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Daniela M.

Medina COM4461, Spring 2014 Professor Hastings News Analysis The article titled What a Coca Cola Ad Taught Us About Language Policy in the U.S. by Zach Simons brought to light the issues in America regarding bilingualism and the lack of encouragement to study foreign languages. The outrage sparked by the Coca Cola advertisement is a clear sign of the importance of language as nationalism. It also reminds us of the rate in which English is spreading and the power of language through the lenses of linguistic relativity. In its simplest essence, the article discusses the Coca Colas Super Bowl ad and goes in-depth into the issues that made the advertisement controversial. The Coca Cola advertisement showcased the power of language and the control that it has to unite or separate a nation. In the article, Simons points out the negative and hateful hashtags of #SpeakAmerican and #FuckCoke used on Tweeter within minutes after the commercial played. These hashtags themselves point towards the ignorance of individuals, considering American is not a language and the United States has no official language (Jandt, p154). The demanding statement of Speak American is a clear example of an attempt to force another group to assimilate a particular role within another culture. We could say that the rejection of the song of America the Beautiful being sung in seven different languages is a representation of cultural invasion (Jandt, p147). Those who reject this new version clearly understand the importance of language but instead of attempting to unify these languages they want to impose [their] view of the world through a demand for one politically recognized language.

Its important to recognize that a narrow viewpoint is no longer valid in todays society. We must embrace the idea of thinking from multiple perspectives and communicating cross culturally. In fact, Americans should be the leaders and the biggest supporters of this movement considering that English has grown to dominate the areas of science, technology, commerce, tourism, diplomacy, and pop culture (Jandt, p149). In other words, English is spreading but in reality only accounts for a quarter of the worlds population according to the article. This means that even though business is taking place using English many of the conversations are being translated. The constant translation from language to language can actually cause many misinterpretations since the translation might refer to something that the other person has never encountered or have a different meaning for the same word (Jandt, p143). Often times, we assume a shared identity through the basic understanding of the language and forget that the value of the words in their context might differ from culture to culture. We have the ability to learn language from a compound or coordinate point of view that dictates our linguistic relativity. The idea deals with culture [being] controlled by and control[ing] language (Jandt, p137-8). This mutual relationship can be best showcased by the example in the article about the way in which individuals who practice non-futured languages tend to save more and lead healthier lifestyles compared to those who spoke future languages such as English. If we were to embrace the learning of foreign languages, we would be able to look at the world from a different perspective and possibly make more positive choices. The current style of learning in the United States relates more to compound bilingualism since the programs available for learning are only enforced during adulthood, as explained in the article. By the time that adults begin learning another language, the ability to assimilate another culture or language is quite difficult. However, if we encouraged the study of foreign languages at an

earlier stage in life such as childhood our approach to language would be much different. In fact, it would be from a coordinate bilingualism point of view that would enable the speaker to understand culture and the way in which language separates ideas and core values depending on the language the individual is communicating in. This approach would create better and stronger relationships with other countries since we could find a common ground without stereotypes or prejudice and create translations that are culturally relevant to each individual. The Coca Cola commercial served as a platform for the exposition of the real issues regarding foreign languages and the role that language plays in our culture. By analyzing the article, we can see the power of language to enforce, integrate, or divide a nation. Language creates a sense of nationalism by drawing from ethnocentrism. However, having this huge sense of commonality due to the advances in technology and spread of English creates a false belief of righteousness to impose culture and language on other groups by rejecting the support of learning foreign languages. The lack of perspective from being monolingual prevents the development of different linguistic relativities where open and understanding communication occurs. The media in America holds a mirror to the positive characteristics of who we are as a culture and what we find important while highlighting the weaknesses and issues in our culture.

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