English as a Lingua Franca in the European Union

Abstract

This thesis aims to elaborate and explore the extent and the impact the English language as a Lingua Franca (ELF) to social and political policies at European and nation-state level. The timeframe is circumscribed to the period 2009-2023, even though contributions and sources may refer to a previous period. In recent years, debates around this topic have increased, especially considering the newly formed situation at the European Level after the exit of the United Kingdom in January 2020; these debates sparked controversies, as critics fear for the loss of cultural identity, for space, for language identity at the European stage. In this thesis, the link between international institutions, at the European level and European states will be explored, while focusing on the possible influence for the promotion of English as a Lingua Franca from both international institutions and national institutions. In particular, the focus of the research will be, primarily, on the role and the challenges and the influences of English as a lingua franca, posed in the debate in non-English speaking countries like Spain, France, Italy, and Germany, and the solutions these states have adopted in relation to the matter subject to research.