Being utilized as a lingua franca by a global community that spans nations, provinces and people groups the English language is not bound nor governed by any particular nation, province, people group nor organization. English belongs, like all languages, to all speakers and learners. While recognizing that there are valid reasons for cultures and organizations to maintain and perpetuate their own dialects for the purposes of social cohesion and communicative efficiency, it is recognized these dialects are mere variations and no more intrinsically worthwhile than any other.
At this time, there are certain cultures and nations (specifically those in the United States and United Kingdom) that exert, knowingly or otherwise, their own cultural domination in order to control the development and usage of the English language by speakers and learners beyond their borders. Nefarious or otherwise, the reason for exerting control is not important. While the exertion of this influence is expected and perhaps inevitable, it is no less abhorrent in this ostensible age of communicative freedom.
Claiming ownership of any language is -at best- illusory and -historically- destructive. I hereby deny any implicit or explicit ownership or right to govern or moderate the English language that may have been perceived to belong to me by virtue of my nationality, my cultural affiliation or my primary language. In stating this, I commit to the following:
1) Awareness that speakers of English may use dialects that are unfamiliar to me or difficult for me to understand, and, accept their validity among the ranks of more widely known or venerated dialects
2) Ignoring grammatical or pronunciation errors when communication is otherwise intelligible
3) Willingness to help learners of English achieve their communicative goals. This may include the modeling of my own dialect, but it may never include the assumption that my dialect (and thereby, culture, nationality, etc) are superior, merely more useful in certain situations than in others
4) Using the English language as a means to build bridges between international communities, rather than barriers
English, and every language, belongs to everyone. If it is to be used by the world to communicate, so be it, and may I not stand in the way of anyone who wishes to use it in ways that I do not understand or comprehend.
It is my sincere hope that by relinquishing any assumed authority in this way, we may foster healthy relationships as global neighbors. Please, join me in this.
