by SONIA FENAZZI
Switzerland possesses an enviable range of language resources PHOTO/Keystone
The language debate is reaching new heights in Switzerland with French and Italian speakers uneasy about the progressive abandonment of their languages by the German-speaking community in favour of English.
German-speaking cantonal governments have been responding to what they say is pressure from the globalised economy by gradually giving English priority over the national languages at school; English – not French – is taught as a second language in 14 of the 17 cantons.
Coupled with that, large Swiss companies now tend to use English as their main language of communication. But the reality is not so clear-cut.
Although English is gaining ground, a recent study does not back up “fears of its absolute dominion in the economy”, according to Raphael Berthele of Fribourg University’s institute of multilingualism.
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For Lüdi, it is definitely an issue. “In every language, concepts, modes of thinking, interpretations vary,” he points out.
“Our mother tongue has an enormous importance even for understanding science. For this reason, the National Science Foundation is in favour of multilingual science. It is important to master English, but also other languages.”
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