E.M. (2006). Rendering the regional: local language in contemporary Chinese media Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Anne-M. (2006). "Guiding Hand: The Role of the CCP Central Propaganda Department in the Current Era". Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture. Challen, P. (2005). Life in ancient China. New York: Crabtree Publishing. Dahlman, C.J & Jean-Eric, A. (2011) China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st century". Washington, DC: World Bank Publications. Goucher, C. & Walton, L. (2013). World History: Journeys from Past to Present – Volume 1: From Human Origins to 1500 CE. 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