Use Of Minority Languages Research Articles

Linguistic landscape in George Town, Malaysia: Language visibility in a postcolonial and globalized context

The visibility of languages in the linguistic landscape reflects various aspects of linguistic diversity and dynamics in a given territory, signifying social interactions, identities, and power relationships among ethnic groups. However, postcolonial acontexts with widespread use of ethnic minority languages and the coexistence of state-sponsored national languages with precolonial official languages in the era of globalization have received limited research. This paper investigates the visibility of language in three neighbourhoods in George Town, Malaysia, a former administrative city under British governance, focusing on language visibility within three distinct neighborhoods: Chinatown, Little India, and the Beach Street. The study reveals a complex interplay of languages, highlighting the predominance of English as an information carrier and a symbol of modernity, alongside the increasing prominence of Chinese and the lesser visibility of Tamil and underrepresentation of other minority languages. The research underscores the ethnic boundaries between the vibrant enclaves of Little India and Chinatown, while Beach Street serves as a multicultural space reflecting a blend of local and global influences.

Role of Tourism in Preservation and Support of Minority Languages: Russian and Global Context

This article explores the role of tourism in the preservation and support of minority languages in Russia, focusing on the Karelian, Tatar, and Buryat languages. The study is framed within the methodological scope of language commodification research, language landscape, and language economy. Fieldwork data from Tatarstan, Karelia, and Buryatia in 2021, 2022, and 2024, as well as findings from other researchers, form the basis of this investigation. The article highlights the uneven use of minority languages as a tool for ethnographic branding from region to region. The authors conclude that minority languages exist in the language landscape through the naming of various realities, from toponyms to gastronomic terms, serving ethnographic branding and symbolic functions by providing specific words and morphemes. Contrary to expectations, tourism does not contribute to an increase in the number of speakers of minority languages or their use in discourse, both in Russia and globally. However, the increased presence of these languages in public spaces, including for marketing purposes, indirectly enhances their prestige and aids in their normalization.

Minority language use in teaching: ethnic minority teachers’ perspectives in Southwest China

ABSTRACT While previous research has emphasised the crucial role of multilingualism in supporting language minority students’ schooling experiences, little is known about the perspectives of teachers from minoritised backgrounds regarding their encounters with and responses to linguistic diversity in education. This article employs in-depth interviews to investigate ethnic minority teachers’ perceptions regarding minority language use in their multicultural and multilingual educational settings in southwest China. Thematic analysis was applied to identify the main themes across the narratives from 12 ethnic minority teacher participants. The findings show that teachers believed ethnic minority language use contributes to teaching ethnic minority students and interacting with ethnic minority parents. However, teachers held a deficit thinking of minority languages when it came to improving students’ Chinese proficiency and school success. Moreover, teachers believed their ethnic minority status does not necessarily play a role in teaching. Instead, sharing the same languages with ethnic minority students could benefit teaching, which is different from the prior studies concluding that sharing the same ethnic background as the students contributes to the reduction of ethnic disparities in education.

CONTINUITY IN THE DISCOURSE ON THE PROMOTION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FROM THE 19TH CENTURY UNTIL NOW

The article compares the documents defi ning the priorities of the UK language policy in relation to the English language. The study is relevant for understanding the prerequisites and principles of language planning. The object of the study is the offi cial discourse that substantiates the spread and promotion of the English language. Research methods include conceptual-textual analysis, retrospective-diachronic and comparative methods. The key document that recorded the essence of the language policy of the British Empire was the “Minute on education in India”, prepared by Thomas Babington Macaulay in 1835. Macaulay carried out political technological manage-ment of the process of spreading the English language, which was called upon to enlighten the Asians. In 2010, the report “English Next India” by David Graddol was published, which made the case for maintaining the position of the English language training industry. A comparative analysis shows signifi cant strategic continuity between these documents, which is also confi rmed in the actions of the British Council as a conductor of British language policy abroad. Both works make the case for the importance of English in the Indian educational system. Macaulay argues that English should become the main language of education in India as it provides access to information and educa-tion and facilitates economic linkages. Graddol, in turn, emphasizes that introducing English into every classroom and every home in India will signifi cantly improve the country’s prospects in all areas. In 2008, Gordon Brown, then Prime Minister of Great Britain, expressed his commitment to spreading the English language around the world, which he believed could boost the UK economy by billions of pounds. As part of this strategy, the British Council launched a program to recruit “master trainers” to improve the skills of 750,000 English teachers. However, despite British commercial interest in the Indian and other English language markets, there are concerns about the mono-lingual paradigm promoted by proponents of English-medium education. This paradigm may lead to restrictions on the use of national and minority languages and potentially have a negative impact on multilingual education

A losing battle? Interrogating the importance of ‘minority’ languages in expressing symbols of national identity in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT This paper interrogates the importance of minority languages in expressing symbols of national identity in Zimbabwe where minority languages have been officially recognised since 2013. The national symbol of focus is the national anthem. Using critical sociolinguistics, the study analyses responses from speakers of selected minority languages in Zimbabwe with regard to their language preferences, choices and limitations as they express national symbols. Selected groups comprise speakers of Sotho, Kalanga, Nambya and Tonga. Language activists and scholars have lobbied for the use of minority languages in every sphere of Zimbabwean life. The extent to which ordinary citizens advocate similarly is less understood as speakers of minority languages have different concerns in terms of the role played by their languages in fostering a Zimbabwean identity, especially through identity markers such as national anthems. This study seeks to fill that lacuna in the literature. Findings indicate ambivalent positions among speakers of minority languages as not all of them subscribe to the activist thinking. The group which fully embraces activist advocacy is the Tonga speakers who have historically exercised autonomy. Other groups’ identities are shaped by the speakers’ protracted experience with dominant languages and consequent attitudes towards dominant and minority languages.

Is minority language use a right or a privilege?

Abstract This paper demonstrates how European institutions bend to the idea of the mono-ethnic and monolingual nation-state. Instead of encouraging the use of minority languages and accepting them as a value, minority languages are treated as a tolerated but voluntarily assumed handicap. This is in stark contrast to the treatment of other types of protected identities, such as religion, gender and sexual orientation. Against this background, there is a desperate need for clear value-setting by the European institutions and for a clear message that language shaming is not a venial sin of the monolingual nation-state but a no-go zone even for populists. For this, however, language chauvinism should not be condoned but condemned.

Multilingualism in Estonian Poetry

Apart from Estonian, some other languages – from local dialects to major languages such as German and Russian – have usually also been spoken on the territory of Estonia. As a result, the literary culture of the local (small) language evolved in close contact with some foreign literatures and cultures. However, there is still no thorough analysis of how the historical change in the linguistic situation manifests itself in Estonian literature. Our article aims to draw attention to the multilingual nature of the Estonian literary field by giving a historical survey of the relations, contacts, and intertwining of the languages used in Estonian poetry from the 17th century to the present. To reflect the multiple facets of multilingualism revealed in poetry we mainly use a four-level approach partly based on Jaan Undusk’s typology of Estonian–German cultural contacts, adding the literary field as the level covering whatever is left. Thus, we treat multilingualism as a phenomenon observable within a language, text, author, and literary field. In terms of this study, intralinguistic multilingualism means language mixing in otherwise monolingual poetry, while intratextual multilingualism refers to abrupt transitions from one language to another (code-switching) within a text, and author multilingualism assumes a multilingual poet. Apart from the phenomena just mentioned, multilingualism within literature covers literary subfields in different language variants (for example literature created in South Estonian or Russian, but on Estonian territory). First, we will survey multilingualism in Estonia poetry before the Republic of Estonian was established in 1918, concluding that because German was the major cultural language up to the beginning of the 20th century, all poets, whatever their ethnicity, must have been fluent in two (or more) languages. The second period analysed spans the 20th century. The local Estonian poetry of the Soviet period stands out, with a few exceptions, for consistent use of Estonian, while some expatriate poets would also use English or Swedish. Third, we analyse contemporary poetry, where multilingualism is manifested not only by the use of local minority languages but also through intertwinings with English, Chinese or Japanese, thus giving evidence of an open society. Based on the picture emerging from the article we can say that apart from a historical overview, the multilingualism of Estonian poetry also needs closer poetic analysis.

Assessing child development scores among minority and Indigenous language versus dominant language speakers: a cross-sectional analysis of national Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys

Multiple studies have highlighted the inequities minority and Indigenous children face when accessing health care. Health and wellbeing are positively impacted when Indigenous children are educated and receive care in their maternal language. However, less is known about the association between minority or Indigenous language use and child development risks and outcomes. In this study, we provide global estimates of development risks and assess the associations between minority or Indigenous language status and early child development using the ten-item Early Child Development Index (ECDI), a tool widely used for global population assessments in children aged 3-4 years. We did a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from 65 UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) containing the ECDI from 2009-19 (waves 4-6). We included individual-level data for children aged 2-4 years (23-60 months) from datasets with ECDI modules, for surveys that captured the language of the respondent, interview, or head of household. The Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale was used to classify household languages as dominant versus minority or Indigenous at the country level. Our primary outcome was on-track overall development, defined per UNICEF's guidelines as development being on track for at least three of the four ECDI domains (literacy-numeracy, learning, physical, and socioemotional). We performed logistic regression of pooled, weighted ECDI scores, aggregated by language status and adjusting for the covariables of child sex, child nutritional status (stunting), household wealth, maternal education, developmental support by an adult caregiver, and country-level early child education proportion. Regression analyses were done for all children aged 3-4 years with ECDI results, and separately for children with functional disabilities and ECDI results. 65 MICS datasets were included. 186 393 children aged 3-4 years had ECDI and language data, corresponding to an estimated represented population of 34 714 992 individuals. Estimated prevalence of on-track overall development as measured by ECDI scores was 65·7% (95% CI 64·2-67·2) for children from a minority or Indigenous language-speaking household, and 76·6% (75·7-77·4) for those from a dominant language-speaking household. After adjustment, dominant language status was associated with increased odds of on-track overall development (adjusted OR 1·54, 95% CI 1·40-1·71), which appeared to be largely driven by significantly increased odds of on-track development in the literacy-numeracy and socioemotional domains. For the represented population aged 2-4 years (n=11 465 601), the estimated prevalence of family-reported functional disability was 3·6% (95% CI 3·0-4·4). For the represented population aged 3-4 years with a functional disability (n=292 691), language status was not associated with on-track overall development (adjusted OR 1·02, 95% CI 0·43-2·45). In a global dataset, children speaking a minority or Indigenous language were less likely to have on-track ECDI scores than those speaking a dominant language. Given the strong positive benefits of speaking an Indigenous language on the health and development of Indigenous children, this disparity is likely to reflect the sociolinguistic marginalisation faced by speakers of minority or Indigenous languages as well as differences in the performance of ECDI in these languages. Global efforts should consider performance of measures and monitor developmental data disaggregated by language status to stimulate efforts to address this disparity. None. For the Spanish, Kaqchikel and K'iche' translations of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

Hungarian minority education based on a review of the national curricula from 1777 to 1907

ABSTRACT This study is a systemic examination of three Hungarian national curricula and their effects on minority students’ education over 130 years beginning in 1777, when a uniform, state-regulated school system was created, accompanied by carefully drafted educational policies to which educational institutes had to adhere. The documents presented in this study are available in the Hungarian National Pedagogical Library and Museum. This study primarily focuses on the legislation defining minority language use in schools. Specifically, we analysed the extent to which educational policies and corresponding curricula either respected minority rights regarding native language use or forced students to acquire Hungarian language competencies and integrate them into the mainstream. Educational policies can only be understood through contemporary social and historical contexts. Thus, we highlight how social and historical circumstances, including an ever-changing political landscape and shifting political ideologies, have significantly affected the educational experiences of minorities residing in Hungary. Although our journey will be centuries past, this analysis is relevant to today’s demographically changing societies, which have increasingly become multicultural and multilingual. Highlighting the effect of educational policies on minority children’s instruction and, consequently, their first-language development can shape our discourse on current policies.

The Characteristics of Societal Bilingualism in Russia: Why do Tatarstan and Yakutia Stand out?

Since Russia has always been a multicultural and multilingual country, there are many regions where several official languages (apart from the Russian language) coexist. Needless to say, bilingualism has its own peculiarities in each region. What would be the difference between the linguistic situation in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Republic of Tatarstan? In the present article, we are aiming to investigate the peculiarities of bilingualism in the two above-mentioned republics. Based on the analysis of the historical background of minority languages and current language policies, the article provides an overview of the linguistic situation in terms of language status and language use of minority languages in the educational system. It has shown that despite similar language policies, the actual situation in Tatarstan and Yakutia is different, especially in terms of preference for learning the minority language at school. It is concluded that it is necessary to develop bilingualism in the regions and organize the necessary methodological support for parents and teachers.

Promoting Minority Language Use to Foster Revitalisation: Insights From New Speakers of West Frisian

Abstract Language planners are increasingly aware of the importance of new speakers (individuals acquiring a language outside the home, typically later-on in life) for the revitalisation of minority languages. Yet, little is known about new speakers’ activation (the process by which they become active and habitual minority language users). This article presents a questionnaire-based investigation of new speakers’ (n = 264) use of West Frisian in Fryslân, Netherlands—and the role traditional speakers play in new speakers’ activation. Qualitative and quantitative data show that participants use West Frisian only rarely; and when they do use it, it is mainly in the classroom. Minority language interactions outside the classroom, with traditional speakers, consist mostly of a few tokenistic words or phrases. The findings show to what extent different behaviours by traditional speakers discourage and/or encourage new speakers’ minority language use, highlighting how the complex dynamics between the speaker groups are hindering revitalisation efforts. The article discusses the implications of these findings for language planning to promote the activation of new speakers, and thereby the revitalisation of West Frisian.

The Linguistic Landscape of the war

Abstract Being immersed in a covert conflict within a censored society, the Linguistic Landscape provides valuable insights into the dynamics of multilingual communication during war. Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, political involvement among ethnic minority groups in Russia has experienced a surge. The use of minority languages signifies a hidden but significant form of protest, empowering ethnic minorities to assert their agency and political claims. Through an examination of anti- and pro-war signs in minority languages and interviews with language activists, this study explores how these languages are employed within the LL, revealing the motivations and attitudes of their authors. Minority languages in anti-war signs serve as secret codes while also personalizing protests and appealing to group solidarity. However, pro-war signs also evoke solidarity and ethnic values. Analysis of the anti- and pro-war signs illustrates their connection to other texts in minority languages, referencing discourses and ethnic symbols within the community of speakers of a minority language.

Experience of discrimination in egalitarian societies: the Sámi and majority populations in Sweden and Norway

ABSTRACT The Sámi people stand out as the only Indigenous minority in an egalitarian European context, namely the Nordic Countries. Therefore, inequalities that they may face are worth closer inspection. Drawing on the distinction between inequalities among individuals (vertical) and between groups (horizontal), we investigate how different types of inequalities affect the Sámi today. We formulate a series of hypotheses on how social, economic, cultural, and political inequalities are linked with discrimination experience, and test these with original data from a population survey conducted in northern Norway and northern Sweden simultaneously in 2021. The findings show that Sámi ethnic background increases the probability of experiencing discrimination. While individual-level economic inequality is also pertinent, this does not directly materialise as between-group inequality. Instead, minority language use is a strong predictor of discrimination experience, revealing the socio-cultural nature of ethnic inequalities. Cross-country differences are only reflected in the effect of minority language use.

Psychological explanations and possible management of consequences regarding language use and educational practice caused by the decrease of ethnic diversity in heterogeneous settings in Central-Eastern Europe

The paper offers psychological explanations for linguistic and educational issues that arise as a result of the accelerated loss of cultural and linguistic diversity in heterogeneous settings in Central-Eastern Europe, attributable mainly to the decline in the number of indigenous ethnic minorities. The aim is to analyze the psychological mechanisms of language and culture shift using knowledge from the psychology of learning (operant and classical conditioning) and motivation, seeking answers to the following research questions: 1) What are the possible psychological explanations of the decrease of minority language use, and linguistic and cultural shift?, and 2) What are the guiding principles that should be taken into consideration when choosing the medium of education/instruction for indigenous ethnolinguistic children in Central-Eastern Europe to mitigate this decrease? A systematic review conducted on sources from the field of the psychology of multilingualims running the SCOPUs database, and the applied behaviour analysis (ABA) on selected sources has shown that such a systematic analysis is missing. The context of the analysis is the debate between representatives of pluralistic conceptions and their opponents over language use and educational practice that support sustainable development in heterogeneous regions. Analysing their views it turned out that the linguistic and cultural shift can be, at least partly, explained with the mechanisms of positive reinforcement, punishment, avoiding, and with the concepts of learned helplessness and culture shock. It is concluded that strong models of multilingual education, relying on pluralists` view, offer ways to slow down the decrease of diversity. The Minority SafePack Initiative that calls for protection of European language minorities seems justifiable, but further research is needed on interactions between decline of diversity and developmental processes in children.

The Use of Minority Languages and the Sense of Belonging to Ethnic Groups

The Use of Minority Languages and the Sense of Belonging to Ethnic Groups

Linguistic hegemony and the minority languages battle for the Zimbabwean broadcasting space: A case of ZBC Television and National FM

Zimbabwe is a multi-cultural nation with diverse ethno-linguistic groups. The country’s minority ethnic groups, however are under severe threat of extinction. The effective use of minority languages in the media, significantly contributes to efforts aimed at saving these languages. Drawing on the theory of Hegemony, the study focuses on linguistic hegemony and the representation of minority languages in the broadcasting media, using ZBC Television and National FM as case studies. The data was gathered using questionnaires, in-depth interviews and content analysis. This study argues that, minority languages have not been afforded adequate space, at both ZBC Television and National FM. The study therefore, advocates for the radical transformation of the entire minority language representation policies and programming structures at both broadcasting stations. It further proposes the establishment of community radio stations, as a long term solution to the under-representation of minority languages in the Zimbabwean broadcasting media.

Multilingualism in cyberspace: a practical reality?

The loss of a language is often phrased in catastrophic terms despite the evolution of languages being a quite natural process. Here we discuss language loss and language use in the digital domain. We note that while English still dominates cyberspace, other languages are growing rapidly, so it seems likely that the future will not be monolingual but multilingual. We show that efforts to mandate the use of minority languages are unlikely to be successful and can backfire. The question therefore arises of how best to handle minority languages in the digital domain. This article argues that the best, and maybe the only, solution is high-quality machine translation.

Language policies as a conflict prevention tool

Abstract This article outlines the approach of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities to matters related to the use of language, assessing its consistency. Language is a major identity marker and as such can become a contentious issue in multi-ethnic societies. Questions revolving around the use of language can catalyse fights around distribution of power within States. They can also become a source of conflict and tensions between States, requiring the attention of international organizations such as the OSCE. Conversely, sound language policies can be instrumental in defusing tensions and strengthen the cohesion of diverse societies. Since its inception thirty years ago, the HCNM has devised a framework for developing balanced language policies as an instrument for conflict prevention. In the HCNM experience, the promotion and use of minority languages needs to be balanced by the adoption and promotion of one or more official languages. The article argues that the HCNM approach relies on the ‘positive’ securitization of linguistic rights, and proves that through its thematic recommendations the HCNM has embarked on a mission of addressing languages and minorities through inclusion and integration, as an approach to build a win-win model of global and regional security.

Linguistic acculturation preferences of Catalan local students toward their peers of Moroccan descent. The determining factors of linguistic assimilationism

ABSTRACT As a response to the migratory movements initiated at the end of the past century in Catalonia (Spain), its educational system aims to promote interculturality and multilingualism as a way to achieve social cohesion. For this purpose, it is important to improve our understanding of the linguistic acculturation preferences endorsed by local students toward students of immigrant origin – a scarcely studied factor. One of the main factors for achieving these objectives, that has been scarcely studied, is the linguistic acculturation preferences endorsed by local students toward students of immigrant origin. The present study applied 349 questionnaires to analyze the determining factors and linguistic acculturation preferences of local high-school students regarding the linguistic acculturation profiles of their peers of Moroccan descent in Lleida (Catalonia, Spain). The main results showed that, in order of frequency, assimilation to Catalan, assimilation to Spanish-Catalan and multilingualism were the three linguistic preferences endorsed by local students. The multinomial logistic regression model found the following determining factors: attitudes toward minority languages, attitudes toward multilingualism, Spanish self-identification, Spanish use with teachers and Catalan use with classmates. These results highlight the importance and need to further promote the use and embracement of minority languages in school settings as a possible way to increase the construction of multilingual preferences, and deconstruct prejudices and stereotypes to ultimately achieve social cohesion.

A Study on the Endangered Language: Saving the Oroqens Language of Northern China

The ethnic groups mainly distributed in the northern People’s Republic of China include Manchu, Mongolian, Hui, Russian, Korean, Oroqen, Xibe, Hezhen, etc. According to the sixth National Census in 2010, the population of Oroqen is 8,659. In accordance with the 2021 China Statistical Yearbook, the Oroqen have a total population of 9,168. The Oroqen account for only about 0.03 percent of the ethnic minority population in northern China. Despite the rise of the Oroqen population from 2010 to 2021, the relative numbers of Oroqen people compared with other northern ethnic groups are still very small. When a language becomes endangered, there is more than one factor leading to the phenomenon. The assimilation of languages is an inevitable process in the course of globalization. But as a minority language, it stands for cultural consciousness. Under the background of integration, multi-ethnic cultures are particularly precious. The objective of the article is to maintain Oroqen language ideologies and cultural consciousness in the process of globalization and assimilation. This article traces the reasons that lead to the decline of minority language use in northern China by taking the Oroqen language as the case. In the meantime, since the Evenk language and Oroqen language are homologous, we might be able to gain a better understanding of language preservation by looking at how Russia protects the Evenk language. In order to restore the language's vitality, some measures can be taken to give the new Evenks generation more opportunities to connect with their own ethnic language. Finally, on the basis of the current situation of the Oroqen language, this study offers a few suggestions for language protection.