Dear Wolfgang Zierhofer
I was interested to read your communication
about English language in academic life. Your
argument for us English speakers not beating
ourselves up too much is one I have not heard
before and rather convincing.
I have always been impressed, as someone who
has spent a lot of time in Switzerland, with
how widespread is the ability (here and elsewhere)
to speak at least a dialect and a 'formal' language.
I hope that even if we accept the predominance
of English for international conferences etc we will
not forget or devalue the many languages and
dialects people speak, the ability to do so,
or, in social science at least, forget how important
their influence may be. I learned from my time in
Switzerland, the Basque contry and Alsace
that the notion of "German", "French" and
"Spanish" we are taught in Brit and US schools is
a total abstraction!
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