The harm English as a vehicular language inflicts upon European societies

Les dommages de l’anglais comme langue véhiculaire: tous les niveaux de la société contemporaine en Europe sont concernés

Jean-Claude Barbier ()
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Jean-Claude Barbier: CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) from HAL

Abstract: There are many examples of the damage done by the imposition of a de facto hegemony of the English language within the European Union. To a large extent, this imposition comes from a lack of linguistic policy at this level of government. This article considers two examples involving very distinct linguistic experiences: the first concerns ordinary citizens in the European Union who, because they mostly lack competence in English, are essentially excluded from the workings of European politics and policy, where matters are conducted in English. The resulting phenomena of exclusion point up the contrast between "elites" who speak and understand English and ordinary citizens who do not. These "elites" are not aware that by choosing to forget the question of language equality in the functioning of European politics, they are contributing to the growth of what they describe as populism. The second example, conversely, concerns researchers working in the social sciences. It might be assumed that English language skills are widespread in this field since they are included in evaluation criteria. However, this is not the case at all: functionality in the English language remains very rudimentary and limited (as it stands, nearly one in five knowledge-based professionals in the European Union has no understanding of English at all, and four out of ten do not speak it well or fluently). While in sociology, for example, the dominant use of English creates a hegemony of academic journals in American and British English, it comes at the price of lower quality research.

Keywords: anglais européen; global English; plurilinguisme; Union européenne (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Published in Hermès, La Revue - Cognition, communication, politique, 2016, Langues romanes un milliard de locuteurs, 2 (75), pp.111-119

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