National and international dimensions of language policy when the minority language is a national language: the case of Irish in Ireland

Author(s):  
Pádraig Ó Riagáin
Author(s):  
Camelia Suleiman

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bradley

AbstractMost nations in mainland Southeast Asia and elsewhere have one national language as a focus of national identity and unity, supported by a language policy which promotes and develops this language. Indigenous and immigrant minority groups within each nation may be marginalized; their languages may become endangered. Some of the official national language policies and ethnic policies of mainland Southeast Asian nations aim to support both a national language and indigenous minority languages, but usually the real policy is less positive. It is possible to use sociolinguistic and educational strategies to maintain the linguistic heritage and diversity of a nation, develop bilingual skills among minority groups, and integrate minorities successfully into the nations where they live, but this requires commitment and effort from the minorities themselves and from government and other authorities. The main focus of this paper is two case studies: one of language policy and planning in Myanmar, whose language policy and planning has rarely been discussed before. The other is on the Lisu, a minority group in Myanmar and surrounding countries, who have been relatively successful in maintaining their language.


2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Wagner ◽  
Winifred V. Davies

This paper explores the link between explicit Luxembourgish language policy and the actual practices as well as expressed attitudes of a group of speakers of Luxembourgish, with the aim of studying the role of World War II in the advancement of Luxembourgish as Luxembourg’s national language. The first two sections introduce the theoretical approach of the paper and provide an overview of the history and present situation of Luxembourg and Luxembourgish. The following two sections present the findings of a sociolinguistic study of language choice, language values and identities, and linguistic (in)security among a group of Luxembourgish letter-writers, as well as recent interview data provided by the sole surviving correspondent. The final section brings together these results and the claims made regarding the role of World War II in the changing status of Luxembourgish and points out the complexity of this discussion.


1986 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Smolicz

A brief historical review of language policies in Australia up to the publication of the Senate Standing Committee's Report on a National Language Policy in 1984 is given. The recommendations of the Report are discussed in the light of the ethno-cultural or core value significance that community languages have for many minority ethnic groups in Australia. Recent research findings on such languages are presented and their implications for a national language policy considered. It is postulated that the linguistic pluralism generated by the presence of community languages needs to be viewed in the context of a framework of values that includes English as the shared language for all Australians. From this perspective, it is argued that the stress that the Senate Committee Report places upon the centrality of English in Australia should be balanced by greater recognition of the linguistic rights of minorities and their implications for bilingual education. It is pointed out that both these aspects of language policy have been given prominence in recent statements and guidelines released by the Ministers of Education in Victoria and South Australia. The paper concludes by pointing to the growing interest in the teaching of languages other than English to all children in Australian schools.


Author(s):  
Vida Jesenšek

AbstractLexicography is traditionally associated with its significant social and cultural role and consequently corresponding tasks and functions. Dictionaries have several, partially overlapping functions: they serve practical lexicography to satisfy various individual needs of the speakers, hence at the same time they also serve the language documentation which addresses national, language policy, administrative, economic as well as educational and scientific needs of a language community. This basic attitude to the social-cultural status of dictionaries, although simplified, is the starting point for considerations of historically significant milestones in the development of lexicography with Slovenian. Following Hausmann (1989) and his presentation of approaches to the social status of lexicography and its products, Slovenian lexicography is viewed from the perspective of the cultural-historical development of Slovenian-speaking society.


Author(s):  
Vincent Kan ◽  
Bob Adamson

Francis of Education (print)/1474-8479 (online) Article 2010 Language in education debates in Hong Kong focus on the role and status of English (as the former colonial language and an important means for international communication); Cantonese, the mother tongue of the majority of the population; and Putonghua, the national language of China. This paper examines the language policy formulated in 1997–1998, and finds that it radically departed from previous policies by mandating the use of Cantonese as the medium of instruction in secondary schools. The paper then analyses two subsequent policy revisions and concludes that, while the tonal emphasis on mother-tongue education has remained, the policy revisions have reversed the language policy to previous practices that emphasised the importance of English.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Phillipson

Summary The article analyses whether the expansion of English is adding to linguistic repertoires, or whether a process of linguistic capital dispossession of national languages is taking place. It explores the role that discourses of ‘global English’ and of English as a ‘lingua franca’ play in processes of global and regional European integration. It considers whether the linguistic capital of all languages can be made productive when in much of Europe there is a marked downgrading of the learning of foreign languages other than English, alongside the continued neglect of many minority languages. Language pedagogy and language policy need to be situated within wider political, social and economic contexts. EU schemes for research collaboration and student mobility are of limited help in maintaining linguistic diversity. The Bologna process furthers European integration but intensifies the hegemony of English. Nordic universities are moving into bilingual education, combining English with a national language. The 2006 Declaration on a Nordic Language Policy aims at ensuring that Nordic languages and English develop in parallel, that all residents can maintain their languages, and that language policy issues should be widely understood. If neoliberalism and linguistic neoimperialism are determining factors, there are challenges in maintaining the vitality of languages, and organizing school and university education so as to educate critical multilingual citizens.


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