Transcending the Group: Languages of Contact and Lingua Francas

Abstract

Part I of the book focused on how there are pressures within communities to move towards linguistic homogeneity. The argument was that speaking in the same way is an act of identity as well as an act of communication. The language policymakers and planners of the nation building era understood this and, recognising that language is a very powerful social glue in the constitution of groups, systematically and rigorously encouraged the creation of a single community of communication within the polity. Because they sought to change behaviour top-down, the very activity of language policymaking has come to be seen as inherently repressive (Brumfit 2002). But it should not be forgotten that they mostly succeeded because there was consensus from below. Nationalist ideology was accepted by large majorities within populations for a significant period, particularly in Europe.