“Catching up with ‘civilisation’”: reflections on language spread in Poland Martyna S ´ liwa Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the intensive spread of the English language in Central and Eastern Europe as an aspect of postsocialist transition. Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses the discourses and ideologies related to the spread of English in postsocialist Poland, drawing on insights from critical discourse analysis and language ideology. The empirical material discussed comprises newspaper articles dealing with the topic of language policy in Poland, with a focus on the media campaign, “battle for English”. Findings – The paper finds that the spread of English is facilitated by powerful discourses propagating the knowledge of English together with the ideology of neo-liberal economic and social transformation. The exploration of the discourses inherent in the story of the “battle for English” enables the links between the linguistic practices applied by individual actors and the ideologies conveyed by the discourses found in mainstream media to be made explicit. Research limitations/implications – An awareness of the mechanisms of discourse and ideology allows us to question both the drive behind and the social impact of the spread of English in Central and Eastern Europe. Originality/value – The paper offers a novel theoretical and empirical contribution to the understanding on postsocialist transition. Keywords Ideologies (philosophy), Language, English language, Poland Paper type Research paper Introduction One of the key aspects of postsocialism has been the embrace of neo-liberalism, with English constituting the language through which neo-liberalism is mediated. The spread of English in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has been facilitated not only by the educational policies implemented by the authorities, but has also been actively espoused by societies willing to dedicate their time and resources to the project of developing their knowledge of English. This paper addresses the intensive spread of the English language which can be observed post-1989 in CEE as an aspect of postsocialist transition. The geographical focus of the examples used here is on one particular country, Poland, but the discussion aims to offer a theoretical contribution to our understanding of postsocialist transition, with an emphasis on the role of the English language within it that goes beyond the context of one nation state. Rather than conceiving of the existence of a language as an established fact, Woolard and Schieffelin (1994) see it as a discursive project. Stroud (2002) explains that as part of the discursive project, the construction of representations of language and ideologies takes place. Bourdieu’s (1977) concept of legitimate language – one which members of a community associate with power and authority, and which provides its speakers with a significant symbolic capital – constitutes an important type of linguistic representation. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm Language spread in Poland 689 Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 23 No. 6, 2010 pp. 689-709 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534811011084366