Alsatian versus Standard German: Regional Language Bilingual Primary Education in Alsace

Multilingua ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Anne Harrison

AbstractThis article examines the current situation of regional language bilingual primary education in Alsace and contends that the regional language presents a special case in the context of France. The language comprises two varieties: Alsatian, which traditionally has been widely spoken, and Standard German, used as the language of reference and writing. The advantages of learning Standard German have been highlighted by language-in-education policy-makers: as well as being the written form of the regional language, German is promoted as the most widely spoken language in the European Union, the language of neighbouring countries, an asset in the search for employment and an aid to learning another powerful language in our increasingly globalized world, namely English. Nevertheless, Alsatian can be, and in some cases is being, employed in the classroom, although it remains in a minority position in comparison to Standard German. Based on original research undertaken in the region, the article aims to explore current classroom practices, which are sometimes found to be incongruous with official language-in-education policy. It analyses the language attitudes of parents and considers the effect of these attitudes on the promotion of Alsatian and Standard German. Practices and attitudes in city and small town locations are compared to evaluate the influence of urban and peri-urban settings. As the transmission of Alsatian is no longer guaranteed in the home, the article investigates whether the school can promote this traditional, non-standardized regional variety alongside the dominant standard languages, and whether parents wish for this to happen.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Chitimira

Purpose Insider trading is treated as a punishable offence in many jurisdictions and countries. In relation to this, various theories were developed to justify and enhance the regulation of insider trading in such jurisdictions and countries. For instance, regulatory bodies and the relevant courts in jurisdictions such as the Commonwealth and the European Union as well as in countries such as the USA and the UK have to date developed and consistently applied theories such as the classical theory, misappropriation theory, fiduciary theory, unified theory and equal access theory in their quest to detect, prevent and combat insider trading activities. For the purposes of this article, the aforesaid theories are discussed so as to recommend possible measures that could be adopted by the policy makers to effectively curb insider trading activities in the Zimbabwean financial markets. It is against this background that some theoretical aspects of the insider trading regulation as adopted by the Zimbabwean policymakers, regulatory bodies and the relevant courts are scrutinised in this paper. This is done to, inter alia, investigate possible flaws and the rationale for such direct and indirect application of certain insider trading theorem in Zimbabwe. Thereafter, some recommendations in respect thereof are provided. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research methodology is used in the entire paper. Findings It is hoped that the recommendations in the paper will be used by the relevant policymakers to enhance the curbing of insider trading in Zimbabwe. Research limitations/implications The paper does not use an empirical research. Practical implications It is hoped that the recommendations in this paper will be used by the relevant policymakers to enhance the curbing of insider trading in Zimbabwe. Social implications It is hoped that the recommendations in this paper will be used by the relevant policymakers to enhance the curbing of insider trading in Zimbabwe. Originality/value This paper is original research on the theoretical aspects of the regulation of insider trading in Zimbabwe.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 1024-1046
Author(s):  
Meilutė Ramonienė ◽  
Jogilė Teresa Ramonaitė

After the changes in the socio-political situation in many countries of Eastern and Central Europe in the last decade of the 20th century, these countries experienced a major growth of emigration. In the context of the European Union, Lithuania is one of the countries that has faced the highest rates of emigration. The quick and somewhat sporadic emigration mainly for economic reasons is of interest both to linguists and language policy makers in order to support and give guidelines for the maintenance of the heritage language and identity. This paper deals with the data of the new post-Soviet wave of Lithuanian emigrants analysing the language behaviour and language attitudes. The aim is to look into the issues of language attitudes, practices and identity through the tripartite theoretical model - beliefs, emotions and declared language practices - of this wave and to compare it to the overall context of Lithuanian diaspora. The data analysed in this paper has been collected using quantitative (online surveys) and qualitative methods (in-depth interviews) in two research projects in the Lithuanian diaspora in 2011-2017. The main focus is on the use of the heritage Lithuanian language in various domains (home, community, friendship, church), comparing the use of Lithuanian by the post-Soviet emigrants with the language behaviour of the emigrants of earlier emigration waves. The results show equally positive beliefs and affective attitudes of the post-Soviet emigrants compared to previous waves, but a different language behaviour especially when comparing to the emigrants of the end of World War II.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3687
Author(s):  
Vincent Smith ◽  
Justus H. H. Wesseler ◽  
David Zilberman

This perspective discusses the impact of political economy on the regulation of modern biotechnology. Modern biotechnology has contributed to sustainable development, but its potential has been underexplored and underutilized. We highlight the importance of the impacts of regulations for investments in modern biotechnology and argue that improvements are possible via international harmonization of approval processes. This development is urgently needed for improving sustainable development. Policy makers in the European Union (EU) in particular are challenged to rethink their approach to regulating modern biotechnology as their decisions have far ranging consequences beyond the boundaries of the EU and they have the power to influence international policies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-477
Author(s):  
Sascha Lohmann

Abstract The ideal of the European Union (EU) as a global peace and security actor is increasingly clashing with the reality of a multipolar world defined by militarised conflict, and a loosening of the formerly close trans-Atlantic relationship with the United States. European policy-makers have identified strategic autonomy as a possible remedy in the face of a growing number of internal and external security threats. This paper adds to the conceptualisation of strategic autonomy by contextualising its current usage and political genealogy. Empirically, European strategic autonomy is examined concerning the efforts to preserve the Iranian nuclear deal after the Trump administration had ceased US participation in May 2018. In particular, the paper assesses the European response to counter the re-imposed unilateral United States (US) sanctions against European individuals and entities by updating the so-called blocking regulation, and setting up a special purpose vehicle (spv) for facilitating trade with Iran. The results show that the European struggle toward achieving strategic autonomy has largely failed, but that it holds valuable lessons to approximate this ideal in the future.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saša Obradović ◽  
Nemanja Lojanica

The European Union has set the target that by 2020 harmful emissions and energy consumption should be reduced by 20% compared to the 1990s. This paper examines the impacts of environmental quality on two parameters of national competitiveness (exports and GDP per capita). The study focuses on the EU-15 countries and covers the period from 1960 to 2013. Even though the analyzed economies are developed countries which are the leaders in environment protection, they are still also the leading emitters of greenhouse gases. The paper uses traditional econometric techniques to test the relations between energy use, CO2 emissions, exports and GDP. The results show that the variables are co-integrated. In addition, energy-led growth hypothesis is valid in most of the analyzed economies. The results have also shown that increased CO2 emissions reduce economic activity and export performance. Finally, we will conclude that there are two tasks for future policy makers: first, to strengthen renewable-energy goals, and second, to adjust the economic structure towards less harmful emissions. In such circumstances, we could expect the economies to further develop clean technologies and to obtain their benefits for national competitiveness.


2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 243-249
Author(s):  
Nicu MARCU ◽  
Georgeta-Mădălina MEGHIȘAN ◽  
Ionel Mugurel JITEA

Fruits and vegetables sectors are considered to be strategic in the European Union due to their contribution to a better human health. Among others positive effects, their intake increase reduce mortality and obesity, assuring in the same time harmonised development for young children. The present study thus focused to reveal the consistency of the measure implemented in the Common Agricultural Policy to support fruits and vegetables production in Romania in liaison with the policy objectives. The country is one of the main ten important European producers of horticultural products in terms of production volumes and acreage. Results showed that over the last seven years (2007-2014), the sectorial production drawbacks have not been ameliorated very much. Both sectors are dominated by small-size farms that can produce only seasonally and mainly for short-market chains. In the same time, the greenhouses area shrink to levels that made the country extremely dependent to imports especially for tomatoes. The analysis of the pillar one payments schemes revealed that the fruits and vegetables producers could have access to only one payment that was half from European averages. Moreover, almost half of the producers had low sizes that left them outside the eligible criteria. The measures designed for the second pillar also penalized producers through the selection criteria. These results showed that for Romania there was not a real consistency between the actual policy measures and the objectives assumed by policy makers. The future measures (2014-2020) seem to correct these negative findings being better tailored to the situation of the local fruits and vegetables producers.


Author(s):  
Anamika Srivastava ◽  
Nandita Koshal

In this article, we take stock of provincial higher education institutions in India, which—advertently or not—have not yet caught the attention of policy makers. However, these institutions employ the majority of the teachers and cater to the needs of the majority of students in the country.


2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 39-43
Author(s):  
Szabolcs Fabula

People with disabilities is one of the most marginal groups in today's society so ensur-ing their rights and needs is a great challenge for policy makers and planners. This paper reviews the most important agreements and laws about disability in the European Union and Hungary, as well as the New Hungary Development Plan. Later the paper also reveals the spatial differences of the people with disabilities in Hungary on the regional scale and presents relationship between the state of development and the ratio of disabled people. In comparing the data of the country and the South Great Plain the charasteristics of the dis-abled population in age, qualification and employment are also highlighted. Finally there is a short summary of the accessible and non-accessible public buildings in Békés County and Békéscsaba.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document