Bilingualism in the Business World in West European Minority Language Regions: Profit or Loss?

1996 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-159
Author(s):  
Ab van Langevelde
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Ethnic Conflicts ◽  
Business World ◽  
East Bloc ◽  
West European

Europe during the last decade has witnessed a growing interest in the position of minorities in general and of minority languages in particular. This interest undoubtedly bears some connection with the influx of aliens into western Europe, and with the at times exceptionally violent outbreak of ethnic conflicts in some former East Bloc countries. Language plays a vital role in matters of ethnicity and identity. The growing interest of which we speak has found expression in the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, which establishes a number of rights related to minority languages.

Dealing with new multilingualism in Europe

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 18.1-18.38
Author(s):  
Guus Extra
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
The Public ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Major Subject ◽  
At Home ◽  
Language Transmission

The focus of this paper is on immigrant minority languages in urban Western Europe. Both multidisciplinary and cross-national perspectives will be offered on two major domains in which language transmission occurs, i.e., the domestic domain and the public domain. Prototypical of these two domains are the home and the school, respectively. At home, language transmission occurs between parents and children; at school this occurs between teachers and pupils. Viewed from the perspectives of majority language speakersversusminority language speakers, language transmission becomes a very different issue. In the case of majority language speakers, language transmission at home and at school is commonly taken for granted: at home, parents speak this language usually with their children; at school this language is usually the only or major subject and medium of instruction. In the case of minority language speakers, there is usually a mismatch between the language of the home and the language of the school. Whether parents in such a context continue to transmit their language to their children is strongly dependent on the degree to which these parents conceive of this language as a core value of cultural identity.After a short introduction, we offerphenomenologicalperspectives on the semantics of our field of study and some central European notions in this field. Next we discuss major agencies and documents onlanguage rightsat the global and European level. We also discuss the utilisation and effects of differentdemographiccriteria for the definition and identification of (school) population groups in a multicultural society. Next we offersociolinguisticperspectives on the distribution and vitality of immigrant minority languages across Europe. In this context the rationale and major outcomes of theMultilingual Cities Project, realised in six major multicultural cities in different European Union nation-states, are presented. Finally we offer comparative perspectives oneducationalpolicies and practices in the domain of immigrant minority languages in the six European Union countries under discussion. We conclude with an overview on how multilingualism can be promoted for all children in an increasingly multicultural Europe.Immigrants have made this country more American, not less American. (George W. Bush, presidential election campaign 2004)

Dealing with new multilingualism in Europe

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 18.1-18.38
Author(s):  
Guus Extra
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
The Public ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Major Subject ◽  
At Home ◽  
Language Transmission

The focus of this paper is on immigrant minority languages in urban Western Europe. Both multidisciplinary and cross-national perspectives will be offered on two major domains in which language transmission occurs, i.e., the domestic domain and the public domain. Prototypical of these two domains are the home and the school, respectively. At home, language transmission occurs between parents and children; at school this occurs between teachers and pupils. Viewed from the perspectives of majority language speakers versus minority language speakers, language transmission becomes a very different issue. In the case of majority language speakers, language transmission at home and at school is commonly taken for granted: at home, parents speak this language usually with their children; at school this language is usually the only or major subject and medium of instruction. In the case of minority language speakers, there is usually a mismatch between the language of the home and the language of the school. Whether parents in such a context continue to transmit their language to their children is strongly dependent on the degree to which these parents conceive of this language as a core value of cultural identity. After a short introduction, we offer phenomenological perspectives on the semantics of our field of study and some central European notions in this field. Next we discuss major agencies and documents on language rights at the global and European level. We also discuss the utilisation and effects of different demographic criteria for the definition and identification of (school) population groups in a multicultural society. Next we offer sociolinguistic perspectives on the distribution and vitality of immigrant minority languages across Europe. In this context the rationale and major outcomes of the Multilingual Cities Project, realised in six major multicultural cities in different European Union nation-states, are presented. Finally we offer comparative perspectives on educational policies and practices in the domain of immigrant minority languages in the six European Union countries under discussion. We conclude with an overview on how multilingualism can be promoted for all children in an increasingly multicultural Europe. Immigrants have made this country more American, not less American. (George W. Bush, presidential election campaign 2004)

English as Eastern: Zhuang, Mongolian, Mandarin, and English in the linguistic orders of globalized China

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (271) ◽  
pp. 35-64
Author(s):  
Alexandra Grey ◽  
Gegentuul Baioud
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Political Discourses ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Theory Of Language ◽  
Academic Discourses ◽  
East West

Abstract Socially constructed and globally propagated East-West binaries have influenced language ideologies about English in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), but they are not hegemonic. This essay explores how East-West language ideologies are reformed in mergers with Mandarin-minority language ideologies. It discusses two separate but similar recent studies of minority language speakers and language ideologies in the PRC, respectively by Grey and Baioud. Each study reveals aspects of how Mandarin and English are being socially constructed as on the same side of a dichotomous and hierarchic linguistic and social order, in contradistinction to minority languages. The essay thus problematizes the construction of English as a Western language and Mandarin as an Eastern language; both in academic discourses and in wider social and political discourses. The essay uses Asif Agha’s theory of “enregisterment” to unify the points drawn from each study. It concludes that the language ideologies and practices/discourses under examination reproduce the displacement of a subaltern status; we describe this process as dynamic, internal Orientalism and “recursive” Orientalism, drawing on foundational theory of language ideologies. This essay paves the way for further studies of recursive Orientalism.

scholarly journals A hot topic? Immigration on the agenda in Western Europe

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoffer Green-Pedersen ◽  
Simon Otjes
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
European Politics ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
General Increase ◽  
Underlying Assumption ◽  
Party Manifestos ◽  
West European Politics ◽  
West European

The party politics of immigration is one of the fastest growing bodies of research within the study of West European politics. Within this literature, an underlying assumption is that immigration has become one of the most salient issues. However, this is rarely documented, let alone explained. Drawing on a new coding of party manifestos in seven West European countries, this article shows that party attention to immigration has grown in all countries since 1980 but only in Denmark has the issue become one of the most salient issues of party politics. We find that the general increase in attention reflects the rising number of immigrants and rise of radical right-wing parties. In terms of the issue becoming a top issue of party politics, a comparative analysis of the politicization of immigration in Denmark and the Netherlands shows that the interest of mainstream right-wing parties and coalition dynamics are the crucial factors.

scholarly journals The development of English grammar and reading comprehension by majority and minority language children in a bilingual primary school

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-442
Author(s):  
Anja K. Steinlen
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Language Background ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Language Groups

Both for the first language (L1) and for all additional languages (L2 or L3), grammatical knowledge plays a vital role in understanding texts (e.g., Grabe, 2005). However, little is known about the development and interaction of grammar and reading comprehension in beginning foreign language learning, especially with respect to children with a minority language background. This longitudinal study, therefore, examined minority and majority language children’s English grammar and reading comprehension skills. The children attended a German-English partial immersion primary school and were tested at the end of Grades 3 and 4. As expected, we found grammar to affect reading comprehension but also reverse effects. Most importantly, the results did not reveal any differences between the two language groups, irrespective of the test. Therefore, immersion primary school programs seem to be suitable for minority language children, and these children do not automatically represent an at-risk group for foreign language learning.

scholarly journals The framing of the Jewish pogroms upon the Ukrainian terrains via a prism of the Ukrainian foreign-language press in Europe (1919―1920s)

2019 ◽  
pp. 87-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serhiy Blavatskyy
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Jewish Question ◽  
Attribution Of Responsibility ◽  
The West ◽  
European Languages ◽  
The Usa ◽  
First Time ◽  
West European

It has been attempted to make an empirical study of the framing of the Jewish pogroms upon the Ukrainian terrains in 1919 in the Ukrainian press in the West European languages in Europe (1919―1920s). For the first time, in the communication and media studies discourses, there have been elicited new, previously unknown, findings of specificity of the framing of the Jewish pogroms in the Ukrainian foreignlanguage periodicals. Those were: «Bulletiner fra det Ukrainske Pressburo» (Copenhagen, 1919—1920s), «La Voce dell “Ucraina”» (Roma, 1919—1920s), «The Ukraine» (London, 1919—1920s), «Bureau Ukrai nien de Presse: Bulletin d’Informations» (Paris, 1919—1920s), «France et Ukraine» (Paris, 1920), «L’Europe Orientale» (Paris, 1919—1920s), «Die Ukraine» (Berlin, 1918—1926s). First, it has been elucidated that the «attribution of responsibility» frame was dominant in the content of the Ukrainian foreign-language press in Western Europe. Second, the conclusion about dialectic of the frames of «attribution of responsibility» and «morality» in the coverage of the Jewish pogroms upon the Ukrainian terrains has been made. In this regard, we conclude that the «morality» frame was connected with the internationalization of this problematic in the geopolitical discourse of international relations of the postwar period. On the contrary, the frame of «attribution of responsibility» was linked to localization of the Jewish question in the multilateral conflict on the Ukrainian territories in 1919. The main conclusion of this paper is that the coverage of the Jewish pogroms in the Ukrainian foreign-language press in Europe was made primarily in counterpropaganda purposes. The follow-up studies are to make a comparative study of the stereotypes about Jews’ perception in the Ukrainian-language press both in Ukraine and abroad (in Europe or the USA), as well as in the West European and American press of the Ukrainian Revolution period (1917―1921s). Thus, these future studies will either refute or confirm the validity of the findings and conclusions of this research. Keywords: framing, the Jewish pogroms, the Ukrainian terrains, the foreign-language press, Europe.

Facts and transformations in European minority language media systems amid digitalization and economic crisis

2018 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iñaki Zabaleta ◽  
Arantza Gutierrez ◽  
Carme Ferré-Pavia ◽  
Itxaso Fernandez ◽  
Nikolas Xamardo
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Relative Weight ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Media Type ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Systems ◽  
Comparative Nature

This article investigates the reality and variations of the European minority language media systems between 2009 and 2016, a period of serious economic crisis and accelerated digitalization process. To that aim, several parameters were measured: structure of the media systems and changes during that period along the variables of media type, ownership and reach; presence and relevance of major media in each of the communities; number and variation of full-time journalists; and the density or relative weight of the media systems with regard to the speaking population. The 10 minority languages under analysis (Basque, Catalan, Galician, Corsican, Breton, Frisian, Irish, Welsh, Scottish-Gaelic and Sámi) represent a wide range of communities. The relevance of the study lies in its direct comparative nature and in the fact that it thoroughly updates previous scholarly literature, measuring the changes which occurred within the 10 media systems.

Ethno-Separatism and its Prospects

2011 ◽  
pp. 32-42
Author(s):  
O. Bolotnikova
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Ethnic Conflicts ◽  
Territorial Integrity

The author explores the phenomenon of today's ethnic conflicts which are less frequently turning into the wars between states. The author uses the cases of the countries of former Soviet Union, Western Europe, Africa in order to examine important aspects of the ethnic conflicts settlement. It is concluded that the heart of the problems is the correlation between two fundamental principles of the international law (usually regarded as antagonists in terms of the settlement of such conflicts). Namely, these are the principle of states’ territorial integrity and the principle of peoples’ right to self-determination.

scholarly journals Doing Content and Language Integrated Learning With a Minority Language: A Teacher Development Model

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Marcella Menegale ◽  
Ada Bier
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Development ◽  
New Teacher ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Teacher Autonomy ◽  
Development Model ◽  
Teaching Skills ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Educational Goal ◽  
Functional Literacy

Recent research suggests that minority languages cannot be lastingly revitalised unless related functional literacy skills become an explicit educational goal. Focussing on the Friulian minority language in Italy, this paper discusses the importance of developing literacy skills in the minority language. In line with this, a new teacher development model in CLIL has been conceived and piloted with a small group of teachers of Friulian. The findings of the study suggest that the model was effective in relation to both the development of teaching skills in CLIL and in literacy related issues and, more in general, to the promotion of teacher autonomy.

Economy and funding of European minority language media: Reality and impact of digitalization and economic crisis

Journalism ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 146488492095403
Author(s):  
Iñaki Zabaleta ◽  
Nikolas Xamardo
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
Qualitative Evaluation ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Scottish Gaelic ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Aid ◽  
Media Types ◽  
Media Systems

This article investigates the economy of monolingual media systems in nine European minority language communities during 2009–2015, a period of strong economic crisis and accelerated digitalization. The main areas of study are three: The economic volume or weight of those media systems and its variation between 2009 and 2015; the current funding structure of the four media types (press, radio, TV and cybermedia); and the qualitative evaluation of media editors and managers on the effect of those two crises as well as the significance of the public aid. The nine European minority languages are Basque, Welsh, Galician, Irish, Breton, Frisian, Sámi, Corsican and Scottish-Gaelic. As for the findings, it can be highlighted that the economic volume or revenue of European minority language media is close to five hundred million euros per year, of which over ninety per cent is public funding, mostly devoted to broadcasting media. The conclusion set forth is that public funding should not be framed as aid but as a social, cultural and economic investment.

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