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For Gadet (2003: 2023) French is obviously a language like others, but the sociolinguistic particularity
which makes it somewhat special is strong support for the ideology of the standard. Defence of the standard
requires that other language varieties, or even other languages, are condemned as threatening proper
French, with metaphors of rape, contamination, war, and chaos. It is such condemnation that terrifies
learners and makes French seem a difficult language to learn, and may militate against its spread overseas.
The overall reaction to insecurity has been one of aggressive protectionism and purism within the citadel,
allied to a warlike opposition to all threats, real or imagined. Citado en Ager (1999, 96).
2 Ager plantea el siguiente ejemplo: When delegations have a choice, more now opt for a
language other than French: in 2001, for example, 36 countries wished to receive
correspondence in French, 19 in Spanish, and 130 in English of the 185 UN members expressing
a preference. (Ager, 2008, 94).