Mother Tongue Maintenance: The Debate. Linguistic Human Rights and Minority Education

Abstract

* What are linguistic human rights? In a civilized state, there should be no need to debate the right to maintain and develop the mother tongue. It is a self-evident, fundamental linguistic human right (see the articles in Skutnabb-Kangas & Phillipson, 1994). Observing linguistic human rights (LHRs) implies, at an individual level, that all people can identify positively with their mother tongue and have that identification accepted and respected by others whether their mother tongue is a minority language or a majority language. It means the right to learn the mother tongue, orally and in writing, including at least basic education through the medium of the mother tongue, and to use it in many official contexts. It also means the right to learn at least one of the official languages in the country of residence. It should therefore be normal that teachers (including ESL teachers) are bilingual. Restrictions on these rights may be considered an infringement of fundamental LHRs. Observing LHRs implies at a collective level the right of minority groups to exist (i.e., the right to be different) and the right to enjoy and to develop their languages. It implies the right of minority groups to establish and maintain schools and other training and educational institutions, with control of curricula and teaching in their own languages. It also involves guarantees of representation in the political affairs of the state and the granting of autonomy to administer matters internal to the groups, at least in the fields of culture, education, religion, information, and social affairs, with the financial means, through taxation or grants, to fulfill these functions.