Multilingualism in the English-speaking world (review)

In this book, Edwards has picked an intriguing topic—the use and fate of other languages in places where English dominates. E uses Braj Kachru’s system of categorizing countries in which English is spoken, focusing mainly on the ‘inner-circle’ countries, those that make up the English-speaking world of the title. These countries are the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. (The author refers to New Zealand as Aotearoa/New Zealand throughout the book.)

Multilingualism in the English-speaking world is divided into three parts. Part 1, ‘The extent of diversity’, contains three sections, beginning with ‘The myth of monolingualism’. The author makes it clear that despite what she calls ‘a monolingual mindset’, the English-speaking world is now and has been in the past anything but monolingual. The remainder of the first part of this volume focuses on the origins of the linguistic diversity in these countries, and which languages and to what extent services (for example, interpreting and translation) are provided.

Part 2 explores the subject ‘Language at home and at school’. Home is the locus for first-language learning, including where bilinguals learn their family language(s). The author states that families who speak languages other than English in inner-circle countries ‘are involved in a cost benefit analysis’. While the costs are considerable, E sees the benefits for families as ‘far greater’ (91). The heart of this part of the book deals with language and education, starting first with a historical account and continuing with the present state of language and education in the inner-circle countries. Education is, of course, vital to the maintenance and reputation of languages. A discussion of linguistic oppression and marginalized languages, on the one hand, along with a description of community efforts to maintain minority languages, on the other, provides a balanced view of the treatment of language and education in countries where English is the principal language.

The book closes with Part 3, ‘Language in the wider community’. The topics in this section vary widely and include the economy, the media, the arts, and diplomacy and defense. The last chapter in the book is entitled ‘Is life really too short to learn German?’. After considering English-only policies, court cases involving minority languages, as well as some benefits of bilingualism, the author concludes that other languages enrich rather than unnecessarily complicate life in the English-speaking world. Despite dissenting voices and some consequences of the belief that English should be uncontested in inner-circle countries, E maintains that ‘Life, it would seem, is quite long enough for us to acquire a collective knowledge of German, Chinese, Urdu, and many other languages’ (222).

This book establishes multilingualism as a given in the English-speaking world, while it also describes the barriers facing multilinguals there. The author has succeeded in bringing the literatures of language diversity in these different countries together in one volume, and she has done this with clarity and a touch of humor.