reactions

[Robert Phillipson]

A quick response to recent postings:
- Ruth's : very useful, and with many symptoms of the same
neo-fascism and cowardly social democracy in "liberal" Denmark
- Norman's : I hope it spreads.

I find it intriguing that Norman's refers to "language" in
neo-liberalism. As I see it from continental Europe, post-colonial and
post-communist states, "language" often means English - in competitio
n with other languages. The relationship between an expanding use of
English and globalisation is a topic that has been of concern to Tove and
me for some time:
1) Tove is currently reading proofs (but has been delayed by illness:
in bed for two weeks, in hospital for the past week and a half with
seriously worrying symptoms and no diagnosis as yet of what
the problem is) for her vast new book "Linguistic genocide in
education - or worldwide diversity and human rights", Erlbaum,
hich among other things deals with globalisation and its implications for
linguistic diversity;
2) also covered to some extent is rights to language, on which there
is a wide range of papers in a Festschrift I am editing for Tove's
60th birthday next year (50 contributors, also with Erlbaum) an
d several in a book literally being published this week in Budapest,
with the Central European University Press, "Language: a right
and a resource: approaching linguistic human rights", edited by
Miklos Kontra, Tove, myself and Tibor Varadi;
3) English triumphalists like David Crystal claim to be in favour of
linguistic diversity and bilingualism but write with little understanding
of the topic. See my review article of his "English as a
 global language" in the latest number of "Applied Linguistics";
4) some of the dimensions and research needs in exploring the
relationship between Englishisation and globalisation are pursued
in an article Tove and I have in the latest number of the AILA Review
(which people receive as members of national affiliates);
5) I gave a paper at a conference in Lincoln last month on "English
in the new world order", and am trying to flesh out work in this
field, in which discourses of various kinds, not least scholarly a
nd political ones, figure prominently.

So what I am saying, in as few words as possible, is that I see good
reasons for linking up the CDA project Norman is launching with
interlocking concerns to do with linguistic hierarchies, their
structural characteristics and legitimation. I wish I had more time to
pursue things more energetically.

Robert Phillipson