The language of others

Professor Li Wei, Director of the Centre for Applied Linguistics (CAL), speaks about multilingualism on BBC Radio 4's 'The Language of Others' programme.

Professor Wei explains that languages are political entities that carry their own histories, values, and ideologies.

"People who hold more negative views towards languages tend to be people who don't know any other languages than their own. Bilinguals and multilinguals tend to be more positive and friendly towards foreign languages, including languages that they don't know themselves. Monolinguals tend to be more negative and are more concerned about other languages."

Listen: BBC Radio 4 (Professor Li Wei speaks from 02:30-03:11 and 06:24-06:46).