Sources of variation in attitudes toward minority, majority and foreign language

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-199
Author(s):  
Sabina Halupka-Rešetar ◽  
Eleonóra Kovács Rácz
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Multilingual Education ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Majority Population ◽  
Autonomous Province

Abstract Vojvodina, an autonomous province in northern Serbia, is a historically multilingual and multicultural area where multilingual education forms a cornerstone of linguistic, educational and social policy and practice: in addition to the majority language, five minority languages are also in official use and speakers of these languages may receive education in their L1. However, such a situation does not warrant positive attitudes toward the majority language. In fact, attitudes toward the majority population have been shown to be less positive among minority group members who receive their education in their L1 (Veres 2013). In addition to this, the effect of environment (compact vs. diffuse) has been shown to interact with attitudes. The paper examines the language attitudes of 423 Hungarian L1 grammar school pupils towards (1) their (minority) mother tongue (Hungarian), (2) Serbian as the majority language and (3) English as a foreign language, based on their value judgements and taking into account numerous variables which might prove to interact with their attitudes. The results of the research are expected to add to the study of language attitudes in a multilingual context, to help us understand better language situations in areas where bilingualism is promoted and to aid the implementation of coherent language policies.

The Implementation of CLIL and Attitudes Towards Trilingualism

2009 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 23-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lasagabaster
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Autonomous Community ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Inherent Feature ◽  
Official Languages

Abstract Linguistic and cultural diversity is becoming an inherent feature of most schools in Europe. This is specially so in contexts such as the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain, where the presence of two official languages (Basque and Spanish) is complemented by the early teaching of English, which sets out as early as the age of four in the majority of schools. Nevertheless, the low foreign language command of Spanish students in general and the Basque students in particular has led to the implementation of CLIL experiences, which have been mushrooming in the last decade. Some voices have been raised though against the ever increasing presence of English due to its probable negative impact on language attitudes, especially on attitudes towards Basque. Many efforts have been made to normalize the situation of Basque at school and some scholars consider that these achievements can be jeopardized if the minority language yields too much space to the two international languages (Spain and English). In this paper the effect of CLIL programmes on attitudes towards trilingualism is examined through a holistic questionnaire completed by 277 secondary students. The results obtained demonstrate that CLIL can help to boost positive attitudes towards trilingualism at school, a matter of the utmost importance due to the ever increasing number of multilingual educational systems in Europe.

Language Use and Sustainable Development: Opportunities and Challenges for Policy-Makers and Educators in Northeast Vietnamese Areas

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-130
Author(s):  
Ha Ngan Ngo ◽  
Maya Khemlani David
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
The Status ◽  
Wedding Songs

Vietnam represents a country with 54 ethnic groups; however, the majority (88%) of the population are of Vietnamese heritage. Some of the other ethnic groups such as Tay, Thai, Muong, Hoa, Khmer, and Nung have a population of around 1 million each, while the Brau, Roman, and Odu consist only of a hundred people each. Living in northern Vietnam, close to the Chinese border (see Figure 1), the Tay people speak a language of the    Central    Tai language group called Though, T'o, Tai Tho, Ngan, Phen, Thu Lao, or Pa Di. Tay remains one of 10 ethnic languages used by 1 million speakers (Buoi, 2003). The Tày ethnic group has a rich culture of wedding songs, poems, dance, and music and celebrate various festivals. Wet rice cultivation, canal digging and grain threshing on wooden racks are part of the Tày traditions. Their villages situated near the foothills often bear the names of nearby mountains, rivers, or fields. This study discusses the status and role of the Tày language in Northeast Vietnam. It discusses factors, which have affected the habitual use of the Tay language, the connection between language shift and development and provides a model for the sustainability and promotion of minority languages. It remains fundamentally imperative to strengthen and to foster positive attitudes of the community towards the Tày language. Tày’s young people must be enlightened to the reality their Tày non-usage could render their mother tongue defunct, which means their history stands to be lost.

scholarly journals Mother Tongue Use in Beginner EFL Grammar Classes in Saudi Arabia: A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-365
Author(s):  
Khulud Ali Tubayqi ◽  
Mazeegha Ahmed Al Tale’
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Microsoft Excel ◽  
Thematic Content Analysis ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Actual Interaction

Using the mother tongue (MT) in English as a foreign or second language (EFL/ESL) classrooms is indispensable, especially in beginner classes. This paper aims to add to the present literature on this issue by highlighting the attitudes of both students and teachers towards MT use in English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom, the justifications for its use, and some of the actual interaction practices in grammar classes. It investigates the attitudes of 110 Saudi EFL female beginners and their two teachers toward using the Arabic language in EFL grammar classes at Jazan University. It also investigates the students’ reasons for using or avoiding their MT. Moreover, it presents some of the functions that MT serves in EFL grammar classes. To collect the data, the researchers used two questionnaires and classroom observations. For data analysis, they used Microsoft Excel and thematic content analysis. The results indicated that, although both students and teachers generally have positive attitudes toward using the MT in EFL classes, they are also aware of the adverse effects of its overuse. The results also revealed that the teachers and students use MT in EFL classes to serve different classroom functions that ease the teaching and learning processes. Based on these findings, the study provided recommendations for teachers, curriculum designers, and future researchers.

scholarly journals Sociolinguistics

2006 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-145
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
French Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Attitudes And Practices

06–360Blackledge, Adrian (U Birmingham, UK), The magical frontier between the dominant and the dominated: Sociolinguistics and social justice in a multilingual world. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Multilingual Matters) 27.1 (2006), 22–41.06–361Boughton, Zoë (U Exeter, UK; [email protected]), Accent levelling and accent localisation in northern French: Comparing Nancy and Rennes. Journal of French Language Studies (Cambridge University Press) 15.3 (2005), 235–256.06–362Brown, N. Anthony (Brigham Young U, Utah, USA; [email protected]), Language and identity in Belarus.Language Policy (Springer) 4.3 (2005), 311–332.06–363Cameron, Deborah (U Oxford, UK) Language, gender, and sexuality: Current issues and new directions. Applied Linguistics (Oxford University Press) 26.4 (2005), 482–502.06–364Deutch, Yocheved (Bar-Ilan U, Israel; [email protected]), Language law in Israel. Language Policy (Springer) 4.3 (2005), 261–285.06–365Edwards, John (St Francis Xavier U, Nova Scotia, Canada), Players and power in minority-group settings. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Multilingual Matters) 27.1 (2006), 4–21.06–366Edwards, Viv & Lynda Pritchard Newcombe (U Reading, UK), When school is not enough: New initiatives in intergenerational language transmission in Wales. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (Multilingual Matters) 8.4 (2005), 298–312.06–367García, Patricia (Stanford U Graduate School of Education, USA), Parental language attitudes and practices to socialise children in a diglossic society. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (Multilingual Matters) 8.4 (2005), 328–344.06–368Garner, Mark (U Aberdeen, UK), Christine Raschka & Peter Sercombe, Sociolinguistic minorities, research, and social relationships.Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Multilingual Matters) 27.1 (2006), 61–78.06–369Goto, Yuko (U Pennsylvania, USA; [email protected]) & Masakazu Iino, Current Japanese reforms in English language education: The 2003 ‘Action Plan’. Language Policy (Springer) 4.1 (2005), 25–45.06–370Hankoni Kamwendo, Gregory (U Botswana, Botswana; [email protected]), Language planning from below: An example from northern Malawi. Language Policy (Springer) 4.2 (2005), 143–165.06–371Kaur Gill, Saran (U Kebangsaan, Malaysia, Malaysia; [email protected]), Language policy in Malaysia: Reversing direction. Language Policy (Springer) 4.3 (2005), 241–260.06–372Lantolf, James P. (Pennsylvania State U, USA; [email protected]), Sociocultural theory and L2: State of the art. Studies in Second Language Acquisition (Cambridge University Press) 28.1 (2006), 67–109.06–373Määttä, Simo K. (U California, Berkeley, USA; [email protected]), The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, French language laws, and national identity. Language Policy (Springer) 4.2 (2005), 167–186.06–374Mills, Jean (U Birmingham, UK), Connecting communities: Identity, language and diaspora. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (Multilingual Matters) 8.4 (2005), 253–274.06–375Pavlenko, Aneta (Temple U, USA), ‘Ask each pupil about her methods of cleaning’: Ideologies of language and gender in Americanisation instruction (1900–1924). International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (Multilingual Matters) 8.4 (2005), 275–297.06–376Richland, Justin B. (U California, Irvine, USA), The multiple calculi of meaning.Discourse & Society (Sage) 17.1 (2006), 65–97.06–377Silver, Rita Elaine (Nanyang Technological U, Singapore; [email protected]), The discourse of linguistic capital: Language and economic policy planning in Singapore. Language Policy (Springer) 4.1 (2005), 47–66.06–378Tannenbaum, Michal & Marina Berkovich (Tel Aviv U, Israel; [email protected]), Family relations and language maintenance: Implications for language educational policies. Language Policy (Springer) 4.3 (2005), 287–309.06–379Vaish, Viniti (Nanyang Technical U, Singapore; [email protected]), A peripherist view of English as a language of decolonization in post-colonial India. Language Policy (Springer) 4.2 (2005), 187–206.06–380Zuengler, Jane & Elizabeth R. Miller (U Winconsin-Madison, USA), Cognitive and sociocultural perspectives: Two parallel SLA worlds?TESOL Quarterly (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) 40.1 (2006), 35–58.

scholarly journals Književno stvaralaštvo manjina u Hrvatskoj – dio hrvatske književnosti ili ne?

2021 ◽  
pp. 494-504
Author(s):  
Helena Stranjik
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
The State ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Literary Creation ◽  
Minority Literature ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Majority Population ◽  
To Come ◽  
Minority Writers

There are numerous national minorities in Croatia supported by the state in their maintenance of minority languages, cultures and traditions. And many of these minorities with songs, dance and customs cherish their own literature, meaning poetry, prose, and drama written by their members in minority languages or in Croatian. These works are mostly known among members of the minorities, but sometimes it is difficult to find the way to readers of the majority of the population. An example of such a minority literature with a long tradition is literary creation of the Czech, who have been living in today’s Croatia for over two hundred years. Nowadays regularly or occasionally there are about thirty authors who write mostly in Czech, but to come to the readership, some of them have been translating their work into the Croatian language lately or leaving their mother tongue and starting to create in Croatian. Are Croatia’s minority works known and to what extent? What are the possibilities of writers using minority languages to publish their works? Why are minority literary works important, what can they offer to a broader readership and in what way can they enrich Croatian literature? How could they reach the majority population and could they wake up the interest beyond Croatian borders? And what difficulties do minority writers encounter? In the presentation, we will use the example of Czech minority literary works in Croatia to answer these and other issues related to minority literature emerging in Croatia, but remaining unknown to the Croatian public.

scholarly journals The Status of English in Morocco: Lessons from Spontaneous Debates in Social Media

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-208
Author(s):  
Abdelmajid Bouziane ◽  
Mohamed Saoudi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Frequent Patterns ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
The Status ◽  
Do So

Morocco, a multilingual country with historical and geo-political legacies, has opened a hot debate on languages recently. Within this debate, this article investigates spontaneous comments in social media on languages in Morocco, especially adopting English as a first foreign language. It aims to bring this topic to the surface and thus discuss it in the light of research on language attitudes and language awareness. To do so, it analyses the reactions to texts about the declarations by the Minister of Higher Education shared in social networks and sites. The data consisting of 2,018 comments is classified according to 12 frequent patterns whose frequencies are calculated. The findings show that most of Moroccans have positive attitudes towards English while some show opposing reactions towards French. These participants hold ambivalent opinions about the rest of languages used in Morocco; however, they tend to insist on Morocco having a clear language policy which, seemingly, prioritises the mother tongues, Arabic and Amazigh. The discussions show that some investigated reactions are mitigated as they may be illusionary.

scholarly journals IDENTITY AND DISCURSIVE PRACTICES OF FRIULIANS AND SLOVENES IN THE PROVINCE OF UDINE, ITALY, IN RECENT DECADES.

Dialectologia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danila ZULJAN KUMAR
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Private Sphere ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Discursive Practices ◽  
Population Changes ◽  
The Past ◽  
Communication Situations ◽  
Majority Population ◽  
Friuli Venezia Giulia

In the past, Slovene spoken in the Province of Udine and Friulian, mainly spoken in the Provinces Udine, Pordenone and Gorizia of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, were limited to the private sphere, but recently, they are becoming more seen and heard in public life, i.e. outside their traditional communication situations. The change can be attributed to the changes in the perception of their mother tongue in the Slovene and Friulian communities themselves in relation to the prevailing Italian language, the use of which implied a more prestigious position in society in the past, as well as to the change of attitudes towards the two minority languages among the majority population. Changes of discursive practices are occurring hand in hand with changes in identity practices. The paper presents a qualitative study on the topic in which 22 sociolinguistic interviews with the speakers of Friulian and the Slovene were carried out.

The Teaching of Science Subjects Through Foreign Languages in Moroccan Secondary Schools: Science Teachers’ Perceptions and Experiences

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822110358
Author(s):  
Salah Ben Hammou ◽  
Abdelaziz Kesbi
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Language Of Instruction ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Axial Coding

The present study explores Moroccan science teachers’ perceptions of teaching science subjects through foreign languages, mainly French, in Moroccan secondary schools. Seventeen science and technology teachers have been interviewed and data were analysed following the grounded theory methodology. The researcher constructs hypotheses based on data collection and analysis following axial coding. The findings of the study reveal that although science teachers hold positive attitudes towards the change in the language of instruction, they do not agree with the way this new initiative is being implemented. According to them, neither teachers nor students have been prepared to cope with a foreign language as a medium of instruction. They think students’ low French proficiency is the major challenge in this new initiative. Hence, they admit to resorting to the mother tongue to facilitate students’ content learning. Also, they have expressed their dissatisfaction with the prioritization of French as a foreign language and as a language of instruction. Instead, they suggest preparing young generations to switch to English as a medium of instruction through introducing English as a first foreign language at the primary and middle schools instead of French. The study ends up with some implications to overcome the challenges of the new policy.

scholarly journals Multilingualism and Education in Transylvania

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 25-36
Author(s):  
Attila Benő
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
The Status ◽  
Demographic Context ◽  
Determining Factor

Abstract The topic of this paper is the situation of language skills and a determining factor of it in minority context: languages of instruction in Transylvania. Presenting the socio-demographic context and the status of languages as they are manifested in language skills. Language skills are presented referring to mother tongue skills, second and foreign language competence. The paper emphasizes that the connection between schooling, education, and language usage is evident in the case of minority languages since the instruction in minority languages is a key factor for the maintenance of the language. The empirical data used in the paper come from several sources, most important of them being a sociolinguistic survey in a representative sample of Hungarians in Transylvania carried out by The Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities (Cluj/Kolozsvár) in 2009.

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