Suchergebnisse

This review is an overview of the newly developing field of language rights. It distinguishes between (a) historical/descriptive studies where language rights are treated as the resultant variable with no attempt to predict consequences, and (b) exhortatory and ideologically based studies in which language rights are considered a causal variable. An attempt at definitions follows, set within the field of language planning. Principal concerns, such as territoriality versus personality principles and individual versus collective rights, are discussed.The review ends with an argument to consider language rights as emic rights, which is to say culture-language-context–specific rights, rather than to consider linguistic human rights from a universal rights perspective which overstates issues and masks rights to as also being rights against. We need a careful exploration of the nature of language rights and their consequences.

Die Sprachenfrage spielte eine wichtige Rolle während der Renaissance des Nationalbewußtseins in Estland während der späten 80er Jahre und auch im Prozeß des nationalstaatlichen Aufbaus nach der im Jahre 1991 erreichten Unabhängigkeit. Während in den Jahren 1989 bis 1991 eine Tendenz zu russisch-estnischer Bilingualität zu konstatieren war, verschob sich anschließend der Schwerpunkt eindeutig auf die estnische Sprache. Eine entsprechende Sprachengesetzgebung und der amtliche Nachweis ausreichender Sprachkenntnisse als eine Voraussetzung zur Erlangung der estnischen Staatsbürgerschaft trugen entscheidend zu dieser Entwicklung bei. Wenngleich die neue Sprachenpolitik von der russischen Minderheit abgelehnt wird, trifft ihre Umsetzung in die Praxis dennoch nicht auf entscheidende Hindernisse. (BIOst-Mrk)

[.] This chapter aims to clarify why language policies are the substructure of a variety ofimportant democratic requirements and hence why fair and ethical language policiesmatter for democratic polities. In a nutshell: without language skills, access to variousspheres - political as well as socio-economic – is hindered. Without access to thesespheres of citizenship, no political, social and economic rights and duties can beproperly exercised, and no rights claims can be properly voiced. [.]

[.] This chapter aims to clarify why language policies are the substructure of a variety ofimportant democratic requirements and hence why fair and ethical language policiesmatter for democratic polities. In a nutshell: without language skills, access to variousspheres - political as well as socio-economic – is hindered. Without access to thesespheres of citizenship, no political, social and economic rights and duties can beproperly exercised, and no rights claims can be properly voiced. [.]

[.] This chapter aims to clarify why language policies are the substructure of a variety ofimportant democratic requirements and hence why fair and ethical language policiesmatter for democratic polities. In a nutshell: without language skills, access to variousspheres - political as well as socio-economic – is hindered. Without access to thesespheres of citizenship, no political, social and economic rights and duties can beproperly exercised, and no rights claims can be properly voiced. [.]

[.] This chapter aims to clarify why language policies are the substructure of a variety ofimportant democratic requirements and hence why fair and ethical language policiesmatter for democratic polities. In a nutshell: without language skills, access to variousspheres - political as well as socio-economic – is hindered. Without access to thesespheres of citizenship, no political, social and economic rights and duties can beproperly exercised, and no rights claims can be properly voiced. [.]

National language policy which is implemented from the top is perceived as official legislation designed to influence people's linguistic lives. In the Castilian-dominated Galician linguistic landscape, this paper examines the impact of last thirty years' top-down language policies on the "linguistic culture" (Schiffman 1996) of the Galicians and analyses the role of grassroots level actors or agents who play a significant role in interpreting and implementing language policy on the ground. Linguistic culture, as Schiffman (2006: 112) describes it, is the "sum totality of ideas, values, beliefs, attitudes, prejudices, myths, religious strictures, and all the other cultural 'baggage' that speakers bring to their dealings with language from their culture". This will inevitably lead us to an examination of the essential macro level linguistic and non-linguistic variables such as socio-political, socio-economic, socio-cultural, sociolinguistic factors present in the Galician society influencing the ideological construct and revitalisation practices of the community. Concurrently, this article offers a brief overview of the sociolinguistic history of Galician, as a means of contextualising existing debates related to language policies since the outset of the Galician Autonomy. It starts with a discussion on the significance of the 1983 Linguistic Normalisation Act, the immediate effects it had on Galician and on its public visibility which will be further related to the various understandings of notions such as linguistic normalisation and societal bilingualism which have been an integral part of LPP discourse over the course of last three decades. To conclude, the chapter will also offer a critical account of the recent developments in grassroots level Galician language activism such as the creation of Galician medium pre-primary immersion schools through co-operative mobilisations and crowd-sourcing; these schools came about as a reaction to the contemporary state-imposed language policies from the present centre-right wing government (2009-present).

Abstract
This paper deals with the state of language rights in Luxembourg in the light of immigration and the multilingualism associated with it. Although Luxembourg might appear to be an ideal case of multilingualism with three official languages (Luxembourgish, French, and German), the reality is very different because its language policies are marked by a hierarchy: while Luxembourgish has the symbolic dominance as the 'national language', French is the preferred language in the workplace and administration. The situation has become complex due to the steady influx of immigrants since the 1970s. Currently, more than 40 per cent of Luxembourg's population consists of foreigners, and this has changed the linguistic situation in the sense that Portuguese has become one of the most widely spoken languages in Luxembourg, although it does not enjoy any legal safeguards. Taking account of this multilingual scenario, this paper examines the rights of different linguistic communities in Luxembourg. On the one hand, there is the need to protect Luxembourgish, which is the majority language in Luxembourg but a minority language when compared to other national languages of Europe, while, on the other hand, the needs of its Portuguesespeaking community also have to be taken into account since the use of German as the medium of instruction at primary level disadvantages them. Finally, the paper will also consider the role and the future of the other two main languages (French and German).