The power of tradition a study of attitudes towards English in seven nordic communities

Abstract

The theoretical assumption of this study is that all speech communities have an ‘ideological climate’ in relation to linguistic influence from abroad, and that this climate develops and changes as an integral part of the multiple relationships of dominance and dependence between communities. Attitudes towards today's influence from English are compared across seven Nordic countries, and it is argued that the resulting pattern testifies more to the vitality of traditional ideological differences than to the detraditionalising force of globalisation.