Brexit as Linguistic Symptom of Britain Retreating into its Shell? Brexit‐Induced Politicization of Language Learning

Abstract

Debates about the future of UK language learning in the context of Brexit intensified as soon as the referendum outcome was announced. This politicization of language learning, evidenced recently also in the United States and France, falls upon an already difficult context of the United Kingdom in a ‘language learning crisis,’ and an increasing social segregation between those who learn languages, and those who do not. In the Brexit‐induced politicization of language learning, some suggest that the United Kingdom's unwillingness to learn languages is indexical of Europhobia, while others contend that the ‘global English’ phenomenon is the root cause. We examine the evidence for these rationales. Our data analysis uses van Dijk's methods of macrostructure Critical Discourse Analysis, to examine 33 publicly available texts on the topic of Brexit and language learning in the UK that appeared in the immediate aftermath of the referendum (June–November 2016). The analysis reveals how different stakeholders frame language learning as a habitus associated with social markers, and thus either reinforce patterns of the social divide in language learning, or challenge these. The conclusion proposes avenues of politicizing language learning that might foster rather than hinder uptake in those currently disengaged from language learning.

Multilingualism and higher education in Greater China

“…Volatile socio-political conditions in the world today have resulted in discrepant language policy measures, but most contexts worldwide are characterised by funding cuts for LOTE education. As mentioned earlier, the UK faces a continuing decline in modern languages in terms of both the number of learners and the institutional support for such programmes, and this situation may be exacerbated during the post-Brexit era (Lanvers et al 2018). Fifteen senior representatives of modern languages in the UK wrote to The Guardian, a popular national newspaper, to express alarm at recent planned staffing cuts targeting modern language teachers at the University of Manchester, which has one of the most reputable modern language programmes in the country (Rawlinson 2017).…”

“…In March 2018 the Modern Language Association publicised an official letter on its website, written by its director and endorsed by 22 other organisations, addressed to the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point and urging the university administration to reconsider its recommended elimination of 13 undergraduate humanities majors, including three modern language programmes. Researchers are concerned that the major Anglophone countries are increasingly cutting themselves off linguistically from other parts of the world, which may indicate a dangerous resurgence of othering and the erasure of language diversity (Lanvers et al 2018).…”

“…These concerns about the decline of modern languages reflect a tension caused by the rise of global English, which occupies a key position in school curricula around the world (Graddol 2006) combined with a waning interest in learning other languages. Two recent seismic political events, the British exit from the European Union (Brexit) and Trump's aggressive isolationism in the United States, may add more uncertainties to the future of multilingual education around the world, particularly with respect to teaching and learning languages other than English (LOTEs) (Lanvers, Doughty, and Thompson 2018).…”

Changing language mindsets about modern languages: a school intervention

“…In the context of Brexit, language competencies in the UK matter more than ever before (Holmes 2018), as the need increases to communicate with nations for whom English is not an official or recognised language within their country (Lanvers et al 2018). Currently, the UK is performing, along with the Republic of Ireland, the worst in Europe in terms of language competencies among the general population (European Commission 2012), costing the UK economy the equivalent of 3.5% of Gross Domestic Product (Foreman-Peck and Wang 2014).…”

Addressing Linguistic Diversity in the Language Classroom in a Resource‐Oriented Way: An Intervention Study With Primary School Children

“…In practice, however, there is an increasingly narrow focus in contemporary language education, and efforts to promote language learning in most European (non‐UK) educational systems are only directed toward learning English (see also Ushioda & Dörnyei, ). The decrease in popularity of foreign languages other than English in many European countries (Eurostats, ) and the low interest in foreign language learning in English‐speaking countries (Lanvers, ; Lanvers, Doughty, & Thompson, ; Taylor & Marsden, ) further reveal the disconnect between policy and practice.…”