Page 23 - ELG2104 Apr Issue 475

FEATURES & COMMENT

member states. The fate of the language rests the decline in British English. This could European English would be accepted in
in their hands. very well mean that American English will such educational environments and the
It is already the case that English is the prevail, something that is not, in my opinion, instruction, as well as the pedagogies
prominent lingua franca of Europe. The in the best interests of Europe. deployed when teaching and learning the
competition, French and German, which are If the EU were to sanction the idea of language, would be designed to promote
important as first languages, have far fewer European English, one which could be the attainment of skill in cross-cultural
using these as second languages and there utilised along with other versions of the communication.
language, such as American and British Perhaps this sense of ownership could
There is no English, this would liberate those mainland open the door for greater interest in
promoting the learning of a third language.
Europeans who speak Euro-English.
viable alternative That is, having a European accent, using Nevertheless, with the acceptance of
what to many people outside of Europe
European English, mainland Europeans
on offer to fill are esoteric lexical items and other would, in my mind, be in a better position to
celebrate the unity through diversity which
embellishments of mainland European
the gap caused identity, would not be stigmatised and is at the heart of the European imagination.
seen as examples of interlanguage, but
by the decline in would instead be perceived as expressions Marko Modiano is
of a sanctioned second-language variety,
Professor of English at Gävle
British English one which allows mainland Europeans University, Sweden, where he
to have their own marker of identity
when speaking the mainland European conducts research on English
as an international language
are no indications that this will change in lingua franca. as well as on the evolution of
the near future. This could, in turn, be seen as a way for the English language across mainland Europe.
Far more people use English as a second mainland Europeans to ‘own’ their lingua He has published widely on these and related
language in the EU than those who have franca and as such be freed from the tyranny issues in journals such as English Today and
acquired proficiency in other large EU of native speakerism. World Englishes. His latest book, Teaching
languages, such as French, German, Italian, What we would then expect to happen, English in a European and Global
Polish and Spanish. once this official sanctioning of European Perspective, was published in 2020. He lives
In schools, where mainland Europeans English is carried out, is the production in Stockholm, which he claims is one of the
receive their formal language training, a of dictionaries, grammars, text books and most beautiful cities in the world. Professor
great deal of confusion is currently the other educational materials which would Modiano is an outspoken supporter of the
order of the day, seeing as there is no viable then be used alongside materials showcasing European English initiative.
alternative on offer to fill the gap caused by other varieties. The distinct features of

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