Protection Of Minority Languages Research Articles

Are ‘coercive’ language policies fair?

AbstractThis paper provides a normative justification regarding the fairness of ‘coercively’ protecting minority languages in mixed societies where the minority group already knows the majority language. To do so, it adopts first a theory‐testing approach and examines, by using the Catalan case, the validity of the arguments presented in Morales‐Gálvez's (2017) ‘protectionist’ theory of linguistic justice. In this vein, it argues that some of the ideas this author uses to defend the ‘coercive’ protection of minority languages still work when the minority group is bilingual. Yet, there are others that appear to be problematic. As such, this paper then unfolds using a theory‐building approach and reframes these concepts with the objective of proposing complementary arguments. This article concludes that ‘coercive’ policies to protect the language of a bilingualised minority group are fair and necessary if they aim to accomplish active reciprocal bilingualism and hence ensure equal rights for all speakers.

Current situation and path of foreign minority language protection based on Internet of Things from the perspective of ethnic identity

Ethnic identity is an important reason for national unity. The formation of ethnic groups is mostly due to external and internal reasons, with a complex mechanism structure. When people’s environment is destroyed, this value identity will be stronger, national cohesion and solidarity will grow sharply, an unprecedented high. Minority languages are characterized by a wide variety, cultural generation, and dynamic evolution. The languages are complex and diverse, and are deeply influenced by their cultural heritage. This has led to the fact that for a long time, minority languages have been learned almost exclusively by people of their own ethnic group. This has led to a steady decline in the number of minority language speakers. However, the birth of the Internet of Things (IoT) has created an opportunity for the development of minority languages. Foreign minority languages have the following status (1) rapid decline (2) many endangered languages (3) low willingness to learn. In order to further investigate the current situation of minority language protection, the team conducted a survey in the minority cluster A. The results of the survey are as follows: most of the villagers are in love with the ethnic language and must inherit and promote the ethnic language, which is the wealth of a nation, but there are also a few residents who think that Mandarin should be used to replace the ethnic language. This reflects that most of the residents love the national language, but their young people as the inherited generation lose their love for the national language and are not willing to inherit and promote it. To solve this problem, an Internet of Things (IoT)-based ethnic language data system has been constructed so that the data system for ethnic minority language protection built through IoT technology can become the last line of defense for protecting ethnic languages, while allowing ethnic languages to be known and understood by more people through IoT technology, fostering the love and reverence of ethnic minority people for ethnic languages, and enhancing other ethnic groups’ sense of identity and support for ethnic languages. We propose to protect minority languages. Ultimately, we propose recommendations for the preservation of minority languages. (1) Increase publicity for minority language preservation. (2) Construct laws and regulations related to minority language protection. (3) Conduct in-depth research on minority language work and build an information base. (4) Promote minority language education.

A systems approach to multilingual language attitudes: A case study of Montréal, Québec, Canada.

People are shaped holistically by dynamic and interrelated individual and social-ecological systems. This perspective has been discussed in the context of varied aspects of bilingual experiences, namely language acquisition and development. Here, we applied a Systems Framework of Bilingualism to language attitudes, which may be especially responsive to social-ecological influences. One hundred twenty-three French-English bilingual adults (M age = 21.20, SD = 3.21) completed self-report questionnaires on demographic information and their attitudes toward languages. A subset of these bilinguals (n = 73) completed a social network survey. We used language-tagged social network analysis and geospatial demographic analysis to examine the role of individual characteristics (i.e., first language), interpersonal language dynamics (i.e., person-to-person interactions), and ecological language dynamics (i.e., neighborhood language exposure). At an individual level, we found that bilinguals' language background (i.e., first language) predicted attitudes of solidarity toward a language (i.e., whether a language is associated with personal identity and belongingness). When considering sociolinguistic layers of influence, we found that bilinguals' social network and neighborhood-level language exposure jointly predicted their attitudes of solidarity toward a language, as well as their attitudes toward the protection of minority languages. While most studies have examined language experience in a unidimensional nature, the present study investigated multilingual language attitudes by considering multiple systems within a social-ecological framework. Taken together, the results suggest that several interrelated interpersonal and ecological systems are associated with language attitudes, which could have important implications for planning future language policies in multilingual societies such as Montréal.

Enpresa eta Hizkuntza: Enpresen Erantzukizun Sozialaren ikuspegia, interes-talde guztiei balioa emateko

In the current context, the main challenge for the protection of minority languages is not to be excluded from the challenges that companies place in the context of sustainable development. This article is a tool, consisting of conceptual considerations, for companies that opt for Corporate Social Responsibility and for organizations that support them in language management. To this end, on the one hand, the social responsibility of companies in relation to language will be conceptualized, while defining the importance of linguistic aspects and the priority level of languages in companies. In addition, the management of Corporate Social Responsibility will be described, focusing on good practices with language such as the establishment of dialogue processes, the codification of language practices and accountability. Finally, the article will also show that, referring to languages, companies should rely on four elements: the legal approach, the commercial approach, the social responsibility approach and, finally, the protection approach. • Key words: companies, language, Social Responsability, RSC

Dominant and recessive variants of language in the light of the European charter for regional or minority languages

Considering the sociolinguistic conception of large and small languages, which belongs to Academician Predrag Piper, the paper postulates the original author?s hypothesis about dominant and recessive language variants. This typology is being tested on the example of the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. From this point of view, there is a problem that arises due to the obligation of a certain state to apply protective measures against a recessive variant of a language under a special glottonym that differs from the name of the dominant variant of the same language. The fact that the Charter is primarily intended for the protection of minority languages as common cultural heritage of the minority and the majority is interpreted as protection of the linguistic rights of all speakers of a state, which are seen as negative, when they are aimed at preventing intolerance and discrimination, and positive ? in line with the society?s efforts to support and promote its linguistic heritage. The right of languages to speakers is seen as the basic sociolinguistic framework upon which the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is based. The paper also discusses the good practice of adopting local charters as a reliable way of protecting recessive variants with fewer speakers, as well as one of the ways to overcome certain contradictions that may arise in the practical application of the Charter.

Some Important Factors Hindering the Civic Integration of Ethnic Minorities

The purpose of this article is to compile and group the list of problems that hinder the integration of ethnic minorities in the political, economic and cultural life of the country, based on research conducted by various organizations over the past 10 yearს. According to these studies, the main problem is, on the one hand, the language barrier and, on the other hand, ethnic-nationalist tendencies and stereotypes. These national mythologies and notions play one of the crucial roles in the formation of national self-identification. Ethno-nationalist tendencies are strong both in minorities and in ethnic Georgians. There are several factors behind the emergence of the ethnonationalism in Georgia First of all, it is the legacy of Soviet totalitarianism, as well as the result of the current socio-political situation. Understanding these two factors will give us a better answer as to why ethnic-nationalist sentiments are still prevailing in Georgia and why the integration of the ethnic minorities is hindered, despite being repeatedly declared by the state. The language barrier of ethnic minorities is also an important problem in the process of integration into society. The education system should make the knowledge of the state language accessible to ethnic minorities and, at the same time, ensure the protection of minority languages. To do this, the state must maximize and encourage local staff; The general system of education should ensure the upbringing of the citizen of the country and not put any group (even the majority) in an advantageous situation. show the advantage of any (even the majority) group.

Language rights and education of the small numbered indigenous peoples of the European North of Russia: from the Soviet period to modern time

The article examines the experience of Russian constituent entities (Murmansk region, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Archangelsk Oblast) in the support of indigenous ethnocultural rights in the context of current models for protection of minority languages and initiatives in the field of education. The contemporary scene of interaction between the state and indigenous minorities in the region is considered from a historical perspective. Special attention is paid to the early decades of the Soviet regime when key discussions concerning the status, way of integration with the state and direction of cultural development were established. The cultural bases and boarding schools, collectivization, forced relocations contributed to the construction of social reality of indigenous peoples which we can observe in the post-Soviet period. The specificity of modern transformation in the sphere of language and life of the reindeer herders are discussed in the context of the everyday practices of the interethnic relations of the Nenets and the Pomors of the Kanin peninsula and the northern parts of Mezen Region.

Multicultural Education: Components and Necessities

The educational systems of different countries have committed to addressing/respond to the existing racial, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural variations. Multicultural education is an approach adopted to respond to cultural diversity in society. This paper aims at analyzing the concept of multicultural education and identifies its components and necessities in so doing, the author employed qualitative and content analysis. To collect the required information, all available sources of multicultural education in print and electronic libraries (valid databases) were used and were analyzed using the inductive category. The findings of this research, along with specifying the concept of multicultural education, also showed that attention to multicultural curriculum, in the global and national situations is an inevitable necessity. At the end of the study, the components and needs of multicultural education were identified. In short, acceptance of diversity and plurality, peaceful coexistence respect to educational justice, flexibility in educational programmes, variety in methods, variety in using educational materials, using a variety of evaluation methods, training of human resources, who promote and strengthen the differences, the human tendency to create social trends rather than a specific, positive attitude to different cultures, helping to develop a positive self-concept, to protection of minority languages, strengthening intercultural cross-cultural communication and so on can be ways to ensure multicultural education.

Insegnamento dell’italiano e l’educazione interculturale in Slovenia

L’articolo si propone di presentare una panoramica delle principali caratteristiche che riguardano l’insegnamento/apprendimento dell’italiano in Slovenia e una riflessione sull’importanza dell’educazione interculturale al fine di contribuire all’inclusione del singolo nella società che lo circonda. Dopo una sintetica illustrazione del quadro giuridico nel quale si inserisce la tutela delle lingue minoritarie in Slovenia, si presenta il percorso scolastico e le caratteristiche dell’insegnamento/apprendimento della lingua italiana come lingua materna (L1) e lingua seconda (L2) nel territorio bilingue nonché come lingua straniera (LS) nel resto della Slovenia. In particolare, vengono delineate le peculiarità del modello di educazione bilingue del Litorale sloveno, territorio di confine e area di contatto di culture prevalentemente romanze e slave. Infine, si evidenzia la necessità di applicare un approccio interculturale all’insegnamento in quanto il buon funzionamento della società multiculturale contemporanea dipende dalla consapevolezza della propria cultura congiuntamente all’esistenza di altre culture dell’ambiente. In questo modo sia insegnanti che studenti saranno coscienti del bisogno costante di accrescere le proprie competenze sia linguistiche che interculturali.

Minority languages and sustainable translanguaging: threat or opportunity?

ABSTRACTTraditionally, languages have been separated from each other in the school curriculum and there has been little consideration for resources that learners possess as emergent multilinguals. This policy is aimed at the protection of minority languages and has sought to avoid cross-linguistic influence and codeswitching. However, these ideas have been challenged by current multilingual ideologies in a society that is becoming more globalised. Within the field of multilingual education studies, there is a strong trend towards replacing the idea of isolated linguistic systems with approaches that take multilingual speakers and their linguistic repertoire as a reference.This article focuses on translanguaging, a concept that was developed in bilingual schools in Wales and refers both to pedagogically oriented strategies and to spontaneous language practices. In this article, translanguaging will be analysed as related to the protection and promotion of minority languages. Examples from multilingual education involving minority languages will be shown in order to see how translanguaging can be at the same time a threat for the survival of minority languages and an opportunity for their development. A set of principles that can contribute to sustainable translanguaging in a context of regional minority language use will be discussed.

The European Union and Minorities in 2013

This article reflects selected developments that took place from 1 January to 31 December 2013 both in the EU’S internal policies (Section ii) as well as in the EU’S external relations (Section iii). With regard to the internal dimension, developments in the field of Roma integration, the fight against hate crime and the protection of minority languages are traced. For the external dimension, the article covers the EU’S enlargement policy, its policies vis-à-vis countries in its wider neighbourhood in the East and in the South, and finally, the EU’S engagement at the broader international level.

The European Charter for regional or minority languages: a magnum opus or an incomplete modus vivendi?

This article investigates to what extent the European Union (EU) has the means to protect minority and regional languages in the EU, looking at the ways three different bodies of the EU, the European Parliament (EP), the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) differ in handling language diversity and the principle of language rights. Whereas the CoE pursue the protection of minority languages as a universal human right, the ECRML looks at it from a language planning perspective. This has two significant consequences: (1) the CoE incorporates the minorities into their resolutions, whereas the ECRML ignores the language users and focuses solely on the languages; (2) the former pursues the collective language rights principle, whereas the latter follows the territorial language rights principle. This article examines the impact the narrative built into the language planning policies has on their effectiveness.

Aménagement de l’acquisition: du trilinguisme fonctionnel à la pédagogie convergente

Social bilingualism, unlike official bilingualism, is very common. In most countries, the official language/s and tens or hundreds of other languages coexist; many such unofficial languages facing extinction. What is noticeable is that when language planning does not follow the ecological approach, i.e., when it emphasizes the strengthening of a particular language rather than the “structured diversity” of all the languages that make up a particular linguistic ecosystem, that can negatively impact the survival of minority languages. This study, which was carried out from the perspective of ecolinguistics, was aimed at promoting linguistic diversity through the protection of minority languages. It was essentially based on acquisition planning. The protection referred to here could be ensured, among other means, through the progressive acquisition of three or more languages in the education system. In Cameroon, a French – English bilingual country, the minority official language and many local languages are taught in school with varying degrees of success. It was interesting to critically look at some teaching approaches of those languages with the objective of showing how it could be possible, for those whose first language is neither French nor English, to better learn French and/or English, through convergent pedagogy, an educative approach based on the development of bilingualism or multilingualism. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijere.v2i2.2021

The protection of minority languages at the european level

The linguistic diversity within the European Union is an expression of the multiculturalism and plurality which is the basis of today’s Europe. That is why the EU institutions have adopted various regulations aimed at the promotion, preservation and protection of the languages used by EU citizens, especially those of so-called regional or minority groups. Though implementing this protection is delegated to Member States themselves, the EU authorities for their part have also taken decisive steps in order to ensure the continued health of the languages that enrich the idiosyncrasies of both the Member States and of the Union itself. While the protection of minorities at a Community level was not an initial priority at the outset of the EU given the greater importance of economic and political considerations. However, with the entry into force of the Treaty of Maastricht there has been a significant change in this respect; the recognition of minority rights has now become a reality. This recognition is now given due consideration as evidenced by the provisions of both the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Treaty of Lisbon. This paper has outlined the progress that has been made in the protection of linguistic minorities at the EU community level, without forgetting the work within other extra-Eu institutions, as it is the case of the Council of Europe, among others, without whose work the levels of protection of existing minority languages not have reached today.La diversidad lingüística existente en el seno de la Unión Europea supone una expresión de la multiculturalidad y de la pluralidad que no es sino la base de la Europa actual. Es por ello que desde las instituciones han sido adoptadas distintas normativas tendentes a la promoción, conservación y protección de la lenguas utilizadas por los ciudadanos comunitarios, especialmente de las denominadas regionales o minoritarias, ya que si bien es verdad, que esta protección ha de ser llevada a cabo por los propios Estados miembros, las autoridades comunitarias han dado pasos decisivos en aras a garantizar la no desaparición de las lenguas que enriquecen la idiosincrasia tanto de los Estados como de la propia Unión. La protección en el ámbito comunitario de las minorías no supuso en los indicios de la andadura comunitaria un hecho prioritario, pues en aquellos primeros momentos se incidió en otros aspectos, como el económico o el político que se consideraron más importantes. Sin embargo, con la entrada en vigor del Tratado de Maastricht se produjo un cambio significativo en este aspecto, ya que el reconocimiento de los derechos de las minorías va a convertirse en una realidad. Desde entonces se va a incidir mucho en su protección como queda patente en el tratamiento que de él hace la Carta de los Derechos Fundamentales o el Tratado de Lisboa. En este trabajo vamos ha hacer un recorrido por la evolución que ha sufrido la protección de las minorías lingüísticas en el ámbito comunitario, sin olvidar la labor realizada en el seno de otras instituciones extracomunitarias, como es el caso del Consejo de Europa entre otras, sin cuya labor no se hubieran alcanzado los niveles de protección de las lenguas minoritarias existentes en la actualidad.

Legal Frameworks for the Protection of Ainu Language and Culture in Japan: International and European Perspectives

The process of internationalisation is exerting pressure on governments around the world to recognise the rights of their indigenous peoples. This article investigates the current legal framework for minority language protection in Japan, where a history of assimilation has threatened the ancestral language and culture of the Ainu minority. The situation in Japan is contextualised within a broader discussion of minority language protection at global and European level in order to better understand the political environment in which a shift in policy for the protection of minority languages has begun. Although the implementation of a new law to promote Ainu culture has led to limited benefits for the Ainu, the fact that Japan continues to deny that the Ainu were colonised and dispossessed of resources acts as a barrier to reconciliation and a way forward. Findings indicate that the processes of internationalisation are conducive to increased international cooperation to promote consensus, greater social inclusion and more opportunity for minorities to participate in political structures. A further significant finding is that an acceptance of diversity and local autonomy can lead to an assurance of human rights.

Očuvanje manjinskih jezika i jezička politika na primeru vlaške manjinske zajednice u Srbiji

The issue of the protection of minority languages has been a widely-discussed topic in scientific and political circles for several decades. The paper advocates bilingual education as a means for preserving minority languages and language diversity in states with a dominant monolingual ideology. Immigrants to Western countries pass on their mother tongue to their children, but they rarely pass it on further, so the language is lost by the third generation. This calls for strong state language policies that would prevent language loss. The second part of the paper deals with the legal regulation of the status of minority languages in Serbia with a particular focus on the Vlach minority language.

The Implementation of the ECRML in Slovakia under Construction: Structural Preconditions, External influence and Internal Obstacles

In the early 1990s, the young Republic of Slovakia, fearing threats of devolution, embarked on an ethno-centric nation-state building, triggering a conflict structure between the majority and the minorities that can be illustrated in the game theoretic model of a ‘Pure conflict’. Even under these unfavourable structural conditions, EU conditionality prompted the state to fulfil the Copenhagen Criteria and to adopt the necessary European legislative package, but inducing formal changes in the legislative mainly. Before accession, the European Charter for Regional or Minority Language was also adopted, but appropriate measures necessary for its implementation did not implicitly follow. Nevertheless, medium-term effects show that due to the strong entrenchment with the international institutions involved, such as the European Council, social ties could be created. Consequently, social practice generated reciprocal collective meanings on minority language rights and proved to have a constitutive impact on Slovakia's identity profile in the post-accession period. However, externally induced progress has overlapped with the alternating political elites in power, dominated by populist and nationalistic rhetoric or moderate centre-right parties, finally hampering a more comprehensive implementation of Slovak minority language protection until today.

The Distinction of Minority Language Protection and Languages as a Cultural Heritage in Italy. The Case of the Piedmontese Dialect

The Distinction of Minority Language Protection and Languages as a Cultural Heritage in Italy. The Case of the Piedmontese Dialect

The Council of Europe and the European Union frameworks in the legal protection of minority languages: unity or diversity?

This article focuses on the comparison between European Union Law and Council of Europe Law in the field of the protection of minority languages and looks at the relationships between the two systems. The Council of Europe has been very important in the protection of minority languages, having created two treaties of particular relevance: the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 1992 and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in 1995; both treaties contain many detailed provisions relating to minority languages. Not all countries, even of the European Union, have ratified these treaties. 12 out of 27 EU countries did not ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The European Union supports multilingualism because it wants to achieve unity while maintaining diversity. Important steps, with respect to minority languages, were taken in the European Community, notably in the form of European Parliament Resolutions. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, approved in Nice the 7th December 2000, contains art. 21 and art. 22 related to this topic. The Treaty of Lisbon makes a cross reference to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union which is, consequently, legally binding under the Treaty of Lisbon since December 2009. The Charter could give ground for appeal to the European Court of Justice in cases of discrimination on the grounds of language

Australia and Catalonia: a comparative study on the protection of minority languages from a legal standpoint. Education in the mother tongue. Is the language a factor of integration or a barrier?

This article is a comparative study of the education system in minority languages between Catalonia and Australia from a legal standpoint. Catalonia has a complex legislation: National Constitution, Statute of Autonomy, Regional Laws, a strong legal framework, a language always alive as a political instrumentto get the power. Australia has not a legal framework in this area and has a confused planning system. In Europe, the Council of Europe has been in charge of the protection of human rights.Australia signed and ratified some International Conventions which are not a strong legal basis to claim an education system in aborigines’ languages. The Catalan Law on Linguistic Normalizationn. 7 of 1983, replaced by the Law on Linguistic Policy n. 1 of1998, has, among the other purposes, also that to stimulate the use of Catalan as language of education in all levels of teaching.The school has a fundamental importance for the transmission of the culture of minorities. If the educational systems didn’t have any regime of teaching in the mother tongue all policies are not efficient.