Colombian culture, society and linguistic factors influenced by English language.

María Alejandra Amaya Jiménez

Globalization has allowed the expansion of the English language throughout the world

due to social, cultural, political and economic factors. English was declared by the national

government in 1994 as the second language of our country allowing access to the English

language through public and private institutions. For this reason, the basic standards of English

were created following learning levels that must be achieved by English learners to improve

communicative competence. Also today, people have access to the English language through

social networks, television, music, and movies. It is permissible for people to have a positive

attitude towards the English language and wish to acquire the English language to improve their

status of life. This language has created an impact on Colombian society creating positive and

negative thoughts about its importance. This impact has been reflected in social and cultural

fields such as how to think, act, live, work and even speak because Colombian society sees the

English language as a solution to the internal problems of the country.

Colombian society is increasingly involved in learning English. Many consider their

children to study English from an early age in bilingual schools where the subjects are taught in

English. The citizens of Colombia are persuaded of the commercials shown on the internet and

television where they affirm the advantages of the English language. However, citizens do not

investigate and become ignorant about the subject and agree without knowing about it. They put

their children to school and expect them to get a better life expecting them to travel abroad which

for them abroad means; UK and United States. English has made our culture is being influenced

by the culture of the Inner circle countries proposed by Kachru (1992). Colombian people have

as role model the United States and the UK. Due to these perceptions, Colombian people prefer
buying, listening and reading things that come from different countries because for them it seems

more elegance. Vélez - Rendon (2003) states that English is a symbol of prestige and modernity

through its use in advertising, names for businesses, and clothes brand names. Colombian

culture has been influenced by the internet where there is greater exposure to the English

language. The British Council estimates that of the three million self-access English learners in

Colombia which means that there has been a significant increase in English learners through

technology and English resources.

Colombian people have gradually changed their perception of the English language.

Now there are positive attitudes about the advantages it generates over educational, economic

and political issues. Colombians are aware of the importance of the acquisition of a second

language due to the link between English, better employability and a higher standard of living.

According to a British Council, Colombians would learn English if they had the opportunity to

do so. However, the majority of Colombians lack contact with the language in their daily lives.

Despite this affirmation, Colombians are exposed to the English language more daily than we

believe; through the music distributed by the radios where artists like Rihanna, Cardi B, Ariana

Grande and Justin Bieber are the most listened singers in our country. Also, through clothes and

restaurant name brands; where the owners of these businesses use English names to attract the

attention of citizens. Florez (1977) lists such examples as John's, Henry's, Pepe's bar, and argues

that there is a propensity for using the possessive form 's in front of any name or word. This

unconscious exposure of the English language causes an impact on Colombian citizens in their

way of bathing, dressing and even talking. To imitate the culture imposed by the hegemonic

countries.
 However, the factor that has been most influenced by the English language, is the

linguistic factor. Words such as ticket and court entered Colombian Spanish and were nativized

as tiquete and corte (Montes, 1985). This borrowing process has been accomplished via

translations, news agencies, film dubbing and the speech and writings of people who have

resided in English - speaking countries, states Montes (1985). Vélez - Rendon (2003) argues that

Colombian Spanish, like other languages, needs to borrow words, especially in the scientific and

technological domains. This means, the adoption of new words. It is common for Colombians to

adopt these words in their daily speeches and little by little they become part of our dictionary

and be validated by the real Spanish academy. This is a consequence of the impact of English on

our native language, Spanish, which adopts words and uses them as their own. However, this is

not something that happened a few years ago, but it is a process that has been going on for more

than 50 years. Thanks to the globalization, it is more evident to see these cases.

I want to add this sentence to conclude; English language education, or any kind of

education for that matter (Freire, 1992; Giroux, 1988), needs to be a vehicle for transformation

and empowerment for all. Taking it in our Colombian context, the English language has

impacted political and social economic factors. It has also impacted our culture and our

linguistics, improving the way in which we perceive the globalized world today. Colombians

have a more positive attitude towards the English language, seeing it as an instrument to

communicate with the rest of the world and not be isolated from it. In this sense of ideas,

Colombia has been influenced by the culture of the hegemonic countries such as the United

Kingdom and the United States due to the ignorance that many Colombians have about English

and its culture, thinking that you are only one of two countries. It is important to note that every

day Colombians have exposure to English through the mass media and even the economy, that
is, through the brand of cell phones, and the name of restaurants due to globalization. We should

not consider this negatively impacts our culture, society, and linguistics but open our minds to

what this world awaits us, to transformation. We have to get involved in global issues and

participate in our own change.

References

English in Colombia: An examination of policy, perceptions and influencing factors. (2015).

British Council.

Freire, Paul (1992) Pedagogy of Hope. New York: continuum.

Flórez, Luis (1977) Apuntes de español [Notes on Spanish]. Bogotá: Publicaciones del instituto

Caro y Cuervo.

Giroux, Henry A. (1988) Schooling and the struggle for public life: critical pedagogy in the

modern age. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Montes, José (1985) Calcos recientes del inglés en español [Recent calques of English into

spanish]. Thesaurus, 11, 17 - 50.

Kachru, Braj B. (1992) The Other Tongue: English Across Cultures. Urbana, IL: University of

Illinois Press. Second edition.

Vélez - Rendón, Gloria (2003), English in Colombia: a sociolinguistic profile.