Normand Labrie

Your Language, My Language or English? The Potential Language Choice in Communication Among Nationals of the European Union

Data on foreign language learning and the ability to take part in a conversation using a foreign language were collected by Eurobarometer in 1994 from representative samples of the population in 12 member states of the European Union (n = 13,029). Drawing on these data, the authors observe that knowledge of foreign languages has increased considerably in Europe in the last 40 years, thereby improving the potential for communication among Europeans. They note that the three most learned and spoken foreign languages, English, French, and German, are all expanding. However, English is by far the language which has progressed the most, which raises the question of the eventual emergence of English as a lingua franca. The authors use the representative data from the Eurobarometer study, differentiated by country and by age group, to estimate the probability that a particular language will be used when nationals of two different countries belonging to two different age groups (15–24, and 55 and older) interact. Some sociolinguistic implications are examined in the conclusion.

The Principles of Territoriality and Personality in the Solution of Linguistic Conflicts.

Abstract This paper examines the competing principles of territoriality and personality as key concepts in the provision of language‐related services and rights in multilingual societies. Drawing on recent legislative and sociopolitical change in Belgium, Quebec and Canada we examine to what extent the adoption of such principles actually increases or neutralises language‐related conflict. We argue that sensitive application of certain territorially‐derived language planning policies can lead to a reduction in conflict and reassure threatened linguistic minorities that their rights can be guaranteed within a multilingual political framework. We also argue for a closer liaison between language contact researchers and geographers, particularly in applied language planning policy‐formulation.

Book Reviews: Die multilinguale und multikulturelle gesellschaft: Eine utopi?: Peter J. Weber (1996) Bonn: Dümmler Verlag. ISBN 3-427-64151-1 (paperback). pp.xi+276

which arguably offer the only way to explore children’s sentence processing as it occurs in real time. As comprehension is a crucial part of children’s linguistic ability but is rather more difficult to assess directly than is production, the evaluative comments offered by the authors on the strengths and weaknesses of the various methods in this part of the book are most helpful. There are two chapters in Part III on judgment methods, by Gordon on the truthvalue judgment task and by McDaniel and Cairns on the grammaticality judgment task. Both methods are often used by syntacticians studying adult language, and have only been slightly modified for children.