Linguistic territoriality in Switzerland

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-217
Author(s):  
Till Burckhardt
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Federal Regulation ◽  
Evolution Of Language ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
General Guideline ◽  
Institutional System ◽  
The Right

Abstract This article argues that the linguistic territoriality principle cannot be considered as a general guideline for the design of language policy but rather as a tool to find the right balance between linguistic freedom and linguistic peace under given circumstances. The article traces the origin and evolution of language policy principles during the drafting process of the new constitutional article in its three official language versions. The Swiss language regime is embedded in an institutional system of executive federalism in which mostly monolingual cantons and municipalities are in charge of implementing nearly all public policy. This significantly reduces the relevance of the inconsistency between a formally personalistic multilingual federal language regime and linguistic territoriality deriving from cantonal language regimes. The point of the new federal regulation is to provide room for manoeuvre for cantonal policymakers to adopt legislation based on linguistic territoriality. The relevant constitutional article recognises that territorial language policies can be implemented to ensure linguistic peace. At the same time, the personality principle may be adopted to protect autochthonous linguistic minorities.

scholarly journals Languages Canada: The Paradoxes of Linguistic Inclusivity – Colonial/ Founding, Aboriginal and Immigrant language rights

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-102
Author(s):  
Keith Battarbee
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Canadian Society ◽  
Canadian History ◽  
Immigrant Language ◽  
Aboriginal Languages ◽  
Official Recognition

This article approaches the question of inclusivity in contemporary Canadian society through the lens of official language policy. Although Canada has well-developed bilingual policies for English and French at the federal and provincial levels, the only jurisdictions which (at the time of writing) afford official language status to Aboriginal languages in addition to English and French are the Northwest Territories (nine First Nations and Inuit languages) and Nunavut (the Inuit language/s). The article situates the development of these territorial language policies within the contexts of Canadian history, the emergence of language policy more generally in Western societies, and the human rights revolution, and offers a tentative evaluation of them in terms of inclusivity, noting the paradox that inclusive recognition of the territories’ indigenous languages has not been extended to the immigrant languages, whose speakers partly outnumber the smaller Aboriginal-language communities, as well as the daunting problems faced in turning official recognition into practical implementation.

scholarly journals An exploration of the effects of language policy in education in a contemporary Puerto Rican society

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Mirta Maldonado-Valentín
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
Grade Levels ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Impact

During the Spanish regimen, Puerto Rican education was limited and restricted to Spanish language as the medium of instruction. It was not until the U.S. colonization of the island that public education was introduced. As a result, English replaced Spanish as medium of instruction in the new educational system. Immediately after, Puerto Rican elitists and politicians ignited a political movement against using English (Algren de Gutierrez, 1987), resulting in a language battle fought through a series of educational language policies. In the end, policymakers enacted a language policy that reinstated Spanish as the official language of Puerto Rico’s education system. Consequently, policymakers also strengthened the use of Spanish instruction in Puerto Rican schools and universities while English was taught as a subject through all grade levels (Canino, 1981). Thus, this policy secured the island’s status as a “monolingual Spanish speaking society”. In addition, the enactment of this language policy also legitimized English as a de jure second official language, with the possibility of recognizing Puerto Rico as a “bilingual speaking society”. This paper discusses the impact of these language policies on the use of Spanish and English in education and presents a case study of Guaynabo City to exemplify the effects of these language policies on a contemporary Puerto Rican society and its acceptance of or resistance to becoming an English-speaking society.

scholarly journals The language policy of Ukraine in the retail and services sphere

2021 ◽  
pp. 20-35
Author(s):  
Maryna Hontar ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Product Information ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Socialist Republic ◽  
Soviet Socialist Republic ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The Right ◽  
Language Law ◽  
To Receive

This paper explores how the language policy of Ukraine is established in the retail and services sphere. The analysis focuses on the Ukrainian legislation which regulates the use of the official language and other languages in advertising, product information, and services. In the period of the Ukrainian state independence, the language use in the retail and servi-ces sphere is determined by Article 10 of the Constitution of Ukraine which lays down the basic principles for the operation of languages in Ukraine and the legislative documents which regu-late customer-provider relationships and contain requirements for goods and consumer services.The article states that information should be provided to the consumer in accordance with the lan-guage legislation requirements. The Law “On Languages in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic” (1989) and especially the so-called “Kivalov – Kolesnichenko language law” did not guarantee Ukrainian citizens the right to receive information and to be served in the official language, i.e., in Ukrainian. The 2019 language law, Article 30, however, obliges all service providers to serve consumers and provide information about goods and services in Ukrainian. Keywords: sociolinguistics, language policy, retail and services sphere, Ukrainian language.

scholarly journals LANGUAGE POLICIES IN THE FORMER COLONIZED COUNTRIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 154
Author(s):  
Diyah Ayu Rizqiani
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Education System ◽  
Strong Influence ◽  
Academic Language ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
The Other ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
History Of

Colonialism shapes the history of a country. The language policy of a former colonized country could be seen as a mirror to see the long history of colonialism. The colonizers have strong influence in establishing the education system and language instruction used at school. In this case, language as the important element in education system could be seen as manifestation of colonialism. The language instruction in the classroom is usually the official language of the country. Some former colonized countries proudly used English as academic language. On the other hand, there are other former colonized countries which use their indigenous language as the language instruction in the classroom. By comparing these two different language policies would also give different effects to their cultural and national identity. The aims of this paper are explaining the language policies, analyzing the effect of colonialism on education system, and describing the relation between language policy and nationalism. 

scholarly journals Intersections of official and family language policy in Quebec

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Ballinger ◽  
Melanie Brouillard ◽  
Alexa Ahooja ◽  
Ruth Kircher ◽  
Linda Polka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Institutional Support ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Family Language Policy ◽  
Heritage Languages ◽  
Public Language ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Family Language

The current paper describes a study that sought to determine the beliefs, practices, and needs of parents living in Montreal, Quebec, who were raising their children bi/multilingually. The parents (N = 27) participated in a total of nine focus group and individual interviews in which they discussed their family language policies (language ideologies, practices, and actions taken to maintain a language). Through rounds of deductive and inductive coding and analysis, family language policies regarding English and/or French were compared with policies regarding heritage languages. The participants’ family language policies were further examined in light of Quebec’s official language policy of interculturalism. Findings indicate a complex co-existence of family and official language policy in which parents both support Quebec’s official language policy by converging towards French as a common public language and questioning the policy’s stance on official institutional support for heritage languages.

scholarly journals Prospects and Problems of Language Policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 330-337
Author(s):  
Ahmed Sabi Kazeem ◽  
Muritala Imam Suleiman
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Indigenous Language ◽  
Cultural Integration ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
National Policy On Education

Indigenous languages in Nigeria have been relegated to the background at the expense of foreign languages. Official language policies have variously been enunciated in documents such as the National Policy on Education. Yet, there are problems facing indigenous language is Nigeria. This study examined prospects and problems of language policy to indigenous languages in Nigeria. Scholars and researchers were of the opinion that indigenous languages in Nigeria should incorporate socio-cultural activities. Problems facing the growth and development of indigenous languages were identified and prospects and possible solutions to the identified problems were proffered. It was therefore concluded that despite Nigeria is a multilingual society, there are few multilingual speakers of indigenous languages. It was however recommended that indigenous languages should be developed in order to enhance socio-cultural integration.

The Politics of Arabic in Israel

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camelia Suleiman
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Political Identities ◽  
Production Of Knowledge ◽  
The One

Arabic became a minority language in Israel in 1948, as a result of the Palestinian exodus from their land that year. Although it remains an official language, along with Hebrew, Israel has made continued attempts to marginalise Arabic on the one hand, and secutise it on the other. The book delves into these tensions and contradictions, exploring how language policy and language choice both reflect and challenge political identities of Arabs and Israelis. It combines qualitative methods not commonly used together in the study of Arabic in Israel, including ethnography, interviews with journalists and students, media discussions, and analysis of the production of knowledge on Arabic in Israeli academia.

COMMONWEALTH Forum: The Politics of Science or the Science of Politics

Commonwealth ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Arway
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Factual Information ◽  
The Past ◽  
Difference Of Opinion ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Right ◽  
Scientific Facts ◽  
Environmental Agency ◽  
Laws And Regulations

The challenges of including factual information in public policy and political discussions are many. The difficulties of including scientific facts in these debates can often be frustrating for scientists, politicians and policymakers alike. At times it seems that discussions involve different languages or dialects such that it becomes a challenge to even understand one another’s position. Oftentimes difference of opinion leads to laws and regulations that are tilted to the left or the right. The collaborative balancing to insure public and natural resource interests are protected ends up being accomplished through extensive litigation in the courts. In this article, the author discusses the history of environmental balancing during the past three decades from the perspective of a field biologist who has used the strength of our policies, laws and regulations to fight for the protection of our Commonwealth’s aquatic resources. For the past 7 years, the author has taken over the reins of “the most powerful environmental agency in Pennsylvania” and charted a course using science to properly represent natural resource interests in public policy and political deliberations.

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