Controversial English rationale (7)
I believe the answer is:
emotive
'controversial' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'english rationale' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'rationale' becomes 'motive' (I've seen this in another clue).
'e'+'motive'='EMOTIVE'
(Other definitions for emotive that I've seen before include "Deeply felt" , "Generating feelings" , "Moving - controversial" , "Stirring feeling" , "Arousing great feeling" .)