The English Language In Europe

An overview of the current state and the future directions of the English language in Europe. The book examines the development of English from a Germanic tongue into an international language, and considers bilingualism among Europeans.

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.

This book offers an inclusive perspective on the constellation of languages in Europe by taking into account official state languages, regional minority languages and immigrant minority languages. Although "celebrating linguistic diversity" is one of the key propositions in the European discourse on multilingualism and language policies, this device holds for these three types of languages in a decreasing order. All three types of languages, however, are constituent parts of a multilingual European identity and should be taken into account in any type of language policy. Both facts and policies on multilingualism and plurilingual education are addressed in case studies at the national and European level. The selection of case studies is based on a careful weighing of geographical spread of countries and languages across Europe on the one hand, and availability of established expert knowledge on the other. After an Introduction to the theme of the book (Guus Extra and Durk Gorter), Part I deals with official state languages with a focus on the spread of English as lingua franca across Europe (Juliane House), on French and France (Dennis Ager), on Polish in Poland and abroad (Justyna Lesniewśka), and on language constellations in the Baltic States (Gabrielle Hogan-Brun). Part II deals with regional minority languages with a focus on Catalan in Spain (Francesc Xavier Vila i Moreno), Frisian in the Netherlands (Durk Gorter et al.), Hungarian as a minority language in Central Europe (Susan Gal), and Saami in the Nordic countries (Mikael Svonni). Part III deals with immigrant minority languages in the United Kingdom (Viv Edwards), Sweden (Lilian Nygren-Junkin), Italy (Monica Barni and Carla Bagna) and Europe at large (Guus Extra and Kutlay Yağmur).

This volume discusses several facets of English in today's multilingual Europe. It emphasizes the interdependence between cultures, languages and situations that influence its use. This interdependence is particularly relevant to European settings where English is being learned as a second language. Such learning situations constitute the core focus of the book. The volume is unique in bringing together empirical studies examining factors that promote the learning of English in Europe. Rather than assuming that English is a threat to linguistic diversity and cultural independence, these studies discuss psycholinguistic factors such as the input, and sociolinguistic factors such as the type of English that is targeted in learning. The contributing authors are well-established specialists who have worked on multilingualism, English as a Lingua Franca and second language acquisition. The book will be of interest to applied linguists, sociolinguists and teachers of English as a foreign language.

English in Europe charts the English invasion of Europe since 1945. Sixteen distinguished European scholars report on the English words and phrases that have become integral parts of their languages. Each describes the effect of English on the host language, and shows how the process of incorporation often modifies pronunciation and spelling and frequently transforms meaning and use. The languages surveyed are Icelandic, Dutch, French, Spanish, Norwegian, German, Italian, Romanian, Polish, Croatian, Finnish, Albanian, Russian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, and Greek. The book is designed as a companion to A Dictionary of European Anglicisms but may be read as an independent work. This is the first systematic survey of a phenomenon that is fascinating, alarming, and apparently unstoppable.

This book emerges as a response to the increasing use of English as a lingua franca in the multilingual European context. It provides an up-to-date overview of the sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic and educational aspects of research on third language acquisition by focusing on English as a third language.

This book is designed to provide insight into the roles of English in and for Europe. The starting point for this comparative study is recognition of the increasing importance of communication with peoples from other cultures and countries. The book contributes to discussions of the possibilities of transnational media offerings, and facilitates a better understanding of the influence of media in foreign language acquisition.

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1, University of Innsbruck (English Department), course: English in Europe, language: English, abstract: The European Union is not only an economic community. It is also a unique language community in which each language has its place and its right to exist. Today, English is the dominant language in the world serving as a first or second language, a working language, a lingua franca etc. for many people. Nevertheless, the position of the English language is not the same in the European Union as in a global context. This paper will focus on the position of English in the European Union being only one of 23 official languages. It will be analyzed in how far the dominance of English affects the other languages and the institutions of the European Union and to which extent English has the status of a European lingua franca. On the other hand, the influence of the other languages on English will be looked at, which will lead us to the phenomenon of ‘Euro-English’. Finally, the opposition of other language communities against the dominance of English will be discussed.

Open publicationThe Languages and Linguistics of Europe: A Comprehensive Guide is part of the multi-volume reference work on the languages and linguistics of the continents of the world. The book supplies profiles of the language families of Europe, including the sign languages. It also discusses the areal typology, paying attention to the Standard Average European, Balkan, Baltic and Mediterranean convergence areas. Separate chapters deal with the old and new minority languages and with non-standard varieties. A major focus is language politics and policies, including discussions of the special status of English, the relation between language and the church, language and the school, and standardization. The history of European linguistics is another focus as is the history of multilingual European 'empires' and their dissolution. The volume is especially geared towards a graduate and advanced undergraduate readership. It has been designed such that it can be used, as a whole or in parts, as a textbook, the first of its kind, for graduate programmes with a focus on the linguistic (and linguistics) landscape of Europe.

This book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in researching or just learning more about the changing role and status of English across Europe. The status of English today is explained in its historical context before the authors present some of the key debates and ideas relating to the challenge English poses for learners, teachers, and language policy makers.