Abstract
This paper uses some instances of foreign language use by politicians, including their refusal to do so when invited, in order to open a line of questioning about the cultural messages involved in public displays of foreign language competence, especially Asian languages in the Anglosphere. The intention is to explore the role of influence and attitudes on the ecology of languages education, specifically in the Australian setting, as it accommodates culturally in an effort to integrate into institutions and structures of the Asia Pacific region. Tensions, contradictions and ambiguities arise in this process of disordering and re-ordering of world alliances, and have led to Australia being branded a ‘torn country’, unable to reconcile its historic national culture as a secure member of Anglosphere with its regional identity in Asia. Public use of foreign languages can be seen as a kind of barometer taking the pulse of aspects of a community’s attitudes to foreign language competence.
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Lo Bianco, J. (2014). Asia and Anglosphere: Public Symbolism and Language Policy in Australia. In: Murray, N., Scarino, A. (eds) Dynamic Ecologies. Multilingual Education, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7972-3_5
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