Is knowing another language as important as knowing ‘core’ subjects like mathematics or science

Abstract

This article explores, through interview data with 125 respondents in Canada, whether the study of foreign languages can be considered as important as the study of the ‘core’ STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medicine) subjects in school and university curricula. Five categories of interviewees, including those involved and not involved in foreign language study, cited their perceptions that STEMM subject study would lead to greater opportunities than foreign language study. Donning a critical linguistic lens on the data, the author concludes that we need to recognise how systems of inequality operate in everyday social discourse about topics like foreign language learning and to realise that we have an economic investment in maintaining the dominance of English, precluding the study of other languages.

Keywords:

• language attitudes
• language ideologies
• public discourse
• instrumental motivation
• globalisation
• cultural hegemony

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for funding this research, and Satoru Nakagawa and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful reviews of this article. Any mistakes are entirely my own.