Reconfiguring Europe - The Contribution of Applied Linguistics - Constant Leung
Figuring out the Englishisation of Europe
Reconfiguring Europe - The Contribution of Applied Linguistics - Constant Leung
Robert Phillipson [+]
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Description
There are many challenges in figuring out how language policy is evolving in Europe, and what the implications are for speakers of different languages. Issues of language rights and language policy and planning are of concern to academics in several social science and humanities fields. There is increasing documentation of the impact of English on the EU system and on continental European languages, but there are significant paradoxes in EU language policy. Many factors contribute to paralysis in explicit policy formation. Applied linguists are addressing choice of norms for English, but some of the studies of English as a ‘lingua franca’ seem less than well founded theoretically and to be based on less than ideal empirical data. There is a need to connect microlevel studies with the realities of linguistic hegemony and hierarchy. There are massive forces behind the current marketing and expansion of English, but significant efforts in the EU are going into the maintenance of linguistic diversity. There are challenges in theory development in analysing English as the contemporary imperial language. The need for conceptual clarity in relation to ‘lingua franca’ is of immense importance. Suggestions are made for taking the analysis of Englishisation forward.