阅读理解
"It is difficult not to hear in Standard English always the sound of slaughter and conquest" (Hooks, 1994).
Learning one language means acquiring its culture because one cannot be separated from the other. This gain is accompanied by the inevitable transformation or loss of certain aspects of the first language and culture. The fear for many, therefore, is that teaching one common language will create a common world culture, but at the expense of the other cultures worldwide. This loss of culture will ultimately lead to a loss of the many different identities creating a clone (克隆) of the more dominant identity of the English Speaking World.
The individuals'' cultural identity will disintegrate (碎裂、分解), leading to a suppressed identity especially if the first language and culture are considered deficient compared to the learned language and culture of English. So compared to the native speaker of the English, individuals will consider themselves inferior, and this feeling of inferiority is intensified because of the native speaker''s feeling of superiority. At the same time, those learning and using the language of power (in this case English) become part of an elitist (精英) group, who by virtue of position or education exercise power or influence over others in their group who have not learned English. Thus because of the assumption that the knowledge of English is related to intellectual and social superiority, the English speaking group ends up with power and influence over the non-English speakers. A linguistic hierarchy of power is created with the native English speaker on top, followed by the non-native speaker of English, leaving the non-English speaker at the bottom.
In this context, Phillipson proposes the term of English Linguistic Imperialism.
Linguistic Imperialism is maintained due to the elitism (精英主义) which becomes entrenched ( 确立的) in society when the dominance of one language becomes an accepted norm, and the speakers of that language are assumed to have intellectual and social superiority that ensures their power and influence over others. Elitism can be traced to the French word élite, which means selection or choice, and in the case of linguistic elitism the act of selection or choice is done by the native speakers of the language as well as the non-native speakers. The non-native speakers of the language (English), especially those who never acquire native fluency, are assumed by their peers (同辈、同等人) as well as by the native speakers as being intellectually deficient in some way. The manifestations of this elitist attitude toward the English language are prevalent (盛行的) in all aspects of life from educational institutions to businesses and social situations. The international prevalence of this attitude can be found in English speaking countries like the US and UK, where there is a large immigrant population that speaks English as a second language, and in Pakistan and India, where English is the national language, but is not the first language of the majority.
单选题
What does the author imply with the citation at the beginning?