In a startling result, the UK has voted for a ‘Brexit’. This means the wheels have been set in motion for the UK to leave the European Union. Some people are thrilled, while others are worried about the future of the UK and the EU. The possibility of a No-Deal Brexit has raised even more concerns.

Apart from the concern over economic stability, international trade, European travel, residency rights for expats and much more, there is also a growing concern about the role of the English language in Europe and the future of language learning in the UK.

Will the English language become less important internationally? Will British people stop learning foreign languages altogether? We explore the consequences of Brexit for English and how Brexit could affect language learning…

 

What is Brexit?

The word ‘Brexit’ is simply a combination of the words ‘Britain’ and ‘exit’. This term was coined as a word to describe Britain leaving the European Union.

This is similar to the word ‘Grexit’ which was used to describe the possibility of Greece leaving the EU.

If other countries contemplated leaving, there would no doubt be suitable monikers devised for their own departures, such as ‘Frexit’ for France or ‘Swexit’ for Sweden.

The UK voted in favour of Brexit in the EU referendum held on 24th June 2016 but it could take up to two years from the start of the process for the full break with the EU to happen.

 

In the meantime, the UK will continue to abide by EU laws but not take part in any decision-making as it negotiates a withdrawal agreement.

Whatever happens in terms of trade agreements, the UK will remain as a part of the continent of Europe, just not as a part of the European Union.

What will become of the ‘international language of Europe’?

English was hailed by the German President, Joachim Gauck, as the ‘international language of Europe’ as he called for it to become Europe’s official language.

Now that looks highly unlikely as the ‘Vote Leave’ campaign triumphed in the EU referendum by more than a million votes.

The results show that 48% of the UK wanted to remain in the EU and 52% wanted to leave. Most younger voters voted to stay in the EU while older people were more likely to vote for a Brexit.

The French language in Europe

Brexit means that the English language may lose some of its power in Europe as other languages become more relevant to the remaining nations.

Italy has grown angry at the dominance of the English language and in recent years had called for a halt to the ‘English language invasion’, which the country’s linguists thought was damaging Italian.

 

France always favoured a Brexit and as a dominant economy in Europe, the nation may now press for the French language to become used in official EU administration.

France has also suggested that new laws may come into force for minimum French language requirements for expats living in France.

This could have a huge effect on the 171,000 British expats who currently live there.

How will language learning be affected by Brexit?

With the UK out of Europe, what will happen to foreign language learning in Britain? British people will no longer have the automatic right to live and work in Europe, so there may be less incentive for Brits to learn foreign languages.

Equally, EU citizens will no longer have the automatic right to live and work in Britain, which might mean there will be less incentive for Europeans to learn English.

 

With economic ties loosened due to Brexit, trade between the UK and Europe may slow down, with costs of imports and exports rising.

The lower requirement for communication between the UK and other countries within the EU may mean businesses are less interested in the foreign language abilities of their staff, reducing the desire to learn a language for work purposes.

The impact of Brexit on international students

Brexit will have an impact on the number of foreign students coming to study in the UK. One of the most attractive elements of UK study was the ease of travel between Britain and the other EU states but now this will stop, numbers could fall dramatically.

Fewer international students in the UK will mean less exposure to other cultures for people in Britain, which could lead to more insular attitudes.

For language teaching in Britain, we may see a surge in the teaching of non-European languages, such as Mandarin and Arabic.

What do you think about Brexit?

Will Brexit lead to a decline in foreign language learning across the UK?

Will the English language fall in importance within Europe or even within the world?

Teachers, do you think there will be fewer people wanting to learn English as a foreign language?

Students, will you still continue to learn English after Brexit  – or would you now consider a different foreign language to be more important?

 

Attributions

1. The Union Jack and the European flag on a building of London. Image by Dave Kellam (Flickr: Flagging Support) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
2. The work of a student of Arabic calligraphy, using bamboo pens (qalams) and brown ink, tracing over the teacher’s work in black ink. Image by Aieman Khimji [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons