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Post‐Brexit English: A post‐national perspective
Author(s) -
SARACENI MARIO
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
world englishes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.6
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-971X
pISSN - 0883-2919
DOI - 10.1111/weng.12271
Subject(s) - brexit , perspective (graphical) , citation , library science , port (circuit theory) , linguistics , media studies , political science , history , sociology , computer science , european union , artificial intelligence , philosophy , business , engineering , electrical engineering , economic policy
In his article, Modiano raises a number of important issues regarding the role of English in post-Brexit Europe. In many ways, this discussion is very much about nationalism and its resurgence. Europe can be regarded as the birth-place of nationalism. Historically, particularly considering the 18th and 19th centuries, the codification of national languages has been instrumental in the construction of modern nation states. The cultural and ideological connection between languages and nations is still so strong that, even now, it pervades most discourse on language. The EU language policy, for example, is entirely based on the idea that languages represent national identities. Strictly within the frame of that policy, English is just one of the 24 official languages of the Union. However, despite the equal standing accorded to English with respect to other languages in official EU documentation, any cursory glance at actual language practice immediately suggests a very different picture. The readers of this journal need no reminder of the fact that English is far more than the language of one specific nation state. Just to reiterate a piece of information that can be found in every textbook in the field, English is not only the most widespread language in the world, but is also one that is more widely used as an international lingua franca and/or additional language than as the primary national language of any one country.