Speaking from the Margin : Global English from a European Perspective

The papers in this volume analyze the language situation under globalization in several European countries. How does the spread of Global English affect the integrity of the local systems? Changes in lexical and discursive repertories are evidenced and discussed. It is shown how new social identities are linguistically constructed and redefined in the social consciousness of the various local communities. The authors see globalization as a major change-in-progress that sets in relief the dual capacity of language: communication and identification. The collection reconciles empirical data analysis with profound attention to a host of theoretical issues, such as a new ecology for language under globalization or a new interdiscursivity of globalizing communications. It is argued that globalization-as-recontextualization of meanings poses a serious challenge for a new science of language. The spatial imagery of center-margin is chosen to expound on the complex interaction between the global and the local. The concept of a glocal view on language affords a new perspective for coping with massive linguistic change.