Search results

Abstract
The notion of linguistic justice should be related to the concept of linguistic ease, by which we mean the full social and communicative freedom of concern of the speaker in a given social interaction involving the use of language(s) present in the society, according to the social norms of use. To acquire an acceptable degree of linguistic ease, the knowledge of at least one L2 is considered important. But the acquisition of a L2 is interfered by the previous linguistic skills of the learner/speaker who, in many cases, does not have a suitable competence even of the languages of the society in which he/she lives.

Linguistic diversity is generally perceived as declining, although the number of languages in the world, as counted by catalogues such as Ethnologue, is actually increasing year on year. This paper will consider what is meant by linguistic diversity, how it is measured and valued, why it is seen as under threat, why this matters, and to whom. The paper will trace how the concept of linguistic diversity, and discourses surrounding it, have developed over the last few decades: exploring, for example, parallels that have been drawn between language, cultural and biological diversity, and more recently health and well-being. The paper will also explore the different conceptions and reactions of linguists, policymakers, and linguistic communities: how linguistic resources are valued; what the impact is of their potential loss for academia, societies, and individuals; and how it is addressed by these various actors. The paper will conclude by considering broader implications of viewing linguistic diversity through a social lens, especially in relation to the UNESCO Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032) and discourses and rhetorics about linguistic diversity.

This paper introduces the concept of linguistic hijacking, the phenomenon wherein politically significant terminology is co-opted by dominant groups in ways that further their dominance over marginalized groups. Here I focus on hijackings of the words "racist" and "racism." The model of linguistic hijacking developed here, called the semantic corruption model, is inspired by Burge's social externalism, in which deference plays a key role in determining the semantic properties of expressions. The model describes networks of deference relations, which support competing meanings of, for example, "racist," and postulates the existence of deference magnets that influence those networks over time. Linguistic hijacking functions to shift the semantic properties of crucial political terminology by causing changes in deference networks, spreading semantics that serve the interests of dominant groups, and weakening the influence of resistant deference networks. I consider an objection alleging the semantic corruption model gets the semantic data wrong because it entails those who hijack terms like "racist" speak truly, whereas it's natural to see such hijacking misuses as false speech about racism. I then respond to this objection by invoking the framework of metalinguistic negotiation proposed by Plunkett and Sundell.

AbstractAs an object of philosophical study, language is typically considered as an abstract object rather than a lived phenomenon that comes with rich and varied phenomenology. And yet our modes of engaging with language are complex and many. The first goal of this paper is to illustrate this variety by looking at some of the linguistic modalities and forms of communication. The second goal is to suggest that at least in some specific philosophical debates, language and communication should be investigated in the context of the various linguistic modalities and forms of communication. This will be done by considering how attention to some of the linguistic modalities and forms of communication may affect philosophical debates concerning: the nature of words, language and linguistic understanding, as well as the relation between linguistic utterances and their sources.

This book is a collection of original essays on the practice of linguistic fieldwork and language documentation. Twelve of the leading field linguists in the world have written personal essays about the study of languages in a natural setting. Drawing on extensive research experience, they pass on the lessons they have learnt, review the techniques that they found worked best in practice, and discuss a variety of relevant topics, including the attitude of the linguist, the structure and content of the work session, the varied roles of native speakers, and the practical and personal challenges of doing research in an unfamiliar environment. Covering a wide range of field areas, and written in an accessible manner, the book will be indispensable to fieldworkers in linguistics, anthropology, folklore and oral history.

This paper investigates the diversity issue in business contexts in Switzerland from a linguistic perspective and reports the results of field activities in two multinational enterprises. Using a qualitative-empirical approach, the paper analyses two interviews with Heads of Communication in charge of the development and implementation of communication strategies for a culturally and linguistically diverse workforce. Particular attention is paid to the role of English as the corporate language, and to attitudes towards language. A methodological agenda will be proposed which is intended as a contribution to the field of Linguistic Diversity Management. ; Dieser Beitrag untersucht den Problembereich der sprachlich-kulturellen Diversität in multinationalen Unternehmen der Schweiz aus einer pragmatischen Perspektive. Ausgehend von Interviews mit Entscheidungsträgern aus den Kommunikationsabteilungen zweier multinationaler Firmen geht der Beitrag der Frage nach, wie und in welchen Zusammenhängen die kulturelle und sprachliche Diversität der Belegschaft in die Kommunikationspraxis solcher Entscheidungsträger einfliesst und die Sprachpolitik des Unternehmens bestimmt. Die Ergebnisse der Analyse werden von methodologischen Fragestellungen gerahmt, die aus der pragmatischen Betrachtungsweise hervorgehen. ; This paper investigates the diversity issue in business contexts in Switzerland from a linguistic perspective and reports the results of field activities in two multinational enterprises. Using a qualitative-empirical approach, the paper analyses two interviews with Heads of Communication in charge of the development and implementation of communication strategies for a culturally and linguistically diverse workforce. Particular attention is paid to the role of English as the corporate language, and to attitudes towards language. A methodological agenda will be proposed which is intended as a contribution to the field of Linguistic Diversity Management.

This paper distinguishes three phases in the popularization of linguistic relativity: the phase initiated by Benjamin Lee Whorf himself; a second phase during which linguistic relativity was formulated and tested as a research hypothesis; and the current phase during which language-relativistic assumptions have penetrated the mass media. To diagnose the spread of relativistic assumptions, 560 articles in both English and Greek print and electronic media were considered. The articles were published over the period 2010–2019. They fall, roughly, into eighteen categories. Some of the articles report explicitly on linguistic relativity research, while others presuppose language-relativistic ideas in handling issues as disparate as the effectiveness of managerial discourse, the appropriateness of political correctness, or the possibility of communicating with aliens. The large number of article categories as well as the tacit assumption of linguistic relativity in a growing number of articles are indicators of how popular linguistic relativity has become in folk-linguistic discourse.

AbstractUnderstanding symbols requires going beyond what they literally are, and figuring out what they're intended to communicate. For example, a drawing of a bird (or the word bird) could refer to a particular bird, a species, etc… The interpreter must decide between these intended meanings. We ask how children go beyond the literal meanings of communicative acts (i.e., compute pragmatic inferences), and whether these inferences are domain‐general. We tested 443 US 2‐ to 6‐year‐olds' inferences about the referential interpretation of ambiguous symbols. We manipulated the domain (e.g., word or a drawing) and task (interpret vs. create the communicative act). Children robustly identified the referents of ambiguous symbols and chose from among alternatives during linguistic and non‐linguistic communication tasks. There were no effects of age or domain on performance. These data provide some of the earliest evidence of children's computations of pragmatic inferences, and provide exciting evidence that pragmatic inferences may extend beyond the domain of language.

Abstract
Fake news texts often show clear signs of the deceptive nature; still, they are shared by many users on Facebook. What could be the reason for this? The paper tries to answer the question by collecting the linguistic and non-linguistic characteristics of fake news. Linguistic characteristics include among others the exaggerating, sensational title, the eye-catching, tabloid-style text, the correct or incorrect use of terms, and the fake URLs imitating real websites; non-linguistic characteristics are expressive pictures often featuring celebrities, the use of all caps, excessive punctuation, and spelling mistakes. The corpus was compiled using snowball sampling: manipulative news not originating from big news portals were collected from the social networking website Facebook. The aim of the study is to identify the characteristics of Hungarian fake news in comparison to the English ones and to elaborate a system of aspects which help identify fake news.

Mobility, growing urbanization and increasingly complex ways of communication in today's world urge language teachers to develop an understanding of language as semiotic practice in social life and question the ideological underpinnings of language use in multilingual contexts. The article discusses how linguistic landscape research can help pre-service English language teachers engage in reflection on their own multi/plurilingual ecologies, challenge monolingual/monocultural language education policies and potentially move towards more inclusive pedagogical practices in their future teaching contexts. The article reports on the findings attained from a linguistic landscape research, comprising İstanbul-based photographic corpora of 300 visuals from the lens of 72 Turkish-speaking prospective teachers of English, their written reflections on self-gathered data and 7-hour audio recording of focus group interviews where the student teachers engaged in evidence-based and identity-sensitive discussion on the multilingual ecology of İstanbul. The paper concludes with a discussion of if, and to what extent self-reflection and dialogic engagement among prospective English language teachers on societal multilingualism, as anchored by critical reflexivity, contribute to professional identity development and offer future directions for linguistic landscape research in teacher education. ; Mobilität, zunehmende Urbanisierung und immer komplexer werdende Wege der Kommunikation in der heutigen Welt fordern Fremdsprachenlehrkrӓfte auf, ein Verständnis der Sprache als eine semiotische Gestaltung des sozialen Lebens zu entwickeln und die ideologischen Grundlagen des Sprachgebrauchs in mehrsprachigen Kontexten in Frage zu stellen. Der Artikel beschreibt, wie sprachliche Landschaftsforschung dazu beitragen kann, dass angehende Englischlehrkrӓfte über ihre eigenen mehr- bzw. vielsprachigen Wechselbeziehungen nachdenken und durch diesen Denkprozess die vorherrschende einsprachige bzw. monokulturelle Sprachenpolitik in Frage stellen, um in ihrem zukünftigen Unterrichtskontext integrativere pӓdagogische Praktiken zu entwickeln. Der Korpus der Untersuchung besteht aus 300 Fotografien, die die sprachliche Vielfalt der Stadt Istanbul visuell reprӓsentieren. Hierfür haben im Rahmen der sprachlichen Landschaftsforschung 72 angehende türkische Englischlehrkrӓfte Straßen- und Ladenschilder, Plakate, Leuchtreklamen usw. fotografiert und den Versuch unternommen, ihren Blick auf Sprache widerzuspiegeln. Dieser Korpus wurde zusätzlich durch die schriftlichen Reflexionen zu den Fotografien und einer 7-stündigen Audioaufnahme eines Fokusgruppeninterviews erweitert, in dem die Lehramtsstudierenden eine evidenzbasierte und identitätssensible Diskussion über die mehrsprachige Vielfalt der Stadt Istanbul führen. Abschließend wird in der Arbeit diskutiert, ob und inwieweit Selbstreflexion und dialogisches Engagement von angehenden Englischlehrkrӓften zur gesellschaftlichen Mehrsprachigkeit, die durch kritische Reflexivität verankert ist, zur beruflichen Identitätsentwicklung beitragen und zukünftige Richtungen für Arbeiten im Bereich der Sprachlandschaft in der Ausbildung von Fremdsprachenlehrkrӓften bieten kann. ; Peer Reviewed

"This is the first textbook on the linguistic relativity hypothesis, presenting it in user-friendly language, yet analyzing all its premises in systematic ways. The hypothesis claims that there is an intrinsic interconnection between thought, language, and society. All technical terms are explained and a glossary at the back is provided. The book looks at the history and versions of the hypothesis, including the research paradigms and critiques that this notion has generated. It describes work on testing its validity in various domains, from grammar to discourse and artificial languages. It also extends the notion to other forms of relativity, from semiotic relativity to discursive relativity. Overall, it presents a comprehensive overview of the hypothesis, with pedagogical activities in each chapter, including questions for discussion and practical exercises on various notions. The book also examines the hypothesis as a foundational notion for the establishment of linguistic anthropology. This essential course text inspires creative, informed dialogue and debate for students of anthropology, linguistics, cultural studies, cognitive science, and psychology"--

AbstractThis paper develops a concept of relational linguistic continuity as a new basis to defend the right to linguistic survival. Relational linguistic continuity refers to a condition whereby individuals may continuously form human relations and have social interactions with others with whom they share the language of origin or of socialisation. The paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 critically engages with two distinct arguments that tackle the issue of linguistic survival: one based on equality of autonomy and another based on equality of dignity. Then, I point out that both arguments are insufficient for a full‐fledged defence of linguistic survival. Section 3 develops a concept of relational linguistic continuity. I first introduce the seminal idea of linguistic security proposed by Leslie Green and Denise Réaume, which will be critically revised in order to develop my concept of relational linguistic continuity. I conclude with Section 4 by defending the right to linguistic survival and addressing potential criticisms. I argue that my concept of relational linguistic continuity successfully provides a basis to defend the right to linguistic survival.