English in the Estonian Multicultural Society

Abstract

There have been a number of recent publications that have stated that the expansion of the English language is a product of colonialism and political power. In the following paper the writer argues that the spread of English is not closely associated to a discourse of linguistic imperialism and bases this thesis on a case‐study carried out in Tartu, a university town in post‐Communist Estonia. The results show that the Estonians have on the whole accepted English as the language of communication and technology, as a reaction against the fifty‐year imposition of Russian language and culture. In particular, the research analyses the attitude of three generations of Estonians towards the spread of English in their country. The findings demonstrate that all three groups are aware of the presence of English and they welcome it as a kind of lingua franca, as a means of communication with the world they are trying to integrate with. In particular, young Estonian learners, already bilingual and, like other Scandinavians, using English for communication purposes, are prepared to exploit other foreign languages in order to preserve their own culture and language from extinction.