The ‘Mother‐Tongue’ Issue in Britain: cultural diversity or control?

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Abstract
The relation between language policies, cultural pluralism and education in a multicultural society such as our own is extremely complex. A recent EEC Directive requires Member States to make available, to the children of migrant workers within the Community, teaching of the mother‐tongues of their families’ countries of origin. The history, scope and purposes of this Directive are discussed, and its significance for language policies in Britain is examined. The problems to which the Directive gives rise are, it is argued, not merely practical (especially financial) but also conceptual: so far there has been a notable lack of any real discussion of the meaning of the term ‘mother‐tongue’. Reservations are expressed about the way in which the Directive has so far been interpreted in Britain, and an alternative policy emphasis is suggested. Concluding observations concern the implications of this paper for the study of language and society generally.

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