This contribution deconstructs the discourse strategies of English monolingualism supporters, in particular in economics
and management.
Complementary processes are at work, which aim to counter arguments in favour of keeping the local language in
higher education in combination with other languages, including English.
a) Promote circular rhetoric whereby each proposition seems to be logically articulated to, and inevitably lead to the
next proposition.
b) Paradoxically present English monolingualism as the paragon of multilingualism, English as a global language being
supposed to be a complement to rather than a rival for local languages, the substitution/replacement issue remaining
unaddressed since the complementarity assumption excludes rivalry.
c) Attack any attempt to give local languages their legitimate place in the learning process on the ground that this
leads to provincialism and to less efficient learning; this is based on the denial of intercommunication issues and
deliberate ignorance of English language skills of participants in the learning process.
d) Denounce those in favour of multilingualism organized around the local language as past-oriented opponents of a
high-performance academia open to global competition.
e) Prevent counter-arguments and open debate to be developed by creating locking mechanisms that render dialogue
on issues and solutions impossible.