Book contents
- Speech and the City
- Speech and the City
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Disclaimer in Regard to Website Content
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Linguaphobia
- 2 The City as Multilingual Utopia
- 3 (Re)claiming Knowledge
- 4 Access and Agency
- 5 Heritage and Skills
- 6 Celebration and Citizenship
- 7 Academia and Advocacy
- 8 The Mirage of the Civic University
- References
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
1 - Linguaphobia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 May 2024
- Speech and the City
- Speech and the City
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Disclaimer in Regard to Website Content
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Linguaphobia
- 2 The City as Multilingual Utopia
- 3 (Re)claiming Knowledge
- 4 Access and Agency
- 5 Heritage and Skills
- 6 Celebration and Citizenship
- 7 Academia and Advocacy
- 8 The Mirage of the Civic University
- References
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
Summary
The pro-Brexit campaign leading up to the 2016 referendum in the UK and in its aftermath was accompanied and driven by a narrative that was hostile to immigration and its cultural implications. Language played a role, with Leave campaigners criticising the presence of multiple languages in UK society and government agencies embarking on an 'English first' campaign that linked community languages to lack of integration and social incoherence. At the same time some arguments in support of foreign language learning embraced the Brexit narrative claiming that language skills will help post-Brexit Britain gain global influence. The chapter surveys different strands of UK language policy and concludes with an assessment of latest Census figures on language pointing to the increase in multilingualism.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Speech and the CityMultilingualism, Decoloniality and the Civic University, pp. 1 - 18Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024