‘If It’s Not in English, It’s Not Worth Reading!’1

Abstract

A policy favouring one foreign language can only be imposed if measures are taken to make it accepted. Therefore, the development of perceptions about the policy takes on as much importance as the measures taken for promoting its use. This paper aims to demonstrate the cogency of this assertion particularly in the area of science and technology where English has been clearly imposed by Anglo-Saxons in collaboration with authorities from non-English-speaking countries. If the scientific world in non-English-speaking countries has so easily accepted English for scientific communication – to the point where it widely overflows into purely national contexts – this is because it has been highly sensitive to propaganda and because the supposedly scientific minds have been shown to be very easily manipulated. This manipulation of perceptions has been done on a large scale and it is effective because it is based on an ignorance of facts which would otherwise inhibit its working. The paper also gives an outline of the measures taken by a few people in power to impose English in continental Europe at the expense of those who use the language. This elite group is probably not conscious of these effects, having also been affected by the propaganda.

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