Abstract

The noted linguist Henriette Walter is a well known media figure in France, who has used her extensive range of scholarly work to take a stance in the current debate on the French language and to debunk the idea that the language is under threat. She shows that French has always been an accommodating language - une langue d'accueil - taking in words from many different sources. This bilingual volume makes Mme Walter's approach accessible to English speakers and provides reactions to it from a number of scholars working in British universities.

Sue Wright, is a lecturer in the School of Languages and European Studies at Aston University. Her research interests are multilingualism and language policy in Europe. The main contributor in this volume is the noted French linguist, Henriette Walter, whose numerous publications include Le français dans tous les sens, Le français d'ici, delà et  de là-bas, Les aventures des mots français venus d'ailleurs and Les aventures des langues en Occident.