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A Critique of English as a Common Language for APEC:
Three Perspectives

Yukio Tsuda
Professor, GSID

The paper discusses the three critical perspectives, namely, equality in communication, linguistic human rights, and ecology of language in evaluating the dominance of English in APEC and in international communication in order to provide a critical and philosophical foundation for language policy of APEC. Equality in communication proposes the establishment of a symmetrical inter-personal relationship with equal distribution of power. Linguistic Human Rights attempts to promote and protect a person's right to use, learn and identify with the language(s) of her/his choice. Ecology of Language is a paradigm that pursues preservation of languages, multilingualism. and protection of minority languages. It is advisable that APEC should incorporate some of these perspectives into its language policy so that APEC's English-dominated communication will become more equal and democratic.