The Language Imperative: How Learning Languages Can Enrich Your Life And Expand Your Mind [Hardcover]

Suzette Haden Elgin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2000

Many of us view language as a tool, a means by which to communicate our thoughts and emotions. But is there more to language than just “talk”? Can learning languages actually change the way you think? In The Language Imperative, best-selling author and linguistic scholar Suzette Haden Elgin makes a persuasive case that the linguistic differences between us are not trivial, that language and culture are inextricably linked, and that multilingualism has a profound (and beneficial) effect on the human mind. Drawing on examples from the worlds of medicine, business, religion, and family life, Elgin illustrates that each language learned gains for the speaker another worldview—perhaps even another personality. This makes it all the more disturbing that many of the world’s languages are rapidly disappearing, and that the “English Only” movement is gaining ground. Based on solid science and filled with personal insights, The Language Imperative is required reading for anyone interested in how words shape our lives, both as individuals and as a nation.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Suzette Haden Elgin is a specialist in applied psycholinguistics and the founder and director of the Ozark Center for Language Studies, and has written many language-related bestsellers, such as the whole Gentle Art of Verbal Defense series and How to Disagree Without Being Disagreeable. And now she's come out with a new book on language, The Language Imperative, to tackle the issue of multilingualism. She suggests that people in the U.S. suffer a fair amount of confusion over the power and importance of languages. And she asks a number of questions, as well, such as "Is it a good or a bad idea for people in this country to have command of two languages?", Should we have an international language, or is this a silly (or perhaps dangerous) idea?", and "Do languages have the power to shape our lives as individuals and as a nation?"

She sets out to establish the importance of multilingualism, to explain why there is so much confusion and contradiction when it comes to multilingualism, and to discuss the effects of multilingualism on individuals and communities. Elgin did a tremendous amount of research (from traditional sources such as journals and studies, as well as from hundreds of multilinguals around the world). She concludes that human languages do structure and influence how people think and perceive; that the link between language and culture is so strong that if you take away the language, the culture is lost; and ultimately, that multilingualism is terrifically valuable, and should be encouraged in all ways. Elgin fleshes out her ideas with interviews and examples, and presents all the sides that weigh in on these issues. Her voice is strong, her prose precise, provocative, and engaging, and her book worth the read--perhaps many times, and in a variety of languages. --Stephanie Gold

Review

"A wonderfully insightful and original book. I highly recommend it!" -- William L. Ury, Harvard University, co-author of Getting to Yes --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 1 edition (January 6, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738202541
• ISBN-13: 978-0738202549
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,977,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A well research defense of multi-lingualism, September 7, 2003

By 

Govindan Nair (Vienna, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Language Imperative: The Power of Language to Enrich Your Life and Expand Your Mind (Paperback)

I have grown up continuously listening to and also speaking several languages. I have studied in three different continents. In my professional life and my dealings with many countries, I use three or more languages and am in an professional environment where several languages are spoken in my workplace. I have developed close professional and personal relationships in at least two languages (English and French). For these and other reasons, I therefore naturally gravitated to this book which examines key questions such as whether language affects human perceptions and what are the links between language and culture.

Notwithstanding some marvelous research to its credit and mercifully straightforward language in a field (pyscholingusitics) famous for its obscure and inacessible jargon, the book fell short of my expectations.

In retrospect, I believe it was because it embarked on a scope which was too broad and at the same time too narrow. Too broad, I think, because it tackles questions which are on one hand empirical - and thus the realm of science (e.g. how does language affect culture)- and on the other hand, normative - and the realm of policy (should we have a single language which everyone learns worldwide?). While the author should be admired for attempting to broach such a wide agenda, clearly in the interests of readability for a general non-specialist audience (including myself), I often found the discussion confusing these different sets of questions and thus somewhat inconclusive on both.

Furthermore, the treatment might also be too narrow by its almost exclusive focus on issues prevalent in contemporary policy debate in the United States (e.g. bilingual education and language choices at home in immigrant homes). Deeper insights on these questions could be gained by considering how these issues have played out in many countries which afford a perspective both on the empirical and policy issues.I will cite only one of several examples of such countries which I know well - the island of Mauritius, where English is the official language reflecting its recent colonial history, but where a majority feel more comfortable in French because of a longer French colonial presence earlier in history, and where other languages - notably creole and bojphuri - are also spoken). I well expect however that worldwide research on these issues has still not matured, although I would have appreciated a clearer statement of the state of the art on this subject.

On the second point, I should fairly point out that the author seems very well aware of the global dimensions of these issues. The book is in fact replete with references to different countries, languages and cultures. But nowhere does it focus deeply on how other countries outside the United States are struggling with many of the same policy issues.

This critique aside, I learned much from this book. One of several insightful observations I enjoyed in this book, which was also conveyed in straightforward language, concerns how science fiction writers depict languages which non-terrestrial beings might use. Not surprisingly, the author notes, every single one of these fictitious languages turns out to contain characteristics found in human languages because, the author aruges, what counts as a language is part of what it is to be human. This statement by the author in fact turns out to be quite profound on further reflexion.

I also enjoyed the transparency and clarity of the author, particularly in her clearly laying down at the start the questions on whcih she focuses and also warning the reader in advance on her position on these questions which are still controversial.

Altogether, this book is a worthwile read in a field where much more such writing is needed as language issues are impinging more and more on domestic and external politics across the world.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars refreshingly simple and yet complex, May 1, 2002

By 

George J. Filip "gfilip" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Language Imperative: How Learning Languages Can Enrich Your Life And Expand Your Mind (Hardcover)

It is refreshing to read a text based on linguistic philosophy and the politics of language that is written in such readable language, though her accessible prose hardly lacks complexity of thought. Also, Haden is not afraid to voice her opinion instead of simply stating an accumulation of facts and citations. I read books to hear what other people are thinking, including the author. After researching and writing such an in-depth report, she'd better have some opinions of the subject matter! I'm glad that now, I know them too. The issues she covers are chock full of debate, so her intellectual views and personal views are more than appropriate. Overall, a strongly stated argument and informing book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars thought provoking but opinionated, August 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Language Imperative: How Learning Languages Can Enrich Your Life And Expand Your Mind (Hardcover)

I bought this book looking for an interesting and informative discussion on the effects of language, and got just that. Ms. Elgin highlights the many contradictions our culture is grapling with, such as the argument to teach only in English in US schools. She also touches on the controvetial subject of whether or not language shapes our view of reality and approach to life. Despite the interesting subject matter and obvious research that has gone into this book, Ms. Elgin is quick to insert her opinions and just as quick to apologize for them. The book would have been vastly improved if these personal opinions had been eliminated from the text or mentioned in the preface or afterward, not after every new theory is introduced. Altogether an interesting and informative book which must be read with skepticism as it is so strongly opinionated.