‘Building a new public idea about language’?: Multilingualism and language learning in the post-Brexit UK

Abstract

In 2003, Mary Louise Pratt published a hugely influential paper in Profession where she took to task misconceptions about multilingualism and language learning apparent in the USA in the wake of 9/11 and consequent counter-terrorism measures. She argued that a new public idea about language was necessary in order to ensure unity and security. This article argues that in the aftermath of Brexit, the UK also needs to develop a new public idea about language to ensure a future that is prosperous, socially, culturally and economically. To do so, it first challenges a number of prevalent myths about language learning and multilingualism in the UK through a review of scholarship, media articles and reports which focus on languages and multilingualism since 2013. It then suggests that interest in the Anglosphere has meant that the value of English is now artificially inflated and that the value of other languages is underplayed. We argue that this turn to the Anglosphere and to (English) monolingualism should be challenged through proposing a new public idea about language for post-Brexit UK.

Systemic and personal factors that affect students' elective language other than English enrollment decisions

“…This finding means that not all students who discontinue LOTE learning are disinterested in L2 study, disproving the pervasive "monolingual mindset" narrative. Copland and McPake (2021) argued that the media constantly perpetuates this view, which does not help to dispel this outlook. Mason and Hajek (2020) found that the Australian press usually focus solely on economic advantages when reporting L2 benefits, whereas promoting social benefits could positively impact student elective choice.…”

“…The UK has long experienced language enrollment declines, with Worne (2015) summarizing the national outlook on L2 education as a case of “can't, won't, don't” (para 1). The UK's decision to leave the European Union (EU) (termed “Brexit”) has major impacts, with Copland and McPake (2021) explaining “Brexit has constituted a 'real‐world' crisis for the UK, in which our relationships with Europe and the wider world have become salient and unsettled” (p. 3). The British Council's Languages Trends 2020 report (Collen, 2020) revealed that in 2018, 34% of respondents believed Brexit was creating negative attitudes toward language learning, and the following survey in 2019 found 45% of state schools thought it affected the provision of high‐quality language teaching.…”

Exploring individual variation in Turkish heritage speakers’ complex linguistic productions: Evidence from discourse markers

“…First, most language users in the world are multilingual (Grosjean, 2010). Second, even in modern nation states in the Global North with a strong focus on a single national language, multilingualism is a better description of the reality (Copland & McPake, 2022). Therefore, in this study, we try to break down the dichotomy between the monolingual norm and the multilingual exception.…”

Making pedagogical links between languages: exploring how teachers are responding to the crosslinguistic and interdisciplinary challenges in the Languages, Literacy and Communication AoLE

“…Pratt (2003) published a "hugely influential paper" (Copland & McPake, 2022, p, 117) which tackled misconceptions about multilingualism following 9/11, exhorting America to develop "a new public idea about language" (p. 5). Copland & McPake (2022) use the same rhetoric in their paper on how the UK also needs to tackle misconceptions about multilingualism and develop "a new public idea about language" following Brexit. For Kelly (2018) this strategy is needed as language permeates all areas of our lives, but it must be "fully comprehensive" (Coussins & Harding-Esch, 2018, p. 5) to cover business, the civil service, and all stages of education.…”