16.1598, Review: Multilingualism/Sociolinguistics: Edwards (2004)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-16-1598. Wed May 18 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.1598, Review: Multilingualism/Sociolinguistics: Edwards (2004)

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1)
Date: 16-May-2005
From: Jens Maier < yeda at yeda.de >
Subject: Multilingualism in the English-speaking World 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 22:05:40
From: Jens Maier < yeda at yeda.de >
Subject: Multilingualism in the English-speaking World 
 

AUTHOR: Edwards, Viv
TITLE: Multilingualism in the English-speaking World
SUBTITLE: Pedigree of Nations
SERIES: The Language Library
PUBLISHER: Blackwell Publishing
YEAR: 2004
Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/15/15-2747.html


Jens Maier, Department of English Linguistics, University of Tübingen, 
Germany.

SYNOPSIS

This book is about multilingualism in those countries that belong to the 
inner-circle according to Kachru's (1985) classification, namely the UK, 
Ireland, Canada, the USA, Australia, and Aotearoa/New Zealand. People from 
the expanding circle might expect monolingualism or at least linguistic 
homogeneity there; however, Edwards shows with many illustrating examples 
that this is nothing but a myth. She traces the history of multilingualism 
in these six countries over several centuries and describes the situation 
of people speaking minority or indigenous languages (including sign 
languages) in a majority language environment.

The result is an impressive collection of facts about linguistic life in 
the inner circle. It is of high interest for anyone who wants to know more 
about linguistic reality in all its facets, the developments and 
consequences of language policy in those countries and their shortfalls. 
 
The book is divided into three parts: The first part describes "The extent 
of diversity", the second part takes a closer look at "Language at home 
and in school" and the last chapters are about "Language in the wider 
community." The rationale of this work is "to chart the influence of other 
languages on the English-speaking world". Edwards uses Kachru's (1985) 
metaphor of concentric circles - where this book will concentrate on the 
inner circle, namely: The UK, Ireland, Canda, the USA, Australia and 
Aotearoa/New Zealand. 

Part I

The first part of the book explores the extent of diversity in inner-
circle countries. Edwards traces the history of diversity from the 
sixteenth century to our time and shows the roots of diversity, the extent 
and the effects on everyday life.

In the first chapter, Edwards clears the myth of monolingualism. She 
claims that the political monolingual mindset could be traced back to 19th 
century Europe and the rise of nation states.  This mindset then changed 
the linguistic reality in Australia and the USA dramatically. She provides 
up-to-date census data to show how many people speak languages different 
from English today. For instance, there are approximately 28 million 
people speaking Spanish, two million speaking Chinese and still half a 
million people speaking Portuguese in the USA.  Furthermore, Australia, 
New Zealand and the US still have indigenous languages, as those 
territories might have been blank on the map of the colonizers, but not in 
reality. 

The second chapter provides a historical overview on the spread of the 
English language and the roots of diversity. From England, it was taken to 
Wales, Scotland and Ireland, although never completely. Later on, when 
British settlers sailed for America, their English language challenged 
Spanish and French, not to speak of the languages of the Indigenous in 
America, Australia and New Zealand. In the days of colonialism, language 
was too often used as a tool for the subjugation and assimilation of other 
peoples. The Welsh, for example, have fought for their language and 
identity with the proverb "Heb iaith, heb cenedl" (No language, no 
nation). English might seem a global language today, however, the first 
steps of the spread in the UK were of course the hardest and often the 
cruelest.

Chapter three looks at the problematic facts with respect to "Language and 
the provision of service" in the inner circle.  Without basic skills in 
English, it is very hard to participate in the life of the community. But 
it is even harder to communicate with doctors or at court. Edwards 
describes various problems with interpreting, names the efforts which have 
been undertaken (for example telephone interpreting) and comes to the 
conclusion, that although the awareness for translation and provision of 
services in minority or indigenous languages has grown, a long way lies 
before us until the nonnative speakers in the inner-circle will eventually 
come to all their rights. 

Part II

Part two looks at language in two very important domains: home and school. 
Families are the core of society and the place where individual decisions 
may yield in the maintenance, growth or decay of a language. Edwards 
discusses the problem of bilingualism in families, describes the  support 
for bilingual education and mentions the values of inherited minority 
languages for the identity of their speakers. 

Chapter five and six on language and education are probably most 
interesting in practical terms: Edwards describes the role schools have 
played and still play in language policy. In the early years of 
colonialism, language policy was much more tolerant than today. In those 
days, schools were under control of local districts and lessons were 
usually held in the language of the community, for instance German or 
French. In the UK, however, the English-only policy  has been imposed much 
more rigorously, for example by punishing children when they spoke in 
their native language. Today, however, institutions try to integrate 
minority speakers by teaching English in order for them to participate in 
society. At the same time efforts are made to teach minority and 
indigenous languages and thus keep them alive. Furthermore, linguists and 
professionals try hard to reduce prejudicial attitudes towards English 
varieties such as African American Vernacular English (or Black English), 
which are too often considered inferior. 

Part III

The third part of the book takes a look at "language in the wider 
community", such as language and economy, different languages in the 
media, the role of minority languages in diplomacy and defence. 
Correlations between minority languages and economic success and social 
status of individuals vary from country to country and depend on the 
language. On the group level, workplaces offer an opportunity to use 
minority languages and keep them alive.  Tourism is another example, where 
minority local languages play a greater role in giving visitors a better 
impression of the uniqueness of the country. 

The Internet brought completely new opportunities for minority language 
speakers to get informed. Chapter nine gives an outline of the historical 
developments in mass media and communication with respect to 
multilingualism.  

Chapter ten gives the reader an idea about the role, minority and 
indigenous languages play in the arts. From bilingual story telling and 
rap and dub poetry, oral arts offer great opportunities for language 
awareness and cultural tradition. 

Chapter eleven about "language, diplomacy and defence" then mentions the 
problems of the US after 9/11. For instance, a catastrophic shortage of 
translators and interpreters made it difficult to deal with important 
documents which had not yet been translated. Edwards reports, that 
government tried to motivate people to learn more foreign languages. It is 
yet the question, how long people will keep their interests in those 
languages. 

Moreover, Edwards points out a problem in the relationship between 
linguistic research and political action. The UK and Australia both use 
language analysis to identify the home country of asylum seekers. A word 
pronounced in the "wrong" accent could lead to refusal, although there are 
no definite linguistic reasons to judge from accent to nationality. 

Internet forums in other languages than English are also described as 
problematic for those who are responsible. In order to avoid possibilities 
for the underground, those discussions need to be monitored by speakers of 
that language. Therefore foreign language speakers are needed, but they 
are rare. 

The last chapter sums up the findings of the book. The range of languages 
spoken in the inner-circle at the beginning of the twenty-first century is 
much wider than ever before and multilingualism is a normal part of life. 
As most inner-circle countries have a long lasting tradition of 
immigration, new people and new languages arrive every day. Still, the 
attitudes towards foreign languages remain problematic. Often, debates 
about language are in fact debates about culture, identity, legislative 
power and control. Although much of the official life is in English, 
immersion-schooling and places to learn other languages have kept minority 
languages from language death. 

EVALUATION

This book provides an up-to-date and  in-depth description of the 
situation of people in the inner-circle who do not speak English as their 
mother tongue. Although intended as a textbook, the nature of describing 
language policies in six different countries over several centuries makes 
it more a encyclopaedia than a textbook. However, it is not solely a book 
for linguists as linguistic theories don't really play a central role in 
the book. Nevertheless,  I am sure that many of the mentioned situations 
are well worth being further examined with linguistic methods in the 
future. Furthermore, I hope, that this book will not only be read by 
people from the inner-circle countries but also by politicians and 
linguists in Europe, as some of the problems of multilingualism seem to be 
emerging in the European Union as well. The book includes bibliographical 
references and an index.

REFERENCE

Kachru, Braj B. (1985): Standards, codification and sociolinguistic 
realism: the English language in the outer circle. In: Randolph Quirk and 
H. G. Widdowson (Eds.), English in the World, (p. 11-34). Cambridge: 
Cambridge University Press 

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Jens Maier is a doctorate student in the Department of English 
Linguistics, University of Tübingen, Germany. His interests concern 
language evolution and language variation, especially in the context of 
English as a Lingua Franca.





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