Language Activism
Language Activism

Author: Haley De Korne

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2021-08-02

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1501511424

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While top-down policies and declarations have yet to establish equal status and opportunities for speakers of all languages in practice, activists and advocates at local levels are playing an increasingly significant role in the creation of new social imaginaries and practices in multilingual contexts. This volume describes how social actors across multiple domains contribute to the elusive goal of linguistic equality or justice through their language activism practices. Through an ethnographic account of Indigenous Isthmus Zapotec language activism in Oaxaca, Mexico, this study illuminates the (sometimes conflicting) imaginaries of what positive social change is and how it should be achieved, and the repertoire of strategies through which these imaginaries are being pursued. Ethnographic and action research conducted from 2013-2018 in the multilingual Isthmus of Tehuantepec brings to light the experiences of educators, students, writers, scholars and diverse cultural activists whose aspirations and strategies of social change are significant in shaping the future language ecology. Their repertoire of strategies may inform and encourage language activists, scholars, and educators working for change in other contexts of linguistic diversity and inequality.

Standardizing Minority Languages
Standardizing Minority Languages

Author: Pia Lane

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-22

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1317298861

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The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781138125124, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. This volume addresses a crucial, yet largely unaddressed dimension of minority language standardization, namely how social actors engage with, support, negotiate, resist and even reject such processes. The focus is on social actors rather than language as a means for analysing the complexity and tensions inherent in contemporary standardization processes. By considering the perspectives and actions of people who participate in or are affected by minority language politics, the contributors aim to provide a comparative and nuanced analysis of the complexity and tensions inherent in minority language standardisation processes. Echoing Fasold (1984), this involves a shift in focus from a sociolinguistics of language to a sociolinguistics of people. The book addresses tensions that are born of the renewed or continued need to standardize ‘language’ in the early 21st century across the world. It proposes to go beyond the traditional macro/micro dichotomy by foregrounding the role of actors as they position themselves as users of standard forms of language, oral or written, across sociolinguistic scales. Language policy processes can be seen as practices and ideologies in action and this volume therefore investigates how social actors in a wide range of geographical settings embrace, contribute to, resist and also reject (aspects of) minority language standardization.

The Education of Language Minority Immigrants in the United States
The Education of Language Minority Immigrants in the United States

Author: Terrence Wiley

Publisher: Multilingual Matters

Published: 2009-10-28

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 1847693806

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The Education of Language Minority Immigrants in the United States draws from quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to inform educational policy and practice. It is based on cutting-edge research and policy analyses from a number of well-known experts on immigrant language minority education in the USA. The collection includes contributions on the acquisition of English, language shift, the maintenance of heritage languages, prospects for long-term educational achievement, how family background, economic status, and gender and identity influence academic adjustment and achievement, challenges for appropriate language testing and placement, and examples of advocacy action research. It concludes with a thoughtful commentary aimed at broadening our understanding of the need to provide quality immigrant language minority education within the context of globalization. This collection will be of value to students and researchers interested in promoting educational equity and achievement for immigrant language minority students.

The Legal Recognition of Sign Languages
The Legal Recognition of Sign Languages

Author: Maartje De Meulder

Publisher: Multilingual Matters

Published: 2019-06-17

Total Pages: 421

ISBN-13: 1788924029

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This book presents the first ever comprehensive overview of national laws recognising sign languages, the impacts they have and the advocacy campaigns which led to their creation. It comprises 18 studies from communities across Europe, the US, South America, Asia and New Zealand. They set sign language legislation within the national context of language policies in each country and show patterns of intersection between language ideologies, public policy and deaf communities’ discourses. The chapters are grounded in a collaborative writing approach between deaf and hearing scholars and activists involved in legislative campaigns. Each one describes a deaf community’s expectations and hopes for legal recognition and the type of sign language legislation achieved. The chapters also discuss the strategies used in achieving the passage of the legislation, as well as an account of barriers confronted and surmounted (or not) in the legislative process. The book will be of interest to language activists in the fields of sign language and other minority languages, policymakers and researchers in deaf studies, sign linguistics, sociolinguistics, human rights law and applied linguistics.

Promoting and Protecting Minority Rights
Promoting and Protecting Minority Rights

Author: United Nations

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13:

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"The present guide offers information related to norms and mechanisms developed to protect the rights of persons belonging to national, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities. It includes detailed information about procedures and forums in which minority issues may be raised to minorities and by also covering selected specialized agencies and regional mechanisms, the present Guide complements information contained in Working with the United Nations Human Rights Programme: A Handbook for Civil Society"--Introduction.

Advocacy in English Language Teaching and Learning
Advocacy in English Language Teaching and Learning

Author: Heather A. Linville

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-01-10

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1351036653

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Appropriate for those new to the topic and established scholars, this holistic text examines the nexus of advocacy and English-language teaching, beginning with theories of advocacy, covering constraints and challenges in practice, and offering a range of hands-on perspectives in different contexts and with different populations. Bringing together wide-ranging and diverse viewpoints in TESOL, this volume examines the role of advocacy through a social justice lens in a range of contexts, including K-12 classrooms and schools, adult and higher education settings, families and communities, and teacher-education programs and professional organizations. Advocacy in English Language Teaching and Learning offers readers a deeper understanding of what advocacy is and can be, and gives teacher candidates and educators the tools to advocate for their students, their families and communities, and their profession.

Minority Language Media
Minority Language Media

Author: Michael J. Cormack

Publisher: Multilingual Matters

Published: 2007-01-01

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 1853599638

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This book is an international collection of essays by 14 researchers. Included are essays on general topics on minority language media, as well as studies of specific examples. The contributors are all experienced researchers in this field. Taken as a whole, the book is the first attempt to define and develop minority language media as a distinct field of study.

Minority Languages, National Languages, and Official Language Policies
Minority Languages, National Languages, and Official Language Policies

Author: Gillian Lane-Mercier

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 2018-12-30

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 0773555889

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In a context where linguistic and cultural diversity is characterized by ever-increasing complexity, adopting official multilingual policies to correct a country's ethno-linguistic, socio-economic, and symbolic imbalances presents many obstacles, but the greatest challenge is implementing them effectively. To what degree and in what ways have official multilingualism and multiculturalism policies actually succeeded in attaining their goals? Questioning and challenging foundational concepts, Minority Languages, National Languages, and Official Language Policies highlights the extent to which governments and international bodies are unable to manage complex linguistic and cultural diversity on an effective and sustained basis. This volume examines the principles, theory, intentions, and outcomes of official policies of multilingualism at the city, regional, and national levels through a series of international case studies. The eleven chapters – most focusing on lesser-known geopolitical contexts and languages – bring to the fore the many paradoxes that underlie the concept of diversity, lived experiences of and attitudes toward linguistic and cultural diversity, and the official multilingual policies designed to legally enhance, protect, or constrain otherness. An authoritative source of new and updated information, offering fresh interpretations and analyses of evolving sociolinguistic and political phenomena in today's global world, Minority Languages, National Languages, and Official Language Policies demonstrates how language policies often fail to deal appropriately or adequately with the issues they are designed to solve.

EC Law and Minority Language Policy
EC Law and Minority Language Policy

Author: Niamh Nic Shuibhne

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-10-25

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 900447871X

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The European Community has pledged respect for the cultural and linguistic diversity of its Member States and has recognized minority languages as an inherent constituent in this regard. This development reflects a broader trend within the Community towards grappling with less obvious aspects of supranational governance. Minority language groups turn optimistically to `Europe' in response. But, despite rhetorical promises, just what can the EC actually be expected to do in the realm of minority language protection, a politically sensitive and traditionally domestic concern? Arguments put forward to date focus primarily on philosophical, moral, economic, and political discourse. While these considerations are a vital aspect of the debate on minority languages and on linguistic diversity more generally, the question of legal basis remains largely unanswered. For the first time, this book traces comprehensively the existence of an appropriate legal basis for action undertaken by the EC in this domain, striving in particular to locate a pragmatic yet effective balance between legitimate possibility and acceptable limitations.