The concepts of Euro English

Although the concepts of Euro English (EE) and English as a European lingua franca (EELF) have been part of the discourse of applied (socio-)linguistics and language teaching for more than a decade, it seems quite safe to say that a common understanding of these expressions has not been reached as yet. A similarly pessimistic statement can probably be made with regard to the idea of European identity, which, after all, one would assume to be central to the process of Europeanization within the context of the European Union (EU) although it was not even explicitly referred to in the final – though by now obsolete – version of the European Constitution.

Obviously, we are dealing with three ideologically loaded concepts which in order to become manageable in our discussion, would really need some in-depth historical and systematic clarification. Since, given the time-frame of this paper, such an endeavour is not realistic the article will mainly concentrate on a discussion of EE and EELF from an applied sociolinguistic and pedagogical perspective, also making reference to their possible contribution to European identity, although no detailed discussion of this concept can be given.

Borneman and Fowler view Europeanization as the result of a new kind and intensity of European integration brought about as a reaction to the two world wars and the subsequent cold-war division of East and West (“Europeanization”, 487). In accordance with these authors, the process of Europeanization, in spite of its being instigated and driven by the EU administrations and organisations, must be distinguished from the political body of the EU, neither of which is in a position to replace the nation-states of Europe at present. Nonetheless, the nations “are now being brought into new relations with each other”.

The paper will proceed as follows: following the introduction, it offers some thoughts on plurilingualism in Europe, which in the Common European Framework (CEF) (Council of Europe 2001) is put forward as the Council of Europe’s official language policy statement and favoured approach to language learning, not least because plurilingualism is seen as a viable alternative, if not an antidote to compensate for the widespread use of English in Europe.

Since English is extensively used as a de facto lingua franca in Europe, at least in Continental Europe (and London), the concept of lingua franca and its definition will be dealt further on. Although the term EE (Euro English) in this paper is employed more or less synonymously with EELF, EE seems to suggest that there exists some kind of English with its own characteristic structures and functions; a kind of English that is specifically European in flavour–the phenomenon of linguistic transference from the various European languages has also been identified by some researchers as a marker of Euro-English. The term Euro English also implies, more perhaps than EELF does, that EE could be considered as a linguistic variety in its own right, similar perhaps to English as a Second Language (ESL) varieties such as Singapore or Indian English.

Drawing on the general, reciprocal relationship between language and culture the question that is pursued is whether EELF is possibly reflective of (a) European culture and (b) whether EELF can contribute to establishing a European identity. If the latter should turn out to be the case one might want to ask whether the potential identity creating function of EELF could lead to questioning the European Council’s policy on plurilingualism and the concomitant principle of cultural diversity although, at present, plurilingualism and cultural diversity are seen as the main pillars of official European language policy and of European identity viewed from a linguacultural perspective.

Plurilingualism in Europe: uniting cultural diversity and reducing the dominance of English?

Undoubtedly, the English language serves as the main medium of communication in and across Europe, among native speakers, between native and non-native speakers of English, but above all among non-native speakers of different first languages and varying cultural backgrounds.

Although English is now used widely and for many purposes the status of the language with regard to its function as a European lingua franca still remains unclear. It is a well-known fact that, from a language policy perspective, English is not recognised as an official European lingua franca. In the Common European Framework (CEF) for example, plurilingualism, characterised as aiming at “reducing the dominant position of English in international communication” (Council of Europe 2001: 4), is advocated instead.

From a communicative as well as from a political perspective, proficiency in several languages is considered to be a highly desirable aim because this ability increases a person’s communicative range in an international context, it confers prestige and it can be a most decisive criterion for a successful job application. In addition, multilingual competence is assumed to overcome the limits of the mother tongue as well as to emphasise and value diversity in language and culture. Not surprisingly, one of the main principles underlying the propagation of plurilingualism by the Council of Europe is “that the rich heritage of diverse languages and cultures in Europe is a valuable common resource to be protected and developed” (Council of Europe 2001).

For this reason the major aim of the Council of Europe is “to convert that diversity from a barrier to communication into a source of mutual enrichment and understanding” (ibid.). However, advocating diversity unreservedly can also be seen as a debilitating factor with regard to EU language policy and practice. It is sometimes just not very practical, because its advantages are not properly weighed up against its disadvantages. This has led critics to question the idea “that the great diversity of languages and cultures as such is a good thing and that, consequently, its present manifestation in the EU represents a great richness, a treasure that should be defended at all costs” (van Els 2000).

Despite this criticism, the ability to understand other cultures and to communicate across cultures is to be regarded as a key feature of European citizenship and European identity. In order to achieve such intercultural understanding, i.e. being able to communicate in a foreign language and to appreciate the culture represented by this other language, requires more than just developing linguistic knowledge in that language.

For this reason the Council of Europe’s CEF recommends that a strong emphasis should be put on the cultural dimension of the European languages.

By its proponents, the idea of plurilingualism is viewed as a historically “natural” and politically balanced response to the question of how to come to grips with linguistic diversity in Europe. However, in reality this concept turns out to be a very idealistic one and poses questions with regard to its practical implementation in language teaching and learning. It is precisely for this reason that English in its lingua franca function has become so popular within the European Union. On the other hand, due to its ubiquitous use, English has also been very much felt as a culturally biased and ideologically loaded medium that has possibly come into being as a result of Anglo-American neo-colonial policies.

Instruction: It is vital to identify the main point of each paragraph of the text and collect circumstantial evidence in separate passages. When analyzingeach paragraph of the text you mostly rely on circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence is evidence not drawn from the direct observation of a fact. If, for example, Europeanization is viewed as a reaction to the two world wars and the subsequent cold-war division of East and West, then there is circumstantial evidence that European nations are now developing new relations with each other.

Overview questions ask you to determine the author’s attitude to a specific item, the main topic of a passage, the author's main point, the primary purpose of a passage, the organization of a passage, etc. Before answering a variety of overview questions about short passages, read the passages and mark possible answer choices.