The many permutations of spoken English have called for an interrogation into the notions of 'standard English' and 'native accents'. Despite their problematic nature, these terms remain commonly used, and familiarity with 'standard', inner-circle varieties of English is typical among L2 English speakers, differences in education and language…

In Bourdieusian theory, the use of so-called 'legitimate' language serves to maintain dominant power structures, with 'legitimacy' determined by an array of economic and social conditions inherent in speech communities. Standard languages function as normalised products and are imbued with a greater degree of legitimacy than non-standard varieties…

This article concerns Northern Catalonia, the part of the Catalan-speaking area that today is in France. A Catalan-speaking region until the first half of the twentieth century, the effects of Frenchification -- the acceptance of the French political and economic project in the contemporary era -- and the multiple demographic changes of the…

Gives an overview of recent research on the Alsatian language in a contact situation and discusses the function of the language and state border. Contacts across the state border are analyzed and the function of various linguistic codes on both sides of the state border are described. Suggests that the the sole post-war innovation in Alsace is the…

Traces the history and describes the present state of France's regional languages (Alsacien, Basque, Breton, Catalan, Corsican, Flemish, and Occitan) and analyzes the common problems encountered by speakers of these languages. (Author/CB)

The paradox inherent in a situation in which the need for political unification requires submersion of authentic local or subregional differences is illustrated by the case of Occitania (southern France), where a community is culturally and linguistically removed from the center of a movement intending to represent it. (MSE)