English ties too many tongues

Southampton is celebrating the European Year of Languages in style, says Clare Mar-Molinero.

1992 came and went, and for a short while the British thought they should learn to speak languages other than English.

But the mood did not last and once again language learning and teaching is close to crisis, as confirmed by a survey out this week showing that Britons' command of foreign languages is the worst in Europe. Why? Because everyone throughout the world speaks English. Or so it seems to us. What incentive is there to learn anything else?

The United Kingdom may be the birthplace of English but it is not monolingual. Besides the revival of indigenous languages such as Welsh, we hear all around us the many languages spoken by people who have made their home here or whose parents or grandparents did so.

In addition, the trend towards globalisation touches our culture, politics, economy and daily lives, bringing with it such regular contact with people who speak other languages that we should be persuaded of the usefulness and the pleasure of communicating in something other than English.

The sad truth is that we feel little or no incentive to understand these other languages.

It is argued that technology reinforces the use of English, but via the web we can read a vast range of foreign-language newspapers any day of the week, and through email, converse with any network of foreign communities.

Satellite television allows us to view programmes from across the globe and these are not exclusively in English. While the world community feels the need to learn English as a lingua franca , this means that, for all but mother-tongue English speakers, multilingualism must be achieved.

Those who have English as a first language are all the poorer - socially, economically and culturally. There are practical and even selfish reasons why we should learn other languages, as well as altruistic and moral arguments. As with endangered species, we need to protect our languages. Too many have become extinct.

2001 is the European Year of Languages and there will be many activities and events throughout Europe to promote multilingualism and language learning. This is an opportunity for the UK to raise the profile of languages, following on from the recent Nuffield inquiry report on the state of languages and language learning.

Here in Southampton, a city-wide consortium, embracing the city council, schools, colleges and the university, as well as community groups, businesses and individuals, has received European Union funding to promote and celebrate multilingualism and multiculturalism. As in many other cities on a Saturday morning the sound of Punjabi, Urdu, Spanish, French, Chinese and many other non-English languages fills our streets.

Besides encouraging language learning through conventional channels, the city is targeting less traditional groups, including those who may have been marginalised because of special learning difficulties or disabilities.

There will be an emphasis on language as part of life-long learning, on language for businesses and pleasure. We will identify as many languages spoken by local residents as possible, including the local sign-language community, and encourage foreign visitors, such as Socrates students, to take part in events.

Hopefully, in this way we can start to change the attitudes that have led to such little choice of languages in the school curriculum, such little enthusiasm for languages at A level and university and a language teacher shortage. It should also challenge the belief that if you shout loud enough, you will ultimately be understood.

Clare Mar-Molinero is head of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American studies at the School of Modern Languages, University of Southampton.