THE GEOPOLITICAL DEVELOPMENT AND STATUS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AS A GLOBAL LINGUA FRANCA IN THE POST-SOVIET SPACE: AN ANALYSIS OF THE 19TH AND 21ST CENTURIES
ТОМИРИС ЕСЕНТАЕВА
Абстракт. Бул мацалада XIX жэне XXI гасырлардагы геосаяси езгер^тердщ нэтижестде агылшын тшнщ посткецестт кещсттте галамдыц лингва франка реттде цалыптасуы царастырылады. Агылшын тш бшм беру, экономика, жэне мэдениет арцылы халыцаралыц коммуникацияныц неггзгг тшне айналып, Ресей, Казацстан жэне Орталыц Азия елдертде елеулг рел атцаруда. Жумыста тшдт интеграция процестер1, Качру шецбер1 мен Шнайдердщ схемасы арцылы талданады. Сонымен цатар, жасанды интеллекттщ дамуы жэне ашыц шекаралар жагдайында жаhандану мен тшдщ ыцтимал езгер1стер1 туралы болжамдар жасалады.
Абстракт. В статье рассматривается развитие английского языка как глобального лингва франка на постсоветском пространстве в результате геополитических изменений XIX и XXI веков. Английский язык, ставший основным языком международного общения через образование, экономику и культуру, играет значительную роль в России, Казахстане и странах Центральной Азии. Работа анализирует процессы языковой интеграции на основе круга Качру и схемы Шнайдера, а также делает прогнозы о возможных изменениях в глобализации и статусе языка в условиях развития искусственного интеллекта и открытых границ.
Abstract. The context of constructing the English language as a global lingua franca in the post-Soviet space This article has been drawn to look at changes in the geopolitics of the 19-21 centuries. English appears as a major language for globalization in education, economy, and culture and occupies a special place in Russia, Kazakhstan, and the Central Asian states. The work uses Kachru s Circle and Schneider's model to assess language integration processes and also gives prognosis about changes in globalization and language status with the input of artificial intelligence and open borders.
Keywords: Geopolitics, English language, lingua franca, post-Soviet space, language integration, globalization, Kachru's Circle, Schneider's model, artificial intelligence, open borders, Russia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, 19th century, 21st century.
During the period of the spread of artificial intelligence in the economic sector, the question of the importance of language is gradually beginning to arise. Language is the basis for relationships at different levels, ranging from intrapersonal communication to mass communication, which involves transmitting information to a huge audience through the media. Communication with artificial intelligence can potentially be considered one of these levels in favor of the emergence of a special form of language use, which are associated with the encryption of semantic units. Depending on the queries applied to artificial intelligence, we will be able to access a huge amount of database. This format can be regarded as the reverse use of mass communication from a person to the information field.
Globalization overtook humanity only at the beginning of the 19 century. Referring to statistics, according to Google Ngramm results, this term appears several years before the global crisis of 2008. At this stage of the spread of the term "globalization", a huge amount of material and scientific works can be found, which indicates the acquired scientific character of this word. However, the very understanding of interethnic integration originated quite early, naturally during the time of colonization. We cannot say that integration took place at the time of the Great Discoveries of new lands, since the conquerors generally did not consider the local culture as unique, requiring the
withdrawal of any spiritual values. The development of local culture, along with such components as the political structure, economic structure, literary publications and technological novelty, was not equal to the expansionist ambitions of foreigners, which led to a shift in the language and traditions of the inhabitants. It is also important to mention the numerous losses of autonomy and the deprivation of the rights of a full-fledged participant in the state during the transformation of the geopolitical movement. The transition from one social position to another is also conditioned by changes in the structure of thinking and language, as subsequent generations will adapt to new conditions of survival, making a choice in favor of stronger authorities, which they will have to gain access to greater benefits. This phenomenon is called "cultural mediation". Thus, the synergy of languages and cultures was an obligatory and quite natural stage of humanity that we can observe the dominance of the English language in the linguistic space.
Given the pattern of expanding the influence of the language in the postcolonial period (PCE), it is possible to make a forecast for the development of the influence of the English language in postSoviet countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asian states for the next decades. One of the methods can be an analogy with the world integration of the nineteenth century and the 21st century, when Jean-Jacques Rousseau and other educators cite the ideas of "universal rights" and the trends of modern countries towards open borders, or "liberalization of migration policy". Is it possible to argue that the rapid entry into the lingua franca with English by Russian speakers should be considered the completion of the American cultural transformation as the internationalization of this language.
Alan Henrikson's article mentions the "relatively peaceful situation at the international level" in the nineteenth century, which was supported by "statesmen and diplomats within the framework of the European Congress." This description of peacetime draws a parallel with the twentieth century, which is filled with historical events on a global scale. Henrikson briefly talks about the importance of a quiet time for social consolidation, while at the same time noting the high effectiveness of conflict in favor of technological progress. The most important thing in the article lies in the concept of "the balance of the European great powers that lay on the basis of" building such a peacetime. Based on these words, we can assume that the uniform distribution of rights and responsibilities in a certain territory guarantees the absence of linguistic stratification, absorbing the weak links of the economic and political situation.
Question One: Politics of Space and Language Growth. A Comparison Between the Nineteenth and the Twenty-First Century
Language was used not only to signal power, but also to remould the cultural landscape through the process of geopolitical expansion in the nineteenth century. The empires set up schools, colleges and religions missions which put in practice the language of the empires throughout the colonized people. This approach led to what is being described today as "linguistic imperialism" where language acts as the key by which those who can speak it, or write it can gain patronage for resources, better jobs and power. European languages like English, French or Portuguese displaced or moved indigenous languages to the margins changing the cultural texture and wiping out the indigenous practices. This dynamic informed the subjugation of the colonized societies to the assimilate to the cultural and economic systems of their colonial masters meaning there was a cultural hierarchy informed solely by the ability to speak a certain language or a dialect thereof.
While in the 21st century military invasion is not noticeable but invasion through purchasing products and through technology is still active. English, for instance has spread through technology, commerce, and education to an extent that individuals who do not interact in English arelocked out from interactionsinthecontemporarytechnologysociety.Moreover,English has spreadthrough the media, traveling, technology, businessacross the globe making themost important languagedictatingparticipation insociety'st Trends. English is no longer being imposed by force as was the case with the expansions of other languages in the 19th century, instead the spread is voluntary due to functionality and usability in a post industrial world. A scheme here could highlight the two
modes of language expansion: Coercive expansion through colonization (19th century) an economic-cultural expansion through globalization and digitalization (21st century).
Question Two: English as the Second Language in Russia, Kazakhstan and Other Central Asian Nations
In the post-Soviet area, English has changed its status from a foreign language to a useful instrument in the sphere of business, computer science and diplomacy. English language becomes more important, as the global economy develops and demands knowledge of the English language. English is not only proficiency in work but also the language, which helps to apply for education in foreign countries, to gain better knowledge in such fields as STEM disciplines. According to Circle Model introduced by Kachru, the Russian Federation as well as Kazakhstan can be classified into the Expanding Circle where English is important for people as the third language, but not the first or the second. In contrast with the countries of Outer Circle, e.g. India, Nigeria, where English stands as the official second language, the speakers of Expanding Circle Englishes...coalesce linguistically involuntarily and generally in certain spheres.
Schneider's evolutionary model of language is also useful in explaining how English acquires new social uses in the new cultural settings of this region. Hence in Russia and Kazakhstan English is seen as post-modern or even post soviet and as a language that links the youth and other consumers to global competitiveness. However, integration remains at an early stage, affected by educational changes as well as by the development of the economic bond with the English-speaking countries. A scheme here could have clearly illustrated the development of English within Kachru's called Circle Model, which puts Russia, Kazakhstan and Central Asian states firmly in the so called Expanding Circle.
Question Three: Future Predictions - Effects of Artificial Intelligence on the World and Globalization, Citizenship, and Open Borders
The future is set to dramatically change the ways in which languages are employed with Artificial Intelligence set to become an everyday phenomenon and Global Citizenship possibly offering a new vision to the boundaries. As seen in the use of specific AI in translation, natural language processing, and chatbots for customer care, lack or need for a common language has never been felt before. English can continue to strengthen the status of an already dominant language in many technologies as it also remains the language in which a large part of the AI infrastructure is being developed. They raise new opportunities which give birth to a new type of language pragmatics wherein the interaction with AI is based on more formalized language and somewhat differs from the interaction with other people.
A increasing importance of the idea of the global citizenry, which arises from increased international migration and globalization overall, will make language an indispensable tool that will help human beings maintain the unity of the peoples regardless of their cultural difference. Although Russian and Chinese have been dominating the regions, English seems likely to remain the worldwide language because of its traditional functions as an international language in diplomacy, business, and education. Another writer and academic, Alan Henrikson, contends that English's function as the language of peace supports the diplomatic requirements of a world that is on the process of liberalizing its borders and permitting the movement of persons across borders. Here a scheme can help to explain the link between the AI developments, language and the idea of the global citizenship.
In this vein, understanding the impact of English on geopolitics and localization on language as more than just a communication means establish that language is much more than communication. They rise to the question of why English is likely to maintain and remain as a dominant medium in the advancing leveled and artificial intelligence and overall global citizenship. This is the case demonstrating that language influence extends all the way from colonial language dominance to current digital media globalization.
REFERENCES:
1. Henrikson, A. K. (1980). The geographical "mental maps" of American foreign policy-makers. International Political Science Review, 1(4), 495-530. https://doi .org/10.1177/019251218000100407
2. Kachru, B. B. (1985). Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English language in the Outer Circle. In R. Quirk & H. G. Widdowson (Eds.), English in the World: Teaching and Learning the Language and Literatures (pp. 11-30). Cambridge University Press.
3. Morgenthau, H. J. (1960). Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace (3rd ed.). Alfred A. Knopf.
4. Schneider, E. W. (2007). Postcolonial English: Varieties around the World. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CB09780511618901