English-Only Europe?
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English-Only Europe?

Challenging Language Policy

Robert Phillipson

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English-Only Europe?

Challenging Language Policy

Robert Phillipson

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About This Book

English-Only Europe? explores the role of languages in the process of European integration.
Languages are central to the development of an integrated Europe. The way in which the European Union deals with multilingualism has serious implications for both individual member countries and international relations.
In this book, Robert Phillipson considers whether the contemporary expansion of English represents a serious threat to other European languages. After exploring the implications of current policies, Phillipson argues the case for more active language policies to safeguard a multilingual Europe. Drawing on examples of countries with explicit language policies such as Canada and South Africa, the book sets out Phillipson's vision of an inclusive language policy for Europe, and describes how it can be attained.

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Publisher
Routledge
Year
2004
ISBN
9781134443482

Chapter 1
The risks of laissez faire language policies

The most serious problem for the European Union is that it has so many languages, this preventing real integration and development of the Union.
The ambassador of the USA to Denmark, Mr Elton, 19971
No-one pays attention to what you say unless you speak English, because English is the language of power.
Ombudsperson for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gret Haller, 19992
The Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity.
Article 22, Charter of Fundamental Rights
of the European Union
, 20003
I asked Voltaire whether he still spoke English. He replied, ‘No. To speak English one must place the tongue between the teeth, and I have lost my teeth’ . . . When he talked our language he was animated with the soul of a Briton. He had bold flights. He had humour. He had extravagance . . . He swore bloodily, as was the fashion when he was in England.
James Boswell, 17644

Language policy challenges for Europe

Many profoundly important language policy questions need addressing:

  • How does English as the key language of globalization impact on national economic, cultural, and educational policies in continental Europe, on job qualifications, mobility, and personal freedoms?
  • Do the procedures followed in conducting European Union (EU) affairs give native speakers of the ‘top’ languages, particularly English and French, unfair privileges, and if so, what can be done to remedy the problem?
  • If speakers of Catalan, Welsh, and other minority languages have no right to use their languages in EU institutions, does this mean that only certain languages are being used to create ‘Europe’? If so, does ‘Strength in diversity’ (an EU mantra) apply only to the privileged languages? Can Europeanness and European citizenship be expressed in any European language? Is European linguistic identity multilingual?
  • Practical solutions are needed to the multiple communication needs of cross-European communication in the political, business, cultural, and many other fields, but are pragmatic solutions compatible with principles of equity, language rights, and human rights?
  • Can English, and other influential foreign languages, be learned and used in ways that do not threaten other languages?
  • Are the language policy issues of European integration being seriously addressed at the national and EU levels? Is there constructive dialogue between key constituencies, politicians and bureaucrats, the corporate world, academics in relevant fields, particularly education, political science, international law, economics, language, and minority rights, and grassroots public opinion?
  • What can be done to bring about more informed and more inspired language policies?

This book is a general introduction that situates language policy, language use, language learning, and language rights within broader European political, economic, and social changes. The opening chapter introduces some of the major language policy challenges, clarifies what language policy is, and provides examples of when it becomes newsworthy. The historical background is covered in Chapter 2, the contemporary impact of globalization on European languages in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 is devoted to the institutions of the European Union. Chapter 5 goes through many of the factors that impinge on language policy and the ecology of language, and considers whether some form of English as a lingua franca can replace the traditional view of English as a British or North American language. This is one aspect of the search for an international language which is a genuinely egalitarian means of communication among speakers of different languages. Specific recommendations, within a vision of how language policy could be revitalized, are made in Chapter 6.
The book describes how the influence of English is much profounder than that of Latin and French in earlier periods. It assesses whether the contemporary expansion of English represents a serious threat to all the other languages of Europe. Languages are central to the processes leading to a more deeply integrated Europe, in commerce and the media, and in the activities of the institutions of the EU. With electronic communication and service industries playing an increasingly significant role, the role of languages is even more important than in earlier historical periods. But in the copious literature on European integration and globalization, the language dimension tends to be absent, except in specialist works on the sociology of language and nationalism. Through analysis of how languages are expanding and contracting in processes of European integration, the book will suggest ways in which a more active language policy, nationally and internationally, can ensure that all languages can flourish. The way the EU deals with multilingualism has significant implications, both for international relations and for what happens in each member country. It is important to clarify what sort of Europe current policies are leading towards, and the criteria that could guide policies that permit speakers of different languages to communicate on a basis of equality. The book argues a case for more active language policies that can serve to ensure the continued vitality of all the languages of Europe.
It would have been tempting to call the book ‘From Babel to Eurobabble’. However, to do so would have reinforced the notion that a multiplicity of languages is a curse, both in history and at the present. Babel is historical myth rather than fact (see Chapter 2 on the Bible also endorsing ‘speaking in tongues’). Multilingualism, in the sense of an individual or an institution operating effectively in more than one language, is an everyday reality for the majority of the world’s inhabitants. It is a source of richness and joy for us, facilitating access to a range of cultures and cosmologies. If Babel and Eurobabble are understood as meaning that people who come from different language backgrounds cannot communicate, then the EU institutions, with their elaborate translation and interpretation services, are living proof of the opposite. The British Minister for Europe, Peter Hain, used ‘Eurobabble’ as a way of rubbishing official EU texts written in impenetrable language, as part of a campaign in 2001 to make the EU more comprehensible to British people.5 However, neither the EU nor the English language has a monopoly of such texts, and the Eurobabble smear has more to do with the British government distancing itself from what the EU is perceived as representing. Much is at stake in communication at the EU, and the use of English is increasing in Europe. We need to explore whose interests are being served by this trend, and how it impacts on other languages.

English to unite or divide Europe?

For the American ambassador to Denmark who claims that a multiplicity of languages is thwarting the unification of Europe, the solution would be for the EU to eliminate all languages other than English. It is unthinkable that any political leader in Europe would endorse such a scenario. To do so would run counter to the endorsement of diversity that is enshrined in many key EU texts. Thus the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU that was approved by the European Parliament and the European Council and Commission in December 2000 commits the EU to respect linguistic diversity (in Article 22). Article 21 also seeks to prevent discrimination on grounds of language, nationality, or membership of a national minority:
Any discrimination based on sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited. . . . Any discrimination on grounds of nationality shall be prohibited.
Nevertheless, the forces of globalization and americanization may be moving language policy in the direction of monolingualism. English may be seen as a kind of linguistic cuckoo, taking over where other breeds of language have historically nested and acquired territorial rights, and obliging non-native speakers of English to acquire the behavioural habits and linguistic forms of English. The EU Charter of Rights is a political declaration that does not have the force of law. According to the EU Ombudsman, ‘this seems to imply that European citizens should understand that even the most solemn promises made by politicians are not intended to be taken seriously’.6
Things are moving fast in the world of commerce. The cover of the European edition of Business Week of 13 August 2001 asked in a banner headline: ‘Should everyone speak English?’ The inside story was flagged as ‘The Great English divide. In Europe, speaking the lingua franca separates the haves from the have-nots’. The cover drawing portrays twin business executives: one communicates successfully, the English speaker; the other is mouthless, speechless. Competence in English is here projected as being imperative throughout Europe in the commercial world. By implication, proficiency in other languages gets you nowhere. The article describes how more and more continental European companies are switching over to English as the in-house corporate language. It also describes how English for business is big business for English language schools.
Business Week’s uncritical celebration of the way English is impacting on continental Europe fails to note that many businesses in Europe are becoming aware that proficiency in English will in future be so widespread that proficiency in other languages will be essential for commercial success. It is arguable that it is monolingual English-speakers who will lose out in the future, and that the high fliers will be multilingual, as is often the case today.7
The contemporary power of English makes itself felt in many fields. In international gatherings, there is a pecking order of languages. English has the sharpest beak, one that inflicts wounds on speakers of other languages. Discrimination against speakers of other languages is widespread, often without the users of English being aware that there is a problem. At a Council of Europe conference in 1999 on Linguistic Diversity for Democratic Citizenship in Europe, the Ombudsperson for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gret Haller, who comes from Switzerland, noted that she had ‘frequently come across situations where you are not taken seriously unless you speak English. This has been in Bosnia, not in my own country. No-one pays attention to what you say unless you speak English, because English is the language of power.’8 She warned that going along with this state of affairs could be dangerous for Europe, and pleaded for language policy not to be left to laissez faire market forces.
Languages have expanded and contracted throughout history, and there are many languages that are currently expanding at the expense of other languages, but the way English is impacting globally is unique. Its advance has major implications for speakers of all other languages, for education systems and professional qualifications, for the economy, and for the vitality of cultures big and small. Languages are the medium through which communication takes place in politics, commerce, defence, academia, the media, technology, the internet, and most aspects of life. Languages are therefore central to our increasingly international world, to globalization and the accelerating processes of European unification.
In different historical periods, voices have protested against an excessive reliance on English. In the struggle for Indian independence, Mahatma Gandhi warned that English represented cultural alienation. Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India (educated at Cambridge University and imprisoned by the British before independence), was ‘convinced that real progress in India can only be made through our own languages and not through a foreign language. I am anxious to prevent a new caste system being perpetuated in India – an English knowing caste separated from the mass of our public.’9 In fact, an English-using caste has emerged, because the management of multilingualism in India has largely been left to market forces. These strengthen the position of users of English, here as elsewhere. Roughly 30 million Indians are fluent users of English, but they account for under 5 per cent of the population.10
The French have long been concerned about their language being corrupted by an invasion from English, by franglais and anglomania. Successive French governments have invested substantially in the promotion of their language internationally, and in the establishment of a counterpart to the British Commonwealth, a global ‘Francophonie’ organization.11 They have also legislated to ensure that French is given priority in France in commerce, education, public life, and the media. The Body Shop, and an American university operating in France, have been prosecuted for failing to use French in their information to customers. However, such sanctions and protective measures may well not prove very successful, because they represent limited treatment of a disease that has multiple causes and symptoms.
To regard the stand taken by the French as a waste of time, as is often done, is misguided. Governments are responsible for language policy in their countries. Many act vigorously to promote a single national language. Several are concerned about the impact of English on their own languages. The Polish and Hungarian governments have legislated to restrict the spread of English. A Swedish parliamentary committee has recommended legislation aimed at ensuring that Swedish remains a ‘complete language’ serving all purposes in Swedish society.12 It stresses the need for more proactive language policy work so as to maintain the position of Swedish in EU institutions, to build on the diversity of languages in use in present-day Sweden, and to ensure that Swedes in higher education and research can use Swedish and English equally well.
These examples show that the advance of English, while serving the cause of international communication relatively well, and often bringing success to its users, can represent a threat to other languages and cultures. English is influential and popular worldwide because this brand of language connotes pleasure, employment, influence, and prestige. 13 English opens doors, it facilitates mobility. English is often referred to as a ‘global’ language, but even if many decisions affecting the entire world’s population are taken in English, the vast ...

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