Europe & the Future of Languages: the case of Spanish

Clare Mar-Molinero Centre for Transnational StudiesUniversity of Southampton, UK

AimsTo argue that a European / Western legacy continues to dominate language spread;To suggest that theories of linguistic imperialism and ‘language empires’ are still a useful framework for examining certain language spreadTo highlight the role of Standard Language Ideologies and Foreign Language Teaching in world language spread and dominance;To focus on the case of ‘global’ Spanish To explore the role of the Instituto Cervantes as an agent in language dominance and spread.

Globalisation

[The world] ‘system is marked by both the existence of separate spaces (e.g. states) and deep inter-connectiveness of the different spaces, often, precisely, through the existence of worldwide elites’ (Blommaert 2003;612)

‘Globalisation implies that developments at the ‘top’ or the core of the world system have a wide variety of effects at the ‘bottom’ or periphery of the system’ (ibid)

Globalisation

Sociolinguistics & globalisation:

Four key processes:

- interdependence

- the compression of time & space

- disembedding

- commodification

(Coupland, 2003:467)

Linguistic Imperialism

Linguistic Imperialism is a ‘subset of linguicism’ which in turn is defined as ‘ideologies, structures and practices which are used to legitimate, effectuate and reproduce an unequal division of power and resources (both material and immaterial) between groups which are defined on the basis of language ‘ (Phillipson 1992: 47)

 

The spread of Spanish through Linguistic Imperialism

Spanish Empire and castilianisation

20 independent Latin American Republics

US Latinos

400 million Spanish speakers today

Foreign /Second Language Learning programmes

Pan-Hispanic Spanish government language policies

Spanish language & globalisation

Interdependence across the Spanish–speaking world;Compression across time & space as the result of geographical spread & modern technological communications;Commodification with packaging and selling of the Spanish language;Disembedding and re-embedding : hybridity and homogenisation of Spanish, and defence by ‘purists’.

Standard Language ideology

Standard Language Ideology is defined as ‘a bias towards an abstract, idealized, homogeneous spoken language which is imposed and maintained by dominant bloc institutions and which names as its model the written language, but which is drawn primarily from the spoken language of the upper middle class’ (Lippi-Green, 1997:54).

The Instituto Cervantes

‘The Instituto Cervantes is the public institution created by Spain in 1991 for the promotion and teaching of the Spanish language and for the diffusion of Spanish and Hispanoamerican culture. ‘

The Instituto Cervantes’ Aims & Objectives

To organise general and specialised Spanish language courses;

·       To accredit by means of certificates and diplomas the knowledge acquired by its students and to organise the examinations of its Official Diploma of Spanish as a Second Language (D.E.L.E);

·       To ensure up-to-date teaching and teacher training methods;

Aims & Objectives (continued)

     To support the work of Hispanists; ·       To participate in programmes to promote

the Spanish language; ·       To provide cultural activities in

collaboration with other Spanish and Hispanoamerican organisations and groups from the host nations;

·       To provide public libraries equipped with the most up-to-date technological resources.

Language courses of the ‘Aula Virtual del Español’

The principal variety of the AVE and the corpus’s norms which are presented to the students as a model of language for them to copy is central peninsular Spanish. (…) [C]entral peninsular Spanish was chosen because it is not in contact with other languages and has the fewest differentiating characteristics as regards the shared language. (…) The selection of this as the principal variety is based on the fact that central peninsular Spanish has sufficient demographic importance and status amongst the Spanish-speaking community through media and cultural expressions.

Aula Virtual del Español AVE (continued)

(…) General or standard Spanish brings together the common features shared by all its varieties (…) The secondary varieties are present in the AVE through presenting and commenting on their features and/or through their use by their speakers.

AVE (continued)

Knowledge of the culture of Spanish-speaking countries constitutes one of the main objectives of the AVE. The sociocultural content of the courses offers a true image of Hispanic culture and society in all its variety and richness through materials from diverse sources: press, literature, cinema, music.

Conclusions

Instituto Cervantes – consciously or unconsciously – sees the Spanish language as a symbol of Spanish nationhood and therefore any fragmentation through transnational flows or global re-configurations is a threat to the Spanish nation. Marketing and spreading Spanish to consolidate Hispanidad and for economic gain should, therefore, be done with Spain as the leader.Future work will concentrate on an analysis of the work of the Instituto in two key centres: Brazil and the US to investigate the questions raised in this paper.

ELT / ELE: Linguistic Imperialism?

One may conclude that ELT has not been promoted globally as the result of a master-minded plan. It is in the nature of hegemony that it is not static and rigid, (…) This means that at the ideological level it adapts dialectically to challenge and change. (Phillipson 1992;307)