Language is Business! On the impact of linguistic applications in our society.

Abstract : Our current society is strongly internationalized by modern means of transport, the globalization of the markets and the use of digital tools. In such an internationally-oriented society it is clear that anybody who is more or less proficient in just one language, their own mother tongue, is excluded from a huge amount of information, from understanding other cultures and from a wider world view. “Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenze meiner Welt,” we are told by Wittgenstein. In this lecture we will briefly discuss the added value of multilingualism, the economic factors in our modern globalized world and the business community’s attitude towards multilingualism. We will conclude with some figures regarding the language industry in the European Union that show that the market demands many motivated specialists in the field of applied linguistics. How do we make the language sector attractive to young people? The presentation is based on the following sources: Steurs, Frieda (2016), Taal is business! Scriptum.nl Nederlandse Taalunie (2018) Over de economische betekenis van taal. Een verkenning van de taalsector in het Nederlandse Taalgebied. www.taalunie.org

ISBN:978-963-9074-84-2

Jaar van publicatie:2020

Toegankelijkheid:Open