scholarly journals The Politics of Language Policies: Hungarian Linguistic Minorities in Central Europe

Politeja ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (8 (31/2)) ◽  
pp. 45-65
Author(s):  
László Marácz
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Individual Culture ◽  
Multilingual Education ◽  
Politics Of Language ◽  
Hungarian Language

The paper will adopt the position that language is an intrinsic and largely non‑negotiable part of individual culture and identity. The recognition of one’s own language receives more and more support in international political and institutional frameworks. The promotion of linguistic diversity is the official policy of the European Union. Due to such policies, it is to be expected that languages will remain in contact in the context of all sorts of levels of governance. In order to manage linguistic diversity in multilingual and multicultural areas, the introduction of a global regime of language policies is unavoidable. These policies will need to satisfy transnational requirements and conditions, like universal human rights and the norms and standards of Europeanization set by the EU, OSCE, Council of Europe, and so on. However, because there are manifold connections between language and power, as we know from the work of political scientists such as Pierre Bourdieu, and sociolinguists such as Peter Nelde, that a language element is always a part of intergroup conflict. Hence, it is to be expected that language policies will be subject to power conflicts and hegemonic strives. In order to support my claim, I will analyze the language policies of states with Hungarian language minorities in Central Europe, particularly Romania, Slovakia, Serbia (Vojvodina), and Ukraine (Trans‑Carpathia). The policies can be studied in terms of concrete variables, like individual/collective rights, territorial rearrangements, thresholds, the Language Charter, multilingual education, the linguistic landscape, and so on. The range in which these variables are instantiated is determined by local politics; hence, it is a case of the politics of language policy.

Nation-State, devolution and the parliamentary discourse of minority languages

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wilson ◽  
Karyn Stapleton
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Natural Right ◽  
Regional Institutions ◽  
Individual Culture ◽  
The Uk ◽  
A Site

Devolution in the UK has engendered debates about which language (or languages) should be the language of parliament in the respective regional institutions. Simultaneously, the European Union, while officially endorsing cultural and linguistic diversity, is moving towards a supranational state which operates alongside devolution and regional autonomies. In this context, the contestation of the language of parliamentary discourse can be seen as a site of power struggle and political negotiation. The present analysis focuses on a specific example of regional parliamentary discourse from Northern Ireland, in which Members debate the desirability of using Ulster-Scots and Irish, alongside English, in official House proceedings. This can be seen to operationalise “language” in specific, but interrelated, argumentative contexts: (a) as a form of agreed and formally recognised communication; (b) as a natural right, reflecting individual culture or heritage; (c) as a legal and formal right; (d) as a political symbol. These themes are discussed in terms of “nationalist” and “sovereign” state arguments, with reference to both the political context of Northern Ireland, and the processes of devolution and supranationalism, in the broader political arena.

The European Union in Cyberspace

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Wodak ◽  
Scott Wright
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Relative Value ◽  
The Eu

This article analyses the European Union’s Futurum discussion forum. The EU hoped that Futurum would help close the acknowledged gap between institutions and citizens by facilitating a virtual, multilingual, transnational public sphere. Futurum was both an interesting example of how the EU’s language policies shape the structure of deliberative experiments and of a public debate about their relative value. We combine various quantitative measures of the discussions with a critical discourse analysis of a thread which focused on language policies. We found that although the debates were predominantly in English, where a thread started in a language other than English, linguistic diversity was more prominent. The discourse analysis showed that multilingual interaction was fostered, and that the debate about language policies is politically and ideologically charged.

scholarly journals Plurilingualism in Morocco: Issues and Challenges to Language Policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 6-13
Author(s):  
Asma Nifaoui
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
The State ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Cultural And Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Educational Language Policy ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
The Face

The purpose of this article is to analyze the multilingual situation in Morocco in the face of the challenges encountered by language policies undertaken by the state since independence in 1956. The Moroccan society is characterized by ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity. This multidimensional richness has created competition amongst the linguistic varieties in the country, which has prompted the state to undertake several reforms and language policies including Arabization and the development of the National Charter in 1999, with a view to managing linguistic diversity in the country. Before tackling all these issues, a presentation of the linguistic landscape in Morocco is provided. Then, drawing upon the work of researchers specializing in the field, this review addresses the obstacles that have hindered the success and effectiveness of the enacted policies thus far. A sociological approach is also privileged in this study by referencing the work of the sociologist Bourdieu and emphasizing the importance of identity, cultural, and social considerations in developing an effective educational language policy that is capable nurturing citizens with adequate proficiency in national, local, and foreign languages.

Considering the Sub-Regional Cooperation in East-Central Europe – Some Conclusions on Integrating and Disintegrating Tendencies in the Sub-Regional Dialogue

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacek Wieclawski
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Ukrainian Crisis ◽  
Regional Interests ◽  
Visegrad Group ◽  
East Central European

This article discusses the problems of the sub-regional cooperation in East-Central Europe. It formulates the general conclusions and examines the specific case of the Visegrad Group as the most advanced example of this cooperation. The article identifies the integrating and disintegrating tendencies that have so far accompanied the sub-regional dialogue in East-Central Europe. Yet it claims that the disintegrating impulses prevail over the integrating impulses. EastCentral Europe remains diversified and it has not developed a single platform of the sub-regional dialogue. The common experience of the communist period gives way to the growing difference of the sub-regional interests and the ability of the East-Central European members to coordinate their positions in the European Union is limited. The Visegrad Group is no exception in this regard despite its rich agenda of social and cultural contacts. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict confirms a deep divergence of interests among the Visegrad states that seems more important for the future of the Visegrad cooperation than the recent attempts to mark the Visegrad unity in the European refugee crisis. Finally, the Ukrainian crisis and the strengthening of the NATO’s “Eastern flank” may contribute to some new ideas of the sub-regional cooperation in East-Central Europe, to include the Polish-Baltic rapprochement or the closer dialogue between Poland and Romania. Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v10i1.251  

scholarly journals Revisiting the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Case of Central Europe

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 3415
Author(s):  
Bartosz Jóźwik ◽  
Antonina-Victoria Gavryshkiv ◽  
Phouphet Kyophilavong ◽  
Lech Euzebiusz Gruszecki
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Environmental Kuznets Curve ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Kuznets Curve ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Ekc Hypothesis ◽  
Central European ◽  
Long Run

The rapid economic growth observed in Central European countries in the last thirty years has been the result of profound political changes and economic liberalization. This growth is partly connected with reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However, the problem of CO2 emissions seems to remain unresolved. The aim of this paper is to test whether the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis holds true for Central European countries in an annual sample data that covers 1995–2016 in most countries. We examine cointegration by applying the Autoregressive Distributed Lag bound testing. This is the first study examining the relationship between CO2 emissions and economic growth in individual Central European countries from a long-run perspective, which allows the results to be compared. We confirmed the cointegration, but our estimates confirmed the EKC hypothesis only in Poland. It should also be noted that in all nine countries, energy consumption leads to increased CO2 emissions. The long-run elasticity ranges between 1.5 in Bulgaria and 2.0 in Croatia. We observed exceptionally low long-run elasticity in Estonia (0.49). Our findings suggest that to solve the environmental degradation problem in Central Europe, it is necessary to individualize the policies implemented in the European Union.

scholarly journals Overcoming Aggressive Monolingualism: Prejudices and Linguistic Diversity in Russian Megalopolises

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 672-689
Author(s):  
Vlada Baranova ◽  
Kapitolina Fedorova
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Labor Migrants ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Multilingual Communication ◽  
The One ◽  
Everyday Reality

AbstractThe study deals with linguistic prejudices of citizens of the two main Russian cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, toward speakers of foreign languages. It aims to reveal possible recent changes in the language ideology dominating Russian society. Monolingual and linguistically normative orientations rooted in the Soviet ideological approach are being challenged nowadays by global processes of migration and cultural diversification, which influence the everyday reality of Russian megalopolises. The research is based on the analysis of two sets of data: (1) meta-discourse on language attitudes derived from interviews with labor migrants and native Russian speakers in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and posts and comments on issues of language, migration, and linguistic landscapes, collected from websites and social media and (2) linguistic landscape data collected in 2016–2019, mainly in St. Petersburg, which reflect recent changes in attitude toward linguistic diversity in public space. These data show, on the one hand, that most city dwellers still relate to monolingual speech norms and try to implement control over public space; on the other hand, that the tolerance toward multilingual communication has been increasing over the years. The study suggests that these “first cracks” in monolinguals facades of Russian cities could eventually lead to the establishing of a less rigid language regime.

Multilingualism and the Ideal of Unity in Diversity in the European Union. Key Concepts and Context

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-282
Author(s):  
Roxana-Maria Nistor-Gâz ◽  
Delia Pop-Flanja
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Cultural And Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Tower Of Babel ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Unity In Diversity ◽  
The Ideal

"In a world challenged by cultural diversity, this article aims to look at the great diversity of languages and cultures that coexist within the European Union. Building on the story of the Tower of Babel that explains, from a religious point of view, the cultural and linguistic diversity existing in the European Union, the authors tried to contextualize EU’s motto of “unity in diversity”, interpreted as an ideal involving a lot of effort and sometimes even many conflicts, but one that we should all fight for and strive to maintain. Keywords: linguistic diversity, ethnicity, nation, minority, majority, communication, unity in diversity"

Bilingual winks and bilingual wordplay in Montreal's linguistic landscape

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (228) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Lamarre
Keyword(s):  
Language Skills ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Politics Of Language ◽  
French And English ◽  
Legal Constraints

AbstractIn Québec, legislation regulates the language of public and commercial signage. As intended, this has transformed the linguistic landscape (LL) of Montreal, which looks more French than just three decades ago. But if we stop looking and actually listen to the city's soundscape, what is clear is that Montreal is a much more bilingual and multilingual city with a population increasingly able to read signs both in English and in French. Interestingly, in the Montreal LL can be found a number of commercial signs that are nothing less than wry “bilingual winks” that circumvent legislation, sometimes with quite wicked skill, and play with French and English. These bilingual winks are clearly intended for a population with the language skills to catch the wink and can be interpreted as manifestations of the increasing number of complex language repertoires, but also of a bilingual aesthetic that revels in disrupting and claiming space. It would also seem, however, that while a certain amount of covert bilingual creativity has been inspired by the legal constraints imposed in Québec, bilingual wordplay has simply found ways of creeping into the LL, despite the politics of language and legislation.

scholarly journals The Emergence of Multilingual Education in India: Issues Related to Media of Instruction in Border Areas of Telangana Schools

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suman Kothakonda
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Indian States ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Multilingual Education ◽  
Target Languages ◽  
The Right

<p>My main goal is to focus on the importance of multilingual education through translanguaging pedagogies in Telangana schools especially in the areas of minority linguistic communities. India is remarkably well-known for cultural and linguistic diversity. In such a context, it is difficult to implement the right medium of instruction in which the students’ home language is different from the school language. Though there are many factors involved in delivering quality education, language plays a significant role in teaching and learning across the world. The majority of the schools encourage dominant language(s) in teaching and learning in Indian states. As a result, students of non-dominant language(s) are totally out of the classroom conversations and they slowly come to know that their languages are less prestigious and not used in schools. This leads them to show less interest in learning. Non-dominant language(s) are pushed out of important domains and such languages are impoverished with limited functions in India. In this paper, I discuss the complexity which lies in providing the right media of instruction to heterogeneous students in Indian classrooms and also explores the students’ language(s) proficiency levels in two target languages. Finally, I explain some ways to develop students’ linguistic and cognitive skills in such a multilingual environment. Two schools were, for this study, visited to understand the language(s) scenario in the Telangana region. The data was collected from 15 students who were in the IX class.Apart from this, we interacted with teachers to get their opinions on various topics in relation to students’ language skills as well as multilingual education. Extensive individual interviews and long conversations were conducted from classroom teachers in relation to students’ language skills in three languages. The data was collected through a variety of sources in order to illuminate multilingual education in Telangana schools. Oral and written samples were collected from the participants in two languages L2 & L3. In the process of data collection, each student performed spoken as well as written tasks. Oral tasks consist of discussions, role-plays, and one storytelling task based on the provided pictures. Written tasks consist of reading, listening, and writing (vocabulary, grammar, and sentence meaning). The result of the collected data reveals the proficiency levels of students in L2 & L3. The empirical data, interviews, and conversations revealed the significance of LI in schools at the right time. </p>

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