Lost in translation: The causal effect of foreign language learning on European identity and the Brexit vote

What is the relationship between foreign language learning in schools and political attitudes? The European Union supported an expansion of foreign language teaching in member states, in part as a vehicle to further European integration, yet research on the causal effect of foreign language learning on social and political attitudes remains limited. This paper specifically argues that Britons’ (lack of) foreign language skills has contributed to the outcome of the Brexit referendum. Theory suggests that speaking foreign languages reduces perceptions of cultural distance and contributes to the formation of transnational identities (Benet-Martinez and Haritatos 2005, Kuhn 2011). Research also shows a link between foreign language skills and European identity (Kuhn 2015, Díez -Medrano 2017). The problem with existing research is that self-reported language skills may be endogenous to attitudes, and language skills are correlated with various other factors that affect EU attitudes. The analysis leverages plausibly exogenous variation in foreign language learning due to education reforms in Scotland starting in 1987 to estimate the causal effect of foreign language learning on vote choice in the Brexit referendum. The results show that voters who attended secondary school just after the reforms which included an expansion of foreign language teaching were 18% more likely to vote for remain compared to cohorts not exposed to the reforms. A difference-in-difference design that compares Scottish cohorts to those in England and Wales also leads to the same conclusion. An increase in foreign language learning had a substantial effect on the remain vote in Scotland.