European Identity: values, cultures and languages. General Overview of the European Identity Study and its Connection to the Study of Languages
European Identity: values, cultures and languages. General Overview of the European Identity Study and its Connection to the Study of Languages

Summary/Abstract: The preamble of Constitution of Ukraine defines irreversibility of the European and Euro-Atlantic course of Ukraine. “European Union”, “European integration”, “European values” and “European identity” are new and important terms in modern Ukrainian political and media discourses. Our paper presents a general theoretical overview of the European identity study and its influence on the process of European integration. We see the development of European identity as an important precondition for stable integration of new states, including Ukraine, to the European Union.The suggested analysis of the existing approaches to the European identity study demonstrates direct connections of the European identity evolution to the new political contexts,cultures and languages of the EU. Short overviews of two linguistics projects LINEE and ELDIA show that English does not threaten EU cultural and inguistic diversity and serves as a neutral common language with only a marginal national connotation. English is seen as lingua franca in EU, and many of non-native speakers of English perceive it as an instrument of further intercultural understanding and contact.

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