Coexistence Of Languages Research Articles

English and Cantonese in a bilingual call centre in Hong Kong

ABSTRACTWith the rapid development of telecommunications and the business processing outsourcing (BPO) industry, many companies are establishing call centres for customer service in developing countries, where English is the major language used in the industry but often not spoken as the first language. While there is an abundance of research on call centre communication from the perspectives of business and management, sociolinguistics and applied linguistics, there is still a dearth of information about the use of English in the BPO industry with the coexistence of other languages. This paper presents a comparative study on the use of English and Cantonese in call centre communication conducted in an international healthcare insurance organisation in Hong Kong. English and Cantonese calls with apparent conflicts were transcribed and analysed in terms of how customer service representatives (CSRs) respond to complaints, and how customers enact their negative emotions while complaining.

Ecolinguistics: the state of the art and future horizons

In this article we do two things: in the first half, we trace the emergence and development of ecological linguistics, or ecolinguistics, from the early 1970s. Having contrasted the ecological endeavour with the form-based traditions of 20th century linguistics, we discern four particular ways in which the ecology of language has been conceptualised: as a symbolic ecology (Section 2), a natural ecology (Section 3), a sociocultural ecology (Section 4), and a cognitive ecology (Section 5). These four approaches are described and discussed in detail. In the second half of the state of the art, we outline future horizons for the discipline. The foundation for this outline is our plea for a unified ecological language science (Section 6). This unified program pursues a naturalised agenda in the language sciences by exploring the ecological embeddedness of language and linguistic interaction (Section 7). In particular, this section presents the extended ecology hypothesis as one possible way of understanding ecolinguistics as a naturalised science of language. Having presented this view, we argue that it can place the four different traditions mentioned within a unified ecolinguistic framework (Section 8). This framework includes a naturalised foundation for those concerns that characterise the ecolinguistic enterprise, e.g. the exploitation of natural resources, empowerment of marginalized social groups, and the peaceful coexistence of languages and cultures in multicultural communities. In the conclusion (Section 9), we call for further interaction between ecological schools and traditions.

Multilingualism in opera production, reception and translation

Despite the significant presence of multilingualism in both opera production and reception as well as in the context of opera translation, the coexistence of different languages in the world of opera has only sporadically received any research attention, either from musicologists or translation scholars. After a brief discussion of the problematic language issue in the history of opera, this article will examine the multilingualism which marks the genesis of opera texts and many opera productions. Next, it will present different types of multilingualism in opera pieces, with examples of each type. Finally, it will study the relationship between translation and multilingual operas from different standpoints, including a brief analysis of the plurilingual reception context often created by the various translation modalities applied to opera works. A descriptive and contextual approach will mainly be used in this study, which aims to do justice to the presence of multilingualism in the opera house, in both source and target contexts, as well as to encourage further research on this topic within Translation Studies.

Multilingualism in opera production, reception and translation

Despite the significant presence of multilingualism in both opera production and reception as well as in the context of opera translation, the coexistence of different languages in the world of opera has only sporadically received any research attention, either from musicologists or translation scholars. After a brief discussion of the problematic language issue in the history of opera, this article will examine the multilingualism which marks the genesis of opera texts and many opera productions. Next, it will present different types of multilingualism in opera pieces, with examples of each type. Finally, it will study the relationship between translation and multilingual operas from different standpoints, including a brief analysis of the plurilingual reception context often created by the various translation modalities applied to opera works. A descriptive and contextual approach will mainly be used in this study, which aims to do justice to the presence of multilingualism in the opera house, in both source and target contexts, as well as to encourage further research on this topic within Translation Studies.

Mind the Gap

The spaces and tensions between races, ethnic groups, and communities in late Apartheid and post-1994 South African society, and the co-existence of different languages, religions and cultures, generated a society so fractured that cultural translation became a formidably difficult task. The concept of translation in a transforming society is examined through an analysis of two-dimensional language as a means of translating political events and experiences into visual forms, which attempt to communicate across cultural gaps. Iconic documentary photographs by Sam Nzima (1976) and Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) photographers (1997), struggle posters by co-operatives and formally trained designers, and artworks by Kevin Brand, Sue Williamson and Marion Arnold are discussed. The images reveal that different forms of visual representation encode different relationships of signifying content and aesthetic form to offer alternatives to speech and writing in communicating some implications of Apartheid politics, leaving a legacy that validates art and design as tools of political activism.

Agent-based models of language competition

AbstractThis article uses computer simulations as a means of assessing two different models for the competition between two languages from the interdisciplinary perspective of complex systems. These models allow for the analysis of the role of bilingual speakers and they consider two of the basic factors determining the use of each language: their relative prestige and the language loyalty of their speakers. Here we assess the effect of these parameters in different social networks, with the aim of contributing to the understanding of the role of bilingualism and social networks in processes of language contact. We first present a qualitative analysis based on a simulation tool that we have designed, in order to visualize the dynamics of the models. Secondly, we consider a qualitative analysis of the role of complex networks, identifying mechanisms for the rapid extinction of a language and for situations of language segregation. Finally, we present a quantitative analysis which shows, counter-intuitively, a transition from a final scenario of language maintenance to one of language shift as language loyalty increases. Other findings are: (i) that the scenario of language coexistence is reduced in the presence of bilingual agents; and (ii) that networks which allow for local effects reduce further the situations for which language maintenance is possible.

Desafios para a educação em contexto bilíngue (alemão/português) de língua minoritária

In this paper we intend to present and discuss the sociolinguistically complex scenario of the Itajaí Valley, SC, a former area of German immigration, and the challenges imposed on education in the light of the linguistic and cultural diversity of the region. The excerpts of the data analyzed here were generated as part of a more comprehensive ethnographic study (Erickson, 1984) conducted in a rural elementary school. Relying primarily on the theoretical support of the studies of bilingualism as a social phenomenon, the objective of the study is (a) to describe and analyze the sociolinguistic scenario of the survey, characterized as complex due to the coexistence of hegemonic languages and local varieties, which are usually stigmatized; (b) to discuss the use of languages in the school environment and how they are treated by the social actors who interact in it. The data point to the important role of the heritage language as a symbol of the ethno-linguistic identity of the group in the study. They even point that the linguistic tensions and conflicts in the society affect the school and the subjects that live in that context. The results also point to the social implications of bilingualism in teacher education. We expect to give visibility to the group studied in order to contribute to the recognition of the right of bilingual children to the formal teaching of the language and culture of their ethnic group, as proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (1996). Key words: social bilingualism, minority languages, schooling.

Yocoy: Mobile Multilingual Technologies for Overcoming Communication Barriers

The coexistence of Western and Eastern languages and cultures poses a true challenge for global mobility and communication in business and personal life. In this paper, we will describe mobile software applications that are built on top of multilingual and crosslingual technologies for overcoming language barriers, e.g., between English and Chinese, or German and Chinese. The mobile applications are interactive language guides, culture guides and country guides. They support automatic translation and dialogues between people and link the language part with information needed in a specific situation. Furthermore, users can integrate pictures into their phrases for extending the descriptive capabilities of the dialogue component. Semantic search facilitates access to words, phrases and information content.

MODELING TWO-LANGUAGE COMPETITION DYNAMICS

During the last decade, much attention has been paid to language competition in the complex systems community, that is, how the fractions of speakers of several competing languages evolve in time. In this paper, we review recent advances in this direction and focus on three aspects. First, we consider the shift from two-state models to three-state models that include the possibility of bilingual individuals. The understanding of the role played by bilingualism is essential in sociolinguistics. In particular, the question addressed is whether bilingualism facilitates the coexistence of languages. Second, we will analyze the effect of social interaction networks and physical barriers. Finally, we will show how to analyze the issue of bilingualism from a game theoretical perspective.

The Focus Axiom and Poverty: On the Co-existence of Precise Language and Ambiguous Meaning in Economic Measurement

Abstract Despite the formal rigour that attends social and economic measurement, the substantive meaning of particular measures could be compromised in the absence of a clear and coherent conceptualization of the phenomenon being measured. A case in point is afforded by the status of a ‘focus axiom’ in the measurement of poverty. ‘Focus’ requires that a measure of poverty ought to be sensitive only to changes in the income-distribution of the poor population of any society. In practice, most poverty indices advanced in the literature satisfy an ‘incomefocus’ but not a ‘population-focus’ axiom. This, it is argued in the present paper, makes for an incoherent underlying conception of poverty. The paper provides examples of poverty measures which either satisfy both income and population focus or violate both, or which effectively do not recognize a clear dichotomization of a population into its poor and non-poor components, and suggests that such measures possess a virtue of consistency, and coherent meaning, lacking in most extant measures of poverty available in the literature.

Building strategies to ensure language coexistence in presence of bilingualism

For 20 years many authors have attempted to model language competition. Some models involve two different languages, others include also a bilingual population. The issues are to understand one language extinction or to determine in which parameter range coexistence is possible. A key parameter is the prestige of one language compare to the other. If this parameter remains constant, coexistence is not sustainable. However, prestige may vary with time. In this article, thanks to the viability theory concepts and tools, we study a set of prestige variations which would allow language coexistence in presence of a bilingual population. Among this set, we emphasise slow viable evolutions with the lowest prestige variations that guarantee coexistence.

Poesía (en) Guaraní: la palabra dislocada

The article proposes a reading from the notions of dilinguismo and bilingual, a repertoire of poems Guarani from Susy Delgado, Brigido Bogado and Mario Ruben Alvarez. The working hypothesis is that while the use of two languages in Paraguay, seem to point to a bilingual experience, they do actually covering semantic domains and different cultural spaces (closed to the other language), accounting for a dilinguismo. In this way the poetic word stands as a place (locus) that enables the coexistence of both languages, double coding or ethnolinguistic collage. The language jopara (transit between Castilian and the Guarani), in the most radical, is installed in a third strategic area of resistance in a mixed semantic space, which retrieves the identity and cultural self-assertion.

Janet Muller: Language and Conflict in Northern Ireland and Canada. A Silent War (Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities)

Written by an author who serves as Chief Executive Officer of POBAL, meaning ‘community’ in Irish, a non-governmental organisation for the Irish-speaking community in Northern Ireland, this book reflects the unique insights that such a role allows into language issues in contemporary Northern Ireland. Situated within the broader context of conflict resolution, the book explores the approach adopted to managing linguistic diversity in Northern Ireland against the socio-political background leading up to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and onto the present day. Following years of political strife, the agreement between staunch political opponents reflected a milestone in the North’s history, whereby a devolved Assembly was established, only to be suspended in 2002. It was a further 5 years before devolution was re-established through the St Andrew’s Agreement in 2007. Among the measures as part of the agreement was a commitment to enact an Irish language act which, at the present time, is still outstanding. As the author outlines, the linguistic situation in Northern Ireland reflects religious and political differences. The complexity of the situation, however, is further enhanced by the fact that English as the dominant language co-exists with not just one, but two minority languages whose minority status differs considerably, namely Irish and Ulster Scots. In the latter case, the author calls into question its status, suggesting that it may be more appropriately considered a dialect of English given that Ulster Scots is comprehensible to speakers of English. While an Irish language act was envisaged as part of the St Andrew’s Agreement, no similar arrangement was considered for Ulster Scots. Following on from an initial chapter which situates language policy in the context of conflict resolution, the chapters provide substantial insights into the factors surrounding the potential for an Irish language act in Northern Ireland, in relation to demographic, educational, media and political issues. Chapter 2, for

The Focus Axiom and Poverty: On the Co-Existence of Precise Language and Ambiguous Meaning in Economic Measurement

The Focus Axiom and Poverty: On the Co-Existence of Precise Language and Ambiguous Meaning in Economic Measurement

English as an academic lingua franca

In today’s world, the European Union is searching for a delicate balance between linguistic integration and diversity. Thanks to international knowledge transmission and exchange as well as co-operation and mobility beyond national boundaries, English has now become the preferred option for linguistic unity. It is a language that allows native speakers of different languages to communicate. However, the use of English as a lingua franca should not (and does not) threaten plurilingualism in Europe, as reflected in the many national languages in Europe and the relatively peaceful coexistence of national and minority languages in many European countries. In fact, English, as used for international communication purposes, complements and supplements national languages.

Agent based models of language competition: macroscopic descriptions and order–disordertransitions

We investigate the dynamics of two agent based models of language competition. In thefirst model, each individual can be in one of two possible states, either using languageX orlanguage Y, while the second model incorporates a third stateXY, representing individuals that use both languages (bilinguals). We analyze the models oncomplex networks and two-dimensional square lattices by analytical and numericalmethods, and show that they exhibit a transition from one-language dominance tolanguage coexistence. We find that the coexistence of languages is more difficult tomaintain in the bilinguals model, where the presence of bilinguals facilitates the ultimatedominance of one of the two languages. A stability analysis reveals that the coexistence ismore unlikely to happen in poorly connected than in fully connected networks, and thatthe dominance of just one language is enhanced as the connectivity decreases. Thisdominance effect is even stronger in a two-dimensional space, where domain coarseningtends to drive the system towards language consensus.

A Model of the Mechanisms of Language Extinction and Revitalization Strategies to Save Endangered Languages

Why and how have languages died out? We have devised a mathematical model to help us understand how languages go extinct. We use the model to ask whether language extinction can be prevented in the future and why it may have occurred in the past. A growing number of mathematical models of language dynamics have been developed to study the conditions for language coexistence and death, yet their phenomenological approach compromises their ability to influence language revitalization policy. In contrast, here we model the mechanisms underlying language competition and look at how these mechanisms are influenced by specific language revitalization interventions, namely, private interventions to raise the status of the language and thus promote language learning at home, public interventions to increase the use of the minority language, and explicit teaching of the minority language in schools. Our model reveals that it is possible to preserve a minority language but that continued long-term interventions will likely be necessary. We identify the parameters that determine which interventions work best under certain linguistic and societal circumstances. In this way the efficacy of interventions of various types can be identified and predicted. Although there are qualitative arguments for these parameter values (e.g., the responsiveness of children to learning a language as a function of the proportion of conversations heard in that language, the relative importance of conversations heard in the family and elsewhere, and the amplification of spoken to heard conversations of the high-status language because of the media), extensive quantitative data are lacking in this field. We propose a way to measure these parameters, allowing our model, as well as others models in the field, to be validated.

A Model of the Mechanisms of Language Extinction and Revitalization Strategies to Save Endangered Languages

Why and how have languages died out? We have devised a mathematical model to help us understand how languages go extinct. We use the model to ask whether language extinction can be prevented in the future and why it may have occurred in the past. A growing number of mathematical models of language dynamics have been developed to study the conditions for language coexistence and death, yet their phenomenological approach compromises their ability to influence language revitalization policy. In contrast, here we model the mechanisms underlying language competition and look at how these mechanisms are influenced by specific language revitalization interventions, namely, private interventions to raise the status of the language and thus promote language learning at home, public interventions to increase the use of the minority language, and explicit teaching of the minority language in schools. Our model reveals that it is possible to preserve a minority language but that continued long-term interventions will likely be necessary. We identify the parameters that determine which interventions work best under certain linguistic and societal circumstances. In this way the efficacy of interventions of various types can be identified and predicted. Although there are qualitative arguments for these parameter values (e.g., the responsiveness of children to learning a language as a function of the proportion of conversations heard in that language, the relative importance of conversations heard in the family and elsewhere, and the amplification of spoken to heard conversations of the high-status language because of the media), extensive quantitative data are lacking in this field. We propose a way to measure these parameters, allowing our model, as well as others models in the field, to be validated.

Multilingualism and the European Union

In 2008, the European Commission adopted a new strategy for languages in Europe: Multilingualism: an asset for Europe and a shared commitment. It focussed on the harmonious co-existence of many languages in Europe. It reaffirmed the European Community's commitment to regional and minority languages. In November 2008, the Council adopted for the first time a resolution on multilingualism. They recognised the need to widen the range of languages offered in the education system. And they reaffirmed the goal they had set six years earlier, in Barcelona, to teach people two foreign languages as well as mother tongue. The native regional or minority languages are particularly strong symbols of the diversity on which the European Union is built. In fact, people who speak a regional or minority language are often closer to meeting the Barcelona objective than many other Europeans. They are multilingual citizens; and this precious asset allows them to act as bridges between different cultures. The Lifelong Learning Programme also offers a great deal of opportunities for teaching and learning languages. Any language is eligible for support. From 2008 to 2010, special priority has been given to projects and networks that are open to regional and minority languages.

Cruce de culturas en la escuela

Los centros educativos son una realidad multicultural, donde conviven diferentesminorías culturales, lenguas, religiones, formas de vida y códigos sociales. Lapedagogía crítica plantea formas de vivir y aprender en este cruce de culturas que superantanto el modelo etnocéntrico de racismo (asimilación a la cultura considerada “superior”)como el modelo relativista (énfasis en la diferencia y renuncia a la igualdad),apostando por la idea de igualdad de las diferencias. En el artículo se exponen formascríticas de fomentar el cruce entre culturas y bagajes históricos, entre lenguas, religionesy creencias. Se plantea que el consenso es posible en el marco de la pluralidad de identidadesy pautas culturales, y que el diálogo igualitario entre culturas en la escuela promueveno sólo transformaciones individuales sino también cambios en las relacionessociales.