Globalization, the Internet and an era of mass travel have combined to produce a world with a language mix on a huge scale. Linguanomics explains this multilingualism in a material, economic and cultural sense.What is the effect of this multilingualism on society, organizations and individuals? What are the economic benefits and drawbacks? Should we invest in language skills? Should there be interventionist policies, and if so, at what level? Should there be a global lingua mundi? The debate surrounding multilingualism is often clouded by emotion and misconception. With an analysis devoid of rhetoric, Gabrielle Hogan-Brun takes an objective look at this charged area.The result is Linguanomics: a major step towards a clearer understanding of the market potential of multilingualism, its benefits, costs and points of contention. Asking significant questions of profound concern to the future of global collaboration, Linguanomics is an essential guide to students, teachers, policy makers and politicians and anyone who cares about the role of language in the modern world.
Gabrielle Hogan-Brun is at the University of Bristol, UK. She has written widely on language and education, with a particular focus on addressing and accommodating cultural and linguistic diversity in Central Eastern Europe.
AcknowledgementsSetting the Scene 1. Trading across cultures: Then and now Early trade and transportationMarkets and communicationTerritory, entrepreneurship, productionDemand, supply, resources2. Economic aspects of languages today Calculating language choicesAn economics perspectiveModelling multilingualismBalancing language choicesLanguage diversity economics3. Managing multilingualism Lessons from failuresBridging across languagesInvesting in human capitalHarnessing mobile resources4. Is learning another language worth it? Market incentivesLanguage beliefsLanguage choicesEmployment prospects5. Languages in the marketplace Multilingual workplace practicesLanguage services marketsLanguage teaching industryHeritage and language tourismNew languages, new marketsAfterwordNotes Glossary References Index
Hogan-Brun is on a mission to convince her readers that they should be more alert to the market [and social] potential of language learning ... [and] this is a laudable aim ... Linguanomics asks worthwhile questions.