The English language holds a status of a global Lingua Franca that is geographically and historically unique, and English dominance and the language ideologies surrounding it have been the subject of extensive research and discussions. Two contrasting viewpoints significant for these discussions are the idea of the global spread of English as a form of linguistic imperialism, and the idea of the global spread of English as a natural, and mostly positive, consequence of globalisation. In light of this dispute, it is of particular interest to examine the ideologies surrounding the spread of English in countries with a recent history of non-anglophone linguistic imperialism. Such countries are, for example, the former republics of the Soviet Union. This study investigates attitudes to English in Lithuania and analyses them in relation to its history of linguistic Russification during the Soviet Union. The analysis is based on data sampled through a questionnaire targeting Lithuanians. The data is analysed using a qualitative thematic analysis method and discussed in relation to previous studies on the same topic. Three recurring trends that correspond to findings in previous studies were detected, namely English as an opportunity, English as a threat and English as an alternative to Russian. In order to draw any general conclusions regarding attitudes to English in Lithuania, further studies with larger sample sizes would be recommended.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-201187 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Svenborn Johansson, Eva |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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