Language management, discursive power, and English as lingua franca in island countries and territories

Abstract

Both geographical factors and colonial histories have contributed to the marginalization of many islands. In the context of globalization, European colonial languages often dominate, and the Standard English ideology has been gradually internalized alongside the spread of English worldwide. Islands face an apparent tension between promoting local languages for the purpose of strengthening social and cultural cohesion and maintaining the favored status of European colonial languages in order to facilitate integration into global markets. Languages are, however, ideologically constructed, and the dominant status of English and other European languages on islands has created a cultural system of ideas, norms, and values originating from the West. This turns islands into norm followers, creating difficulties for the construction of island identities and making it impossible to act from a position of discursive power on the international plane. This paper argues that island governments should carry out language management in such a way as to promote the idea of English as a lingua franca for use in global intercultural communications and thereby enhance the island’s discursive power while strengthening social and cultural cohesion.