Minority Language Maintenance and Learning as Instruments for Improving the Status of the Minority Group

1992 ◽  
pp. 385
Author(s):  
Olga Mišeska Tomić
Keyword(s):  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
The Status

Language contact and multilingualism in Iran

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahrzad Mahootian
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language And Identity ◽  
General Description ◽  
The Status ◽  
Bilingual Communities ◽  
The Relationship

Throughout its history, Iran has been a richly multilingual nation, with documented evidence reaching back nearly three millennia. Today, estimates of the number of languages spoken in modern Iran vary, with numbers ranging from fifty-four to seventy-six living languages. This chapter presents a general description of societal bilingualism, how bilingual communities come about, the relationship between language and identity in multilingual contexts, and how best to describe the kind(s) of bilingualism found in Iran, including the use of English. The chapter then turns to bilingualism in Iran from a historical perspective, with the goal of understanding why there are so many languages in present-day Iran. Finally, it addresses the status of English in pre- and post-revolutionary Iran and issues of language maintenance.

The Status of Arabic in Israel: Refiections on the Power of Law to Produce Social Change

2002 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilan Saban ◽  
Muhammad Amara
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
The State ◽  
French Language ◽  
The Status ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Ethnic Nation ◽  
State Of Israel

AbstractThe status of Arabic in Israel gives rise to question. Israel is a rare case of an ethnic nation-state that grants the language of minority group with a legal status which isprima facieone of equality. Both Hebrew and Arabic are the official languages of the State of Israel. What are the reasons for this special state of affairs? The answer is threefold: historic, sociological and legal. In various ways the potential inherent in the legal status of Arabic has been depleted of content, and as a result of that, as well as other reasons, the socio-political status of Arabic closely resembles what you would expect the status of a language of a minority group in a state that identifies itself as the state of the majority group to be. This answer, however, is another source of puzzlement – how does such a dissonance between law and practice evolve, what perpetuates it for so long, is change possible, is it to be expected?We present an analysis of the legal status of Arabic in Israel and at the same time we proceed to try and answer the questions regarding the gap between the legal and the sociopolitical status of Arabic. We reach some of our answers through a comparison with the use of law to change the status of the French language in Canada. One of these answers is that given the present constellation in Israel, the sociopolitical status of Arabic cannot meaningfully be altered by legal means.

Beyond Common Sense in Bilingual Education

1975 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen G. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Vernacular Language ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
The Status ◽  
Vernacular Literacy ◽  
Theoretical Issues ◽  
Initial Literacy ◽  
Single Statement

It is assumed that by now the widely known UNESCO statement about the value of vernacular literacy has achieved the status of “common sense” knowledge among those interested in the schooling of minority language groups. The term “common sense” here implies that although there is much that is sound in a common sense view, there is also the danger of oversimplification. Although strongly in favour of bilingual education, both educationally and in terms of the ethics of racial contact, I see a number of areas where an oversimplified approach to it can bring either some harm with the good or at least lessen the effectiveness of the use of the vernacular language in education. The “initial literacy in the vernacular” approach is not a panacea for all minority group educational problems. The article by Joy Kinslow-Harris (1968), probably the best single statement made on the value of vernacular education for Australian Aboriginals, was a profound call for a basic change in attitude towards the education of Aboriginals, and outlined sound starting procedures. While this paper strongly supports Kinslow-Harris’s statement, it wishes also to extend understanding of some important theoretical issues.

Using comparative sociolinguistics to inform European minority language policies: Evidence from contemporary Picard and regional French

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 550-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Auger ◽  
Anne-José Villeneuve
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Language Planning ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Temporal Reference ◽  
The Status ◽  
Multiple Variables ◽  
Auxiliary Selection ◽  
Linguistic Constraints ◽  
Over Time

AbstractWe argue that an evaluation of morphosyntactic convergence between Picard and French must consider multiple variables, comparing rates of (co-)occurrence of Picard-like and French-like variants and linguistic constraints across the two varieties. Contemporary oral data from interviews with Picard–French bilinguals and French monolinguals were analyzed and contrasted with older Picard data. While future temporal reference in Picard and in French appear similar based on frequency, linguistic conditioning reveals differences across varieties and over time. Auxiliary selection displays clearer Picard–French distinctions, especially when considering the effect of linguistic factors. The intersection of variables shows that the differences between Picard and French are qualitative and not simply quantitative. In the context of the debate over the status of Northern France's obsolescent varieties, we provide empirical evidence for a mental grammar in Picard distinct from that of French, and show the relevance of comparative sociolinguistics for language planning.

The social identity of Welsh learners

1986 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol S. Trosset
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Welsh Language ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Linguistic Groups

ABSTRACTThe process of the attempted acquisition of spoken Welsh by English speakers in Wales is examined ethnographically in relation to the native association of Welsh-language speech with a Welsh cultural identity. Perceptions of Welsh learners by members of other linguistic groups reveal the symbolic significance of the learning of a minority language. The status of learners as verbal performers is investigated, together with the psychological impact of that status and of the ambiguity of the learners' identity on the learning process. (Bilingualism, language learning, Wales/Welsh)

scholarly journals Uusi väline kielten tilan arviointiin

Virittäjä ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Riku Erkkilä
Keyword(s):  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Language Rights ◽  
Policies And Practices

Arvioitu teos: Johanna Laakso, Anneli Sarhimaa, Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark & Reetta Toivanen: Towards openly multilingual policies and practices. Assessing minority language maintenance across Europe. Linguistic Diversity and Language Rights 11. Bristol: Multilingual Matters 2016. 280 s. isbn 978-1-78309-495-0.

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