The borrowing of English words into other languages has been significantly influenced by globalization, technological advancements, and the dominance of English in media and business, which have accelerated the integration of Anglicisms into various linguistic systems worldwide.

In response, several governments have implemented measures to regulate linguistic borrowings, often reflecting broader sociopolitical and cultural dynamics.

For instance, Russia has enacted laws mandating the use of native equivalents for foreign terms in official documents and public communication, allowing exceptions only for words without Russian analogues, as part of efforts to preserve national identity and counter Western influence.

These regulations include the development of normative dictionaries and restrictions on foreign words in advertising and state-level communication.

Similarly, France employs a comprehensive system involving the French Academy and ministerial committees to monitor and translate foreign terms, ensuring their integration into French while maintaining linguistic purity.

The Toubon Law of 1994 further mandates the use of French in government publications, advertisements, and workplaces to protect the language from English influence.

In Italy, a proposed bill seeks to ban English in official communications, imposing fines for violations to safeguard the Italian language.

Other countries, such as Qatar and Algeria, have also introduced laws mandating the use of native languages in public spaces to reinforce cultural identity amidst globalization.

Critics of such interventions argue that borrowing is a natural linguistic process and that excessive regulation may hinder organic language evolution.

Nonetheless, these efforts underscore the cultural and political importance of language as a vessel for national identity and heritage.

The borrowing of English words into other languages has been significantly influenced by globalization, technological advancements, and the dominance of English in media and business, which have accelerated the integration of Anglicisms into various linguistic systems worldwide.

Title:

Content: Let ’ s talk about the “bilingual country ” myth: what kind of“ global ” English teaching are we pursuing?
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
What we want you to know is
In the face of the policy of a bilingual country, Professor Huang Han-yu of National Taiwan Normal University believes that it is necessary to return to the essence of learning English, and gives this note: "Language can never be separated from differences, conflicts, exclusion, and suppression. And...
Text: Hwang Han-yu (Professor, Department of English, National Taiwan Normal University)
Recently, under the consideration of strengthening the competitiveness of the country and increasing the employment advantage, the government has announced the implementation of a "bilingual national policy", which will affect English teaching at all levels of schools, tourism, and enterprises.
In fact, before the "bilingual national policy" was widely publicized, schools at all levels have been promoting programs and businesses such as bilingual experimental schools and digital English teaching.
Yes, to tie in with the policy, even the departments of Taiwanese and Chinese have to offer all-English courses.
What is interesting is that English (foreign) language departments seem to naturally become planners and promoters of "bilingual national policies," or are used to doing things the other way around, and it is no longer news that professors are contracted out for projects with huge budgets.
However, scholars such as Chiang Wen-yu and Hsu Hui-ju, who advocate the subjectivity of Taiwan's native language and history, have criticized this policy for neglecting the origins of English and colonial history, squeezing the development of national languages, and "bilingual countries" that respect Chinese.
For more than 20 years of experience in language education and humanities research, let 's not talk about how the "bilingual national policy" affects the national language development policy, which has many problems to be solved, and whether the "bilingual national policy" is a correct name. The debate has not yet been fully discussed and understood.
Don ’ t miss out on your goals before talking about them.
Looking back at the entire history of the implementation of the English education and teaching policy in Taiwan, before the bilingual and all-English teaching policy, there were the primary English education policy in 2001, the "Challenge 2008" National Development Key Plan in 2003, and the "Towards Top Universities Plan" in 2006.
Although these policies have their own specific implementation details, they all have the same goal of cultivating the English language communication skills of the people of Taiwan, improving the international outlook of the people of Taiwan, accelerating the internationalization of Taiwan, and strengthening the competitiveness of the country.
Today's English teaching in Taiwan needs to be examined in a rather complex way, covering textbooks and teaching methods, life situations in which English is used, urban and rural disparities, etc. The length of this article can be properly dealt with.
But the author must point out that many English teaching policies and practices seem to regard "internationalization", "international competitiveness" and "globalization" as unquestionable goals, and even school governance are guided by the guidelines.
What are the complex political, economic, cultural and even ideological aspects of globalization?
In the long run, if English teaching cannot lead learners to think deeply about these problems, but only to emphasize the competition in the job market and direct language learning to job-seeking skills, will the school thus become a job-seeking training center, and will it indirectly promote the humanities and arts discipline or basic theory be useless?
What exactly is positive English learning?
When we talk about globalization, we forget the glory and sorrow behind it.
The term globalization is often used to describe the political, economic, and cultural realities of the post-Cold War era.
It can describe more frequent and rapid connections and movements, time, geography, politics, economy, and culture boundaries being crossed, and can also refer to multinational companies such as Apple Computer, McDonald's, Starbucks, IKEA, TOYOTA, etc.
English continues its history of colonialism, and with the context of globalization (especially the cultural hegemony of the United States), it enjoys the status of an official or dominant language in 75 countries with a population of about 800 million, making it the most versatile and powerful language in media, business and education worldwide.
English is no longer just the national language of England, the United States, Australia and other countries. English is no longer just English, it has become the "global language" (Globish).
“There is no such thing as a free lunch, ” and“ globalization ” is not a term of neutral value, nor does it depict a time of universal prosperity.
In such an era, the labor force must be productive, and individuals are required to constantly improve themselves with the times, play the role of entrepreneurs, and add value to their lives in the way of running a business, including language skills, education, certification, and so on.
In academic terms, individuals become "economic people" who seek to maximize profits, constantly calculate according to realistic rationality, and respond to environmental variables to modify their behavior, and are also "debtors" on the substantive and symbolic level, or "busy people" who are exhausted.
These are the hidden versions of globalization under the prosperity of multinational enterprises.
Why should we switch from “Indians ” to“ Native Americans ”? What racial prejudice does Thanksgiving tradition involve? What kind of white centrism does Robinson Crusoe imply? What gender stereotypes do Disney animations often present? More fundamentally, how does English, the language of global hegemony, affect and even determine our view of the world? How to incorporate necessary reflection into the English teaching process?
Ask yourself again what you are looking for.
I hope that readers will not feel that the above questions are too profound or irrelevant, I want to emphasize through these questions that learning English (any language) is not just about memorizing words, knowing sentence patterns and grammar, proficient listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.
Language is never free from differences, conflicts, exclusion and repression (I call these “the other ”), and a very important part of language acquisition is to discover, understand and express the other in the language, a process that can even be said to be at the heart of civil society and democracy, otherwise we are just training a group of tongues, language robots, or fluency bags. It is said that the word is not spoken, but it is said that it is spoken.
I have no intention, no ability, and do not think that anyone is qualified to give an absolute standard of English teaching, I only emphasize the need to reflect or dispel myths, including quantitative or fractional-oriented English learning, so I strongly oppose any test system as the “only ” language proficiency standard for admission or graduation.
An active and profound language learning should be directed towards the other in the language, developing aspects that cannot be quantified, should not be quantified, do not necessarily make people rich or cost-effective, including the sense of language and emotion, artistic and cultural appreciation, civic awareness, philosophical reflection, and so on.
As we move towards a new vision of a bilingual country, do we have a well-planned, step-by-step approach to integrate these aspects into all stages of English teaching?
Otherwise, what kind of “global ” English teaching are we pursuing?
This article has been published under the authority of the Human Education Journal, and the original is published here.
What kind of “global ” English teaching are we pursuing?
Extended reading
(Join the critical review network member) Daily wonderful articles sent directly to your mailbox, each week exclusive editorial selection, current affairs selection, art weekly newspaper and other special electronic newspapers.
You can also leave comments with authors, journalists, and editors to discuss the content of the article.
Join now for free!
Editor in Charge: Wen Wei-hsuan
Editor ： Weng Shihang
Guess you like it.
Tags:

In response, several governments have implemented measures to regulate linguistic borrowings, often reflecting broader sociopolitical and cultural dynamics.

Title:

Content: city news Yelets, news Yelets, Yelets news, Yelets newspaper, Red banner
Better than any passport.
0 0
The Russian government has submitted to the state Duma a bill to protect the Russian language from excessive use of foreign words.
The document implies control over the observance by officials and citizens of the norms of the Russian literary language and the inadmissibility of the use of foreign words, with the exception of those that do not have common analogues in the Russian language.
"Wet feet"
by "toptalische"
Fighters for the purity of the native language waited, because the discussion about it among linguists, writers, scientists goes on constantly, then quiet, then flaring up with renewed vigor.
The initiative of the Government of Russia, which decided to wedge itself into the disputes of professionals, is quite understandable and understandable.
Today, when the United States and the entire Western world are in a rush to destroy, eradicate, wipe out all Russian, the frequent use of Anglicisms in everyday life is at least unpatriotic.
In fairness, it should be noted that borrowing from other languages is a constant process.
Lenin also proposed "to declare war on the use of foreign words unnecessarily", and the intricacies of relations and mutual accusations of Slavophiles and Westerners entered the textbooks, as well as the textbook proposals to replace other people's "galoshes" with their "wet feet", and "sidewalks" - with "toptalisches".
In the 1940s, a new wave: the struggle against cosmopolitanism suggested “for everything Russian against foreign ”, including in the language.
A printer is a printer?
Meanwhile, all – both supporters and opponents – agree that there are concepts in their native language that came after the phenomena, realities created in other countries, and therefore the words denoting them, well, not ours, but they can not do without them.
A striking example is the computer, IT technologies and everything related to them.
The word “printer ” cannot be replaced by a Russian translation from English, since“ printer ” does not mean a device for printing, but a person engaged in this process.
By the way, this phenomenon is not new: even under Peter I, who “cut through the window to Europe ”, dozens of Dutch and German words for technologies and mechanisms poured into Russia.
And in opera, many terms are borrowed from Italian and have long been part of the Russian language.
And we calmly use such words as “federation ”,“ sphere ”, “national ”,“ commission ” and many others that came from foreign languages, but are firmly entrenched in our own.
How to be
in one bow
Meanwhile, one cannot but agree with the authors of the bill: recently, the speech of deputies of different ranks, officials, political and economic experts, heads of federal and regional, and sometimes local authorities is simply replete with foreign words that have simple and understandable analogues in their native language.
And if we are almost reconciled with merchandisers (commodity scientists in our own way), then what do you think of the expression from the fashion world “in one bow ”?
The well-known vegetable has nothing to do with it: in English look - look, therefore, in Russian it is an image, appearance, look, etc. In texts related to business, "marketplace" (literally from the English place of trade), as well as "startup" (start, start, take the first steps) or "webinar" (training video conference live).
In the field of education, they like to talk about “bullying prevention ”: this word means ridicule, bullying of children at school by peers.
Increasingly, “campus ” sounds, while the translation from Latin is a familiar campus for many of us, or“ coach ” instead of the usual “coach ”,“ mentor ”.
Abilympics
with WorldSkills
I will also swing at my favorite “quest ” recently: again with the English“ game, search ”.
I do not like the sequestered budget, because it is “cut ”, but transparent is more to my liking, because it is“ open ”, “transparent ”.
And who will prove to me that “exchange of practices ” is better than the usual“ exchange of experience ”?
Or for days on TV reported about the participation of Russians in the championship "Abilympics".
You will break the language by pronouncing, although this is only a competition in professional skills among the disabled, in another way they are also called the “Olympics of opportunities ”.
From the same series, the widely distributed “WorldSkills ” (WorldSkills) is also a competition, but students studying a particular profession.
We have such competitions took place in the times of the USSR, then they were safely forgotten, and now they are back again, only in a Western manner.
And here is another illustrative example: the all-Russian social project “Agrofoodsharing ”.
We divide abracadabra into parts: agro - of course, something related to agriculture.
In English, food – food, share – share.
As a result, we get a movement of agricultural producers who want to share with other people the surplus of their crops.
The idea, of course, is good, right, but why break the language?
And finally from the sore: "solving cases." Brilliant!
In English, the word “case ” has two meanings: a briefcase, a suitcase and the second – circumstances.
Therefore, in Russian literally "the decision of circumstances" or, as the know-it-all Internet interprets, "the study of the situation and the choice of a suitable solution."
They will leave themselves
on your own?
Most likely, the desire to cleanse the language by introducing a law at the state level is an attempt to distance oneself from the West, its influence, to isolate oneself from someone else ’ s and alien mentality, lifestyle and dubious values.
However, it is not very clear what it will look like in practice: will there be lists of prohibited words and expressions or just recommendations, and addressed to high-ranking officials and other “persons in the TV ” – after all, it is with their filing that all sorts of newfangled borrowings from foreign languages often go“ to people ”.
However, a few decades ago, our teachers at the Yelets Pedagogical Institute hammered us, students, that the language is a self-cleaning system, and all harmful, fake after a while will simply disappear.
It has always been so, and I want to believe it will be so.
KSTATI:
I assume that all borrowings are from our haste, eternal saving of time even on pronunciation and writing of words.
We usually write in sms a short, indifferent “OK ”.
While in the native language for this almost a dozen words: “good ”,“ okay ”, “agree ”,“ give ”, “let ”,“ good ”, etc. No wonder there is a catch phrase: “Speech is better than any passport ”...
Tatyana SHCHERBATYKH
VRF News

For instance, Russia has enacted laws mandating the use of native equivalents for foreign terms in official documents and public communication, allowing exceptions only for words without Russian analogues, as part of efforts to preserve national identity and counter Western influence.

Title:

Content: MOSCOW, 22 feb — PRIME.
The Federation Council approved a law providing for the restriction of the use of foreign words in the Russian language with some exceptions.
It is noted that the document will fix in the Law "On the state language" the status of Russian as the language of the state-forming people, and also introduce the concept of the norm of the modern literary language.
The law proposes to establish a list of areas with strict observance of these norms, including in education and the media.
It is emphasized that officials, state and municipal information systems will be allowed to use borrowings in the absence of Russian-language analogues.

These regulations include the development of normative dictionaries and restrictions on foreign words in advertising and state-level communication.

Title:

Content: The ban on foreign borrowings in the Russian language - what should be feared - RIA Novosti Crimea, 16.02.2023
Registration was successful!
Please follow the link from the letter sent to
Radio "Sputnik in Crimea"
The ban on foreign borrowings in the Russian language – what should be feared
Philologists: in the fight against foreign borrowings in the language, it is important to prevent excesses
© Fotolia / daria rizaDictionary of the Russian language.
Archive photo
Read in
SIMFEROPOL, Feb 16 – RIA Novosti Crimea, Alexey Goncharov.
The main risk of the law adopted by the State Duma on the restriction of the use of foreign words is the excesses that can be allowed in the struggle for the purity of the Russian language.
This opinion was expressed by the interviewed website RIA Novosti Crimea and radio "Sputnik in Crimea" experts.
Chancellery is no less an enemy
On Thursday, the State Duma in the second and third reading adopted amendments to the federal law "On the state language of the Russian Federation".
The law, in particular, prohibits the use of foreign words at the state level, with the exception of those that do not have common Russian-language analogues.
Deputies also approved a list of areas where Russian is mandatory for use.
These include information for consumers of goods, works and services, as well as the education sector, state and municipal information systems.
Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor of the Institute of Philology of the Crimean Federal University.
Vernadsky Vladimir Orekhov believes this law is correct and necessary, since the Russian language needs protection.
However, the main problem is how this document will work in practice.
"Indeed, there can be excesses, and on the part of officials, who in many cases are themselves a source of stupid borrowing.
It is this category that often distorts the Russian language with stationery and borrowings, inventing some new formulas.
To make a beautiful project or report, you need to call the old with new words, preferably foreign, and, passing the old for new, somehow raise your prestige.
And then it already diverges, ” the expert explained in comments to RIA Novosti Crimea.
Orekhov also does not believe that young people are the main source of borrowing in the language.
According to him, youth slang is changing so quickly that such loanwords rarely take root for a long time.
At the same time, what is recorded in official documents, already, as they say in a well-known saying, "you can not cut down with an axe."
Down with the Chancellery: Officials Were Requested to Speak Human > >
“Most of the borrowings that this law is designed to save us from are in official documents of different levels.
This also applies to the capital institutions, but to a greater extent provincial.
This is a kind of fashion – to show your knowledge using incomprehensible foreign words.
How to deal with it, I have no recipe.
On the other hand, this law in itself can change this fashion in the administrative environment.
In this case, he by the very fact of his existence will correct the situation, ” the philologist suggested.
Russia will support the creation of an organization to promote the Russian language – Putin
According to Orekhov, the mechanisms that will be able to effectively implement the norms of this law should be developed through a wide public discussion, with the involvement of school teachers, university teachers, cultural figures and all those who are involved in the development of the Russian language.
Define clear criteria
Director of the Crimean Republican Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education, Doctor of Philology, Professor Alexander Rudyakov is also sure that the law adopted by the State Duma and the protection of the Russian language in general is a good thing.
But the question arises: where is the criterion that distinguishes foreign words from non-foreign ones.
After all, in our language there are many Russian words that are originally borrowed from other languages.
"My wife is a German, we often argue with her.
She believes that the word "barrier" is a German word.
And I, a simple Russian, I am convinced that this is a Russian word.
Therefore, it is important that there are clear criteria for all this.
That's what we're talking about.
The law is excellent, but it is important how it will be applied and what criteria will be there, ” the expert said on the radio “Sputnik in Crimea ”.
Another important fact to pay special attention to is professional universal terminology, said Rudyakov.
“In many branches of knowledge, say, in the banking sector, there are words that are, in principle, international.
It is probably not very smart to isolate yourself from the terminology that is inherent in this area.
Another thing is not to drag it into our public vocabulary.
This is also very important to understand and comply with, ” explained the philologist.
"Adapt and switch to Russian": how the schools of Kherson region work > >
At the same time, the professor agreed that today in a number of areas, including administrative and media, there is an excessive use of foreign words, which can be easily and simply replaced by Russian-language analogues.
"When you hear 'communicate', 'collaboration' - the hand reaches for the gun.
Somewhere I read the information that a "Children's Collaboration House" was built in Vladivostok.
That's what's scary, you know.
These are obvious excesses, ” said the doctor of science.
Rudyakov, who is also a member of the Council on the Russian language under the President of Russia, assured that he will raise questions regarding the new law at the next meeting of the organization on March 2.
Read also on RIA Novosti Crimea:
Quoting the classics: how and why great writers quarreled
Than English-language words interfere in advertising – the opinion of senators from the Crimea
Russia will support the creation of an organization to promote the Russian language – Putin
Leave the “barn ” and“ dog ” alone: a linguist about the law on the protection of language
News feed
0
New firstOld firstFirst
loader
On-line
Title of the material to be opened

Similarly, France employs a comprehensive system involving the French Academy and ministerial committees to monitor and translate foreign terms, ensuring their integration into French while maintaining linguistic purity.

Title:

Content: How can we restore the Arab world to its leading position?
There is no doubt that the achievement of Arabic leadership among the languages of the world, as it was in the past, requires concerted efforts at all levels, politically, socially and economically.
These are four steps that can be adopted by any Arab country, and I believe that they will bring the Arab world a tremendous leadership, in the medium and long term.
Giving the Arab heritage and the sciences of the Arabic language, the highest priority in literary university studies.
There are university professors today who specialize in Arabic literature, yet they have never studied a house from Ibn Malik ’ s millennium, nor heard of Ibn Hisham ’ s testimonies.
Step one.
Fill the courses with the ancient Arab heritage of stories, proverbs, books, and poetry, especially poetry.
The frequent exposure of the student to poetry, grows his sobriety and strengthens his linguistic faculty..
Because the ancient Arabic poet is necessarily a linguist, his poetry is a precise linguistic selection.
This is why the Mahathir people in Mauritania are keen to memorize the old poetry of children, and the result is clear for the graduates of the old Mahathir.
The more the child memorizes old Arabic poetry, the easier it is for him to learn Arabic, and it is not important to understand what he memorized at the time of memorization, but it is important to drink his subconscious mind of tens of thousands of linguistic examples scattered in his archives, so he has a straight language quality, without realizing it.
Step two.
Giving the Arab heritage and the sciences of the Arabic language, the highest priority in literary university studies.
There are university professors today specialized in Arabic literature, yet they have never studied a house from the millennium of Ibn Malik, nor have they heard the testimonies of Ibn Hisham, and the reason is that the modernist trend prevailed in the university halls, and the predominance of interest in Western literary models such as Dadaism, Surrealism and others. The Arabic language and its sciences must be a priority in the university environment.
If the opposite happens as it is today, you will find many specialists in language and graduates of the Department of Arabic Language, have nothing to do with language or literature, just as we saw an Arab university professor, specializing in rhetoric, can not read a paper she wrote, this is because the faculties of Arabic literature - except God 's mercy - neglect the science of language, and interested in modern curricula intrusive, resulting in "language specialists" They don ’ t know the language!
We have also seen from the results of this, that many graduates of the literary departments, know the leaders of literature in the West and boast about it, and are ignorant of the leaders of Arabic literature and are not ashamed of it.
These professors, except from the mercy of God, were raised in their universities to marginalize the science of the Arabic language and its heritage, and to provide modern literature translated from English, French and others, they are not specialists in the Arabic language, but specialists in the Arabic version of English literature.
Step three.
Protect the Arabic language by laws, and protect it from the invasion of foreign languages.
It is not right to see a shop in an Arab country that places a sign in a foreign language, a restaurant in an Arab country, a menu in a foreign language, a school in an Arab country that makes sure that its students are proficient in a foreign language at the expense of Arabic, or goods entering an Arab market with posters and information in a foreign language, or a doctor in an Arab country who writes a prescription in a foreign language.
This leniency leads to distorted Arab societies, alien to this world, in which every country protects its language with iron and fire.
We have seen some Arabic language synagogues, which are supposed to be the protector of Arabic, tolerate the introduction of all incoming and outgoing into Arabic, and people have taken note of them and warned them of their error.
The Arab state must also use all its institutions to serve and protect Arabic, just as the proud nations do in their own language.
You have, for example, the French model, where the state uses all its organs to protect the French.
In translation alone, the whole state stands against every foreign word, where ministerial committees work to monitor the new words and propose translations for them, then those translations are presented to another party, the French Language Enrichment Committee, for approval, then they are presented to another party, the French Academy, for approval, and then they are submitted to another party, the Prime Minister for approval. Sovereign, in which all France cooperates, because the state sees the protection of French as an existential matter, and does not leave it to a linguistic college, university or institution, as we have the Arabs.
STEP FOUR
Linguistic censorship of art and media, especially art.
The Arabic series and films today are full of ridicule and neglect of Arabic, as well as many linguistic errors, and also full of many foreign words that these bullies have succumbed to: the writer, actor, director and producer, and they want to pass it to the poor Arab listener, to get used to listening to the intruder and his writing.
This is for works of art that are issued in Arabic dialects, and historical works that are issued in classical Arabic, you find a great chaos: you find an Abbasid or Umayyad series that speaks the language of the Mexican dubbed series: "I'm sorry, dear," "I'm a little upset," "Let me disagree with your point of view."
Although the proofreader of these works may be a university professor specialized in Arabic literature, but as I told you in a previous paragraph, these professors - except God 's mercy - were raised in their universities to marginalize the science of the Arabic language and its heritage, and provide modern literatures translated from English, French and others, they are not specialists in the Arabic language, but specialists in the Arabic version of English literature, it is not surprising that they write and authenticate Old historical baskets, you feel like you hear Google Translate!
These are the four steps: the first is related to elementary and intermediate education (filling courses with Arab heritage), the second is related to university education (giving the sciences of Arabic language and heritage, the highest priority, and not to modern translated literature), the third is at the legislative and executive level (protecting and fortifying the Arabic language by laws and the work of state agencies to implement those laws), and the art industry. from Arabic or ridicule them or work to spread foreign words at the expense of Arabic).
There may be other important steps, but these four steps, I believe, are one of the most important that can restore the Arabic language to its place in the world, as it was in previous centuries.

The Toubon Law of 1994 further mandates the use of French in government publications, advertisements, and workplaces to protect the language from English influence.

Title:

Content: ‘A Labour government won’t have an easy start. We must plan for hard times’

Across the advanced economy nations, centre-left parties are governing in hard times. The Mile End Institute’s latest conference sought to assess the constraints that a prospective Labour government is likely to face in office, alongside the strategies required to overcome them. Past Labour administrations were regularly castigated for not achieving more in governments of the 1960s were vilified for not carrying out more far-reaching modernisation of the British economy, while the left decried the failure of Attlee’s ministers to nationalise strategic sectors of industry. The Blair and Brown years are now widely interpreted as a missed political opportunity given the scale of the parliamentary majority those governments enjoyed, alongside the relatively benign economic and social headwinds that prevailed in the UK.

Nonetheless, there is a notable tendency to overestimate the political agency of Labour governments and a reluctance to acknowledge the barriers to radical economic and social reform that persist in the UK. It is important to address what the political historian, David Coates, referred to as, ‘the pattern of constraints likely to beset a Labour government’. We must address not only, ‘the aspirations of incoming governments’ but, ‘the barriers likely to be erected in their path’.

If the Labour party does secure a parliamentary majority at the next election under Keir Starmer, ministers will inevitably confront serious obstacles to the enactment of their programme. The first constraint relates to state capacity itself. The capabilities of British government have been substantially eroded over the last decade. The process of hollowing-out partly relates to the legacy of austerity and cost reduction in the public sector. The civil service was repeatedly cut back, reaching its lowest headcount in 2016; numbers began to rise again after the Brexit referendum but are still low by historical standards. The growing reliance on private sector management consultants in Whitehall underlines the erosion of internal capabilities required to implement key policies.

The second constraint is the nature of the economic inheritance that is bequeathed to an incoming government. The UK has been buffeted by successive structural shocks over the last decade, notably Brexit and Covid. The economy entered these crises already weakened by the 2008 financial crash and austerity. The effect has been to undermine the productive potential of the British economy, while exacerbating long-running inequalities. The threat of inflation meanwhile erodes household living standards and threatens to escalate industrial conflict, as workers battle to maintain real wages. The problems posed for a Labour government are especially acute given the party’s institutional ties to the trade unions. Most significantly, Labour’s desire to maintain the confidence of debt markets and its ongoing commitment to an international political economy that emphasises the mobility of capital and finance threatens to circumscribe its key commitment to green and social investment.

The third constraint is politics itself, namely what voters are willing to accept and how far Labour is prepared to challenge them. Having experienced four successive defeats in the 1980s and 1990s, the party became increasingly pessimistic about the willingness of UK voters to pay more tax. The prevailing view was that citizens wanted European-quality public services combined with American taxation. More recently, defeats since 2010 and the loss of the so-called ‘Red Wall’ in Northern England convinced many Labour politicians that the party has extremely limited room for manoeuvre on Europe. This outlook stems from a deeper underlying pessimism: a belief that Britain is, deep down, a Conservative country and that Labour’s temporary electoral success is merely a reflection of short-lived Tory unpopularity rather than an expression of any fundamental commitment to social democracy on the part of the electorate.

The fourth constraint is path dependency and the ‘stickiness’ of institutions which makes it particularly difficult to achieve structural reforms, notably in public services. For decades, policymakers have reiterated the importance of prevention in the NHS. Even so, many health services are still designed to remedy problems after the event. Moreover, it is widely acknowledged that NHS England is too large and complex to be effectively managed from the centre; but shifting towards a decentralised delivery model has proved next to impossible. The education service has seen more innovation yet still remains wedded to a traditional model of curriculum design and teaching, while the potential gains from technology are yet to be realised. Achieving change in public services remains exceptionally challenging.

There is, nevertheless, a compelling argument that many constraints facing Labour governments are imagined as much as real. What is important is not to accept those constrictions as insurmountable, but to formulate viable political strategies to overcome them.

For example, on state capacity, Labour requires a strategy to strengthen the capabilities of the state as soon as it enters government. This isn’t simply a question of employing more civil servants or political advisers. It chiefly concerns improving structures and systems, breaking down silos and focusing the whole of government on core policy priorities. It means substantive devolution away from the centre in England that tries to do and control too much.

In relation to the economy, Labour needs a long-term plan to create the fiscal headroom for substantively higher public investment in social infrastructure and the transition to net zero. The party’s main fiscal rule is to have UK debt falling as a share of national income after five years. That commitment must not become a fiscal straightjacket when the main purpose of borrowing is not day to day spending but investment in the UK economy’s long-term productive capacity. A Labour government should where necessary alter accounting rules for state-owned assets while using fiscal transparency alongside the scrutiny of independent institutions such as the Office for Budget Responsibility to secure the confidence of market actors.

On politics, good policy necessarily depends on narrative and framing. For instance, voters may be willing to accept tax rises if it can be demonstrated they are needed to fulfil a coherent public purpose. Yet Labour needs to consider how its policies can help to build new electoral constituencies and secure the allegiance of key voter groups, as the Conservatives did so ruthlessly under Thatcher.

And on institutional reform, Labour must not postpone crucial debates until it enters government. There is no alternative to conveying clarity about its plans. Reforms in public services are often viewed as a technocratic exercise, yet they are always deeply political: success depends on building enduring coalitions of support. Even if economic circumstances temper Labour’s radicalism as it enters power, the party requires a governing strategy through which it can ratchet up the transformative scope of its programme, projecting forwards as the Thatcher governments did so effectively forty years ago.

This article first appeared on the Mile End Institute blog.

Donate to fund our journalism

or

Subscribe to our Daily Email

In Italy, a proposed bill seeks to ban English in official communications, imposing fines for violations to safeguard the Italian language.

Title:

Content: Italian govt drafts bill that seeks to ban English language

RomeEdited By: C KrishnasaiUpdated: Apr 01, 2023, 03:15 PM IST

Calling for the Italian language to be protected and nurtured, the draft bill claims that English “demeans and mortifies” Italians, and called on all public and private bodies to use the “language of Dante” to promote their goods and services, reports Reuters news agency. Photograph:(Reuters)

Story highlights

The bill, which has been drafted by lawmakers of the nationalist Brothers of Italy party, aims to promote Italian language and imposes a fine of up to 100,000 euros ($108,750) if found violating the rule

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party has proposed legislation that seeks to prohibit public and private bodies in the country from using foreign terms, especially English, in official communications.

The bill, which has been drafted by lawmakers of the nationalist Brothers of Italy party, aims to promote Italian language and imposes a fine of up to 100,000 euros ($108,750) if found violating the rule.

In order to become a law, the bill has to be approved by both houses of parliament. But there was no indication of when this might happen.

“It is not just a matter of fashion, as fashions pass, but Anglomania (has) repercussions for society as a whole,” said the text of the draft bill.

Calling for the Italian language to be protected and nurtured, the draft bill claims that English “demeans and mortifies” Italians, and called on all public and private bodies to use the “language of Dante” to promote their goods and services, reports Reuters news agency.

The draft also specifies that all job related applications, including names and acronyms, should be spelt out in Italian, with foreign words allowed only if they are impossible to translate.

The bill said the widespread use of English in Europe was “even more negative and paradoxical” given that Britain had quit the European Union.

The draft bill comes at a time when the incumbent far-right government takes measures to what it calls preserving the local culture.

Recently, it banned the use of laboratory-produced food to safeguard the country’s agri-food heritage.

When the Brothers of Italy party took office last October, it added the English term “Made in Italy” to the name of the industry minister, while Meloni occasionally drops foreign words into her speeches.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Other countries, such as Qatar and Algeria, have also introduced laws mandating the use of native languages in public spaces to reinforce cultural identity amidst globalization.

Title:

Content: parliamentary action to protect it.
"Together to Support the Arabic Language" Campaign in Qatar to Defend the Arabic Language
Qatari Minister of State Hamad Al-Kuwari stressed that "the protection of the Arabic language is a protection for the cultural security of society, and that cultural and national security is no less important than political and economic security."
DOHA – A campaign has been launched in Qatar to support the Dad language and empower it in society, emphasizing that any nation without its own language is a weak nation with no identity, easy to contain and control and cultural hegemony.
The campaign, led by Hamad Abdul Aziz Al-Kuwari, Minister of State of Qatar, Chairman of the Qatar National Library and former Minister of Culture, pointed out that in light of the era of globalization and technological expansion, the Arabic language is greatly threatened, stressing the need for educational institutions in the community and local centers concerned with this language to stop its deterioration.
Under the hashtag "Together to support the Arabic language", the campaign stressed the responsibility of everyone in society to learn and spread the Arabic language, starting from the family, through the school, the media and other state institutions.
Protection of cultural security
In conjunction with the massive campaign to support the Arabic language, the Shura Council referred the Law on the Protection of the Arabic Language to the Cultural Affairs and Media Committee to discuss the means of activating it, where a number of members called for the speedy activation of the law and the imposition of sanctions on violators to protect generations.
Qatar ’ s Minister of State Hamad al-Kuwari, who was hosted by the council, stressed that “the protection of the Arabic language is a protection for the cultural security of society, and that cultural and national security is no less important than political and economic security. ”
He pointed out that the process of renaissance and development experienced by the Gulf countries and the State of Qatar in particular necessitated the existence of many cultures and languages in society, and that this situation, although there are positive aspects to it, there are negative aspects that should not be overlooked related to our attitude towards these languages and cultures.
He stressed the importance of the role of the family and the mother in raising children and teaching them the Arabic language properly, and the importance of simplifying their education in accordance with modern methods that desire to learn the mother tongue.
Deep traces.
For his part, Abdul Aziz Al-Subaie, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the World Organization for the Protection of the Arabic Language, former Minister of Education, who was also hosted by the Council, called for the intervention of the competent authorities to modify the course of teaching the Arabic language through practical measures, stressing that governmental and non-governmental bodies are responsible for the implementation of the law.
Dr Imad Abdullatif, Professor of Rhetoric and Discourse Analysis at Qatar University, said: “Campaigns in support of the Arabic language are important at various levels in our Arab world, putting the challenges it faces at the heart of public debate and providing an opportunity to understand the major risks it faces in a world that is steadily moving towards a global dominance of the English language. ”
Abdullatif adds that these campaigns also gain importance from their role in clarifying the fact that the dangers faced by the Arabic language have profound implications for the future of Arabs, as the voluntary abandonment of the mother tongue and the adoption of English as a language of thought, communication and writing literally means a total break with the Arab identity with its values, ideals and heritage.
He explains that the child not only acquires English language skills, but subconsciously imbues with values, ethics and beliefs rooted within the language, adding: “Wherever we turn our faces we will find various traces of the conflict of identities with linguistic roots. ”
A remarkable paradox.
Professor of rhetoric and discourse analysis at Qatar University pointed out that the Arab Mashreq lived for a long time without radical problems in language politics compared to some countries of the Arab Maghreb, which suffered from the penetration of the language of the colonialist coercion and authoritarianism, as was the case in Algeria.
“But over the past two decades, a remarkable paradox has emerged that deserves widespread scholarly, societal and political attention: some Levantine countries have chosen to adopt the language of former colonialists voluntarily, because of the distorted claims of globalization and the dreams of mimicking the Western model of life. ”
Abdul Latif believes that Arab societies will suffer many crises due to the turbulence of language policies, the effects of which will not only be limited to the field of communication, but will extend to various aspects of society, some of which may have a radical impact on their future.
In conclusion, he expressed the hope that the campaigns calling for the support of the Arabic language will be an opportunity for quiet reflection and thorough research of local and regional language policies in the Arab world.
In January 2019, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, issued a law on the protection of the Arabic language, stipulating that all governmental and non-governmental bodies must protect and support this language in all activities and events, and use it in meetings and discussions and in visual, audio or readable advertisements.
Annually, the world celebrates World Arabic Language Day on 18 December, the anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly ’ s decision to adopt Arabic as one of the official languages of the world body.
Source: The Island
About this story
Arabic poetry and literature constitute one of the most prominent interests of Mauritanians, and a pillar of folklore and heritage.
In some parts of the capital Nouakchott is the phenomenon of poetry sessions that bring together tasters of poetry and lovers of the Arabic language.
The French magazine L ’ Obs met the philosopher and professor of Arab philosophy, Jean-Baptiste Brunet, to talk about the challenges that the monthly open meetings of the general public organized by the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris might raise.
Published On 14 / 10 / 2021
After years of debate over the status of the Arabic language in educational circles in Algeria, official institutions and civil society activists are trying to launch initiatives that encourage the presence of the Arabic language in public life, especially in technical sciences.
More Culture
Most Read

Critics of such interventions argue that borrowing is a natural linguistic process and that excessive regulation may hinder organic language evolution.

Title:

Content: There should be no excesses: a sociologist about the law on the protection of language - RIA Novosti Crimea, 29.10.2022
Registration was successful!
Please follow the link from the letter sent to
Radio "Sputnik in Crimea"
There should be no excesses: a sociologist about the law on the protection of language
Political scientist Kiselyova appreciated the bill on the protection of the Russian language
Read in
SIMFEROPOL, 29 oct - RIA Novosti Crimea.
The emergence of a law in the Russian Federation on the protection of the Russian language from excessive borrowing is appropriate, but there should be no excesses in this matter.
This opinion on the air of the radio "Sputnik in Crimea" expressed the head of the Crimean branch of the Foundation for the development of civil society, sociologist Natalia Kiseleva.
Crimean teachers spoke out against the language repression of young people > >
Earlier, a draft law on amendments to the Federal Law "On the State Language of the Russian Federation" appeared in the system of ensuring legislative activity.
The amendments provide for the protection of the Russian language from the excessive influence of borrowed words.
In particular, we propose the emergence of normative dictionaries that fix the norms of the modern Russian literary language, where foreign words cannot be entered, with the exception of those that have no analogues in the Russian language.
Leave the “barn ” and“ dog ” alone: a linguist about the law on the protection of language
“I am a supporter of this bill.
I think it should be adopted a long time ago, because we really see an unjustified dominance of foreign words.
At the same time, I, of course, do not propose to abandon all borrowed words - many of them have long and firmly entered the Russian language and became part of it, "Kiseleva said.
The sociologist emphasizes that it is impossible to introduce language restrictions in colloquial speech, especially among young people, and this is not the case in the new bill.
At the same time, in her opinion, the official use of the language should be regulated:
In the Crimea proposed to introduce fines for foreign words in advertising > >
“It ’ s about officials, the media.
For example, the latest fashionable foreign word "hub" - representatives of government agencies use it everywhere, although there is a great word in the Russian language "node": transport hub, interchange and so on, "- gives an example of a guest ether.
Dictionary for the replacement of anglicisms needs improvement – opinion
In addition, according to Kiseleva, it is appropriate not only to regulate the use of the Russian language in the official sphere, but also to simplify the language of regulatory documents so that the ordinary citizen can understand legal norms, which now often require interpretation by lawyers.
Earlier, Andrei Kibrik, a researcher at the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, commented on the relevant bill, expressed the opinion that the artificial regulation of any language, including the Russian language, is a vain and even harmful idea, since borrowing is part of a natural process that cannot be stopped or reversed.
News feed
0
New firstOld firstFirst
loader
On-line
Title of the material to be opened

Nonetheless, these efforts underscore the cultural and political importance of language as a vessel for national identity and heritage.

Title:

Content: Sociologists agree that there is a close relationship between language and identity, with language being the preeminent and most important identifier.
They consider that the most serious threat to the identity and culture of nations is linguistic and cultural appropriation by another party.
Language and identity are two sides of the same thing.
Language is not just words and words, but a vessel that contains the emotional components, beliefs and peculiarities of any society.
Hence, it is clear why every society is proud of its language, because language is the main way of protecting and fortifying identity so that it does not assimilate into another identity.
The history of the nations is a good witness, for example, the Arabic language has preserved the teachings of the Islamic religion, the Arab heritage and manuscripts and all the sciences, arts and literature provided by the Islamic civilization.
The Japanese refused and resisted any domination of their language, knowing that it would preserve their identity, as did the Koreans.
The goal of the powerful states, through the soft style of globalization, is to establish a state of linguistic, scientific and intellectual dependence to obliterate identity and block any path that may lead to creativity and development.
Ibn Khaldun in his introduction pointed out that the defeated is fond of the tradition of the majority, and this is what we see in some societies of a dangerous drift in the rejection of the mother tongue, and even ridicule it sometimes and link urbanization and development and call to keep pace with the times by speaking another language.
It is true that the learning of languages, whatever they may be, is desirable, provided that this does not lead to the alienation and obliteration of the identity symbol.
Experts believe that the pillars of identity are three: religion, culture and society, and that language is the official spokesman of identity and a means through which the world recognizes the power of states and the cohesion of their members and society.
There is no competition between nations except for language.
The language, interest in it and its rooting in various scientific, health, technical and other fields have a great role in the rooting of citizenship and the consolidation of belonging.
Protecting the Arabic language in our societies from the fierce attacks of globalization is a religious and secular duty, especially as it is a powerful and great language that has influenced many other languages.
The culture, strength and cohesion of nations are diminished when their people abandon their mother tongue and allow others to compete with it because language is the actual vessel of identity, and giving it the attention it deserves is what will push any country or nation to excellence and creativity.