Una lengua, una nación. Fronteras lingüísticas, sociales y políticas en dos casos de la migración latinoamericana al Reino Unido

Abstract

This article explores one nation-one language ideology, which holds that a language is the glue and marker of an identity that fosters national unity and linguistic assimilation ideologies in the context of Latin American migration to the United Kingdom. From ethnographic and sociocognitive approaches within critical discourse studies, the linguistic experiences of two Latin American immigrant mothers seeking health services and legal advice are analysed. The study of their linguistic experiences sheds light on the social and political effects that language ideologies have by bringing about such consequences as physical aggression and family separation in underexplored institutions articulated by neoliberal policies. In this context, a nationalist ideology emerges that constructs borders and marginal social identities.