Suchergebnisse

Language and Identities offers a broad survey of our current state of knowledge on the connections between variability in language use and the construction, negotiation, maintenance and performance of identities at different levels - individual, group, regional and national. It brings together over 20 specially commissioned chapters, written by distinguished international scholars, on a range of topics around the language/identity nexus. The collection deals sequentially with identities at various levels, both social and personal. Using detailed, empirical evidence, the chapters illustrate how

French language policy has historically centred on ways French can be considered a dominant and influential language. It has done this since the Middle Ages, by allowing the French language to serve as a political tool. On an international level, language was a way of subjugating conquered peoples (former colonies). It promoted France's international status (by the 18th century French was the diplomatic language of Europe). On a national level, the French language was one of the ways governments were able to centralise political power (suppression of regional languages). One of the ways French language authorities have promoted the use of language has been through education policies and the way language is taught in schools. For example, the French language was imposed on the colonised territories of France through teaching in missionary schools. Within France, stringent laws were adopted, in particular during the nineteenth century, allowing the French language to replace local languages in schools. In France today, language policies continue to exist and to have an influence on the way we view language and society. One of the main priorities of French language policy is to protect the status of the national language in particular with respect to the increasing use of English as a global dominant language in areas such as science, technology, tourism, entertainment and the media (Nunan: 2007, 178). Consequently, France has adopted policies to respond to this linguistic climate. This has implications on the way the French language is taught both within France as well as outside of France. This paper will examine some of the policies and agencies created over recent years that affect the French language. It will also identify some of the consequences these policies have on the teaching of language. Finally it will argue that a space has been created within the language classroom that attempts to find a compromise between the language policies of the French government and the realities of spoken French in society.

1. Introduction: Diversity of Language, Unity of Purpose -- 2. Language and the Sustainable Development Goals: Challenges to Language Policy and Planning -- 3. Language, Digital Resources and the Sustainable Development Goals -- 4. Sustainable Multilingual Education -- 5. The Sustainability of Multilingualism from Home to Pre-School Contexts: Three Case Studies from Europe -- 6. Realising Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education in South Africa: Achievements and Obstacles on the Language in Education Front -- 7. In Pursuit of Sustainable Educational Development: The Philippines and the English Dilemma -- 8. Primary and Secondary Language Use in Peacekeeping and Stabilization Operations: A Preliminary to Sustainability -- 9. The Connections between Sociolinguistics and Economics, and their Implications for Sustainability -- Afterword: A Dedication -- Index.

Following an exegesis on biblical translation, attention is given to the link between linguistics and politics from a Russian historical perspective. The relevance of this for contemporary Russia is discussed, noting that language has a role in political struggle, with politics influencing language and vice versa.

Examines the role of language in disputes over minority rights; eg, in Sri Lanka, adoption of the Official Language Act (1956) has proven a major milestone on the long path to civil war; in Turkey, governmental unwillingness to acknowledge ethnic differences in the population has resulted in widespread linguistic discrimination against the Kurdish minority; & in the US, English-only proponents have promoted a common language in a manner that asserts ethnic dominance. How to protect the rights of linguistic minorities is discussed, & whether the state should provide bilingual education to children who begin their schooling knowing only a minority language is also considered. M. Maguire

Language divides are common components of group conflict, a phenomenon reflected widely in theories of nationalism. This article evaluates measures developed by David Laitin and James Fearon in the minorities at risk dataset claiming to quantify language difference and concludes they are deeply flawed. The introduction outlines language divides vis-a-vis conflict. A theoretical analysis in the second section argues against rational choice analyses of language politics; in the third section a sociolinguistic matrix shows that these fractional measures represent language ancestry but nothing else (morphology, syntax, lexicon, orthography, status). Theoretical implications and alternative methods are considered in the fourth section followed by a summary conclusion.

"Language and Borders" published on by Oxford University Press.

-