LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE OF THE EU MEMBER STATES AS A SIGN OF MONOLITHIC NON-CONFLICT SOCIETY

Abstract

Multilingualism, outlined in a number of pan-European documents, is a cornerstone of the EU’s diversity, which promotes the integration of European, yet different, nations into one community. Furthermore, it is a sign of non-conflict coexistence of nations in Europe. However, in general, language policy is the area of competence of the national EU Member-States, which level of multilingualism / monolingualism differs. The authors argue that effective non-conflict communications, which in this interpretation are possible due to the development of multilingualism, contribute to strengthening the monolithic unification of European states in the EU structure, and thus they lay the foundation for a tolerant, non-conflict society. In the study, the “linguistic landscape” is interpreted as a general picture of the languages spoken and used in the country, i.e. the linguistic landscape is associated with multilingualism. The purpose of the article is to substantiate on the basis of the developed indices of the linguistic landscape that the multilingualism of the EU Member-States contributes to the monolithic nature of the whole Community. The system of generalized indices, cluster and exploratory factor analyses have allowed the authors to prove that the higher the level of the linguistic landscape, i.e. the higher the level of multilingualism is, the higher the level of monolithic nature is. The high index of the linguistic landscape demonstrates the dominance of centripetal forces in individual Member-States and contributes to the monolithic nature of the EU; instead, the low index of the linguistic landscape inherent in monolingual communities indicates weak cohesion and the predominance of centrifugal tendencies, which weaken the monolithic nature of the European Community. This article identifies the factors that contribute to the development of the linguistic landscape of the EU Member States.