Language Empires in Comparative Perspective

Language Empires in Comparative Perspective

Author: Christel Stolz

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2015-03-10

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 3110408473

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The notion of empire is associated with economic and political mechanisms of dominance. For the last decades, however, there has been a lively debate concerning the question whether this concept can be transferred to the field of linguistics, specifically to research on situations of language spread on the one hand and concomitant marginalization of minority languages on the other. The authors who contributed to this volume concur as to the applicability of the notion of empire to language-related issues. They address the processes, potential merits and drawbacks of language spread as well as the marginalization of minority languages, language endangerment and revitalization, contact-induced language change, the emergence of mixed languages, and identity issues. An emphasis is on the dominance of non-Western languages such as Arabic, Chinese, and, particularly, Russian. The studies demonstrate that the emergence, spread and decline of language empires is a promising area of research, particularly from a comparative perspective.


French Language Policies and the Revitalisation of Regional Languages in the 21st Century

French Language Policies and the Revitalisation of Regional Languages in the 21st Century

Author: Michelle A. Harrison

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-11-11

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 3319959395

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This edited volume presents an analysis of the evolution of French language policies and their impact on French regional languages and their communities. It gathers studies on language revitalisation from several territorial minority languages (Breton, Alsatian, Catalan, Occitan, Basque, Corsican, Francoprovençal, Picard, Reunionese) and evaluates the challenges and opportunities that they face in the 21st century. The chapters tackle different aspects of language endangerment and language planning and adopt varied theoretical and methodological approaches. The first section of the book reconsiders the difficulties in establishing linguistic boundaries and classification for some regional languages. The second section examines the important theme of the new generation of speakers with issues of transmission and identity formation and the changes they can bring to traditional communities. The third section highlights new developments in the context of new technologies and the heightened visibility of regional languages. Finally, the last section presents an overview of the contemporary situation of minority language revitalisation in France and synthesises the key trends identified in this volume: from the educational domain to the European Charter for Minority and Regional languages. This book will appeal to students and scholars of the sociology of language, sociolinguistics, language policy, minority languages and language endangerment.


Conscience du plurilinguisme

Conscience du plurilinguisme

Author: Michel Candelier

Publisher: PU Rennes

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13:

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Le défi éducatif que posent les situations de plurilinguisme est considérable. Cet ouvrage analyse comment les individus se construisent une conscience linguistique qui accompagne et étaye leurs pratiques langagières. Sous différentes formes (expériences de classes, analyses de contextes nouveaux, dispositif de formation des maître ...), l'ouvrage propose aussi la mise en place d'activités d'enseignement et d'apprentissage qui puissent prendre en compte plusieurs variétés linguistiques et culturelles


Sociolinguistics in African Contexts

Sociolinguistics in African Contexts

Author: Augustin Emmanuel Ebongue

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-05-11

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 3319496115

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This volume offers a new perspective on sociolinguistics in Africa. Eschewing the traditional approach which looks at the interaction between European and African languages in the wake of colonialism, this book turns its focus to the social dynamics of African languages and African societies. Divided into two sections, the book offers insight into the crucial topics such as: language vitality and endangerment, the birth of ‘new languages’, a sociolinguistics of the city, language contact and language politics. It spans the continent from Algeria to South Africa, Guinea-Bissau to Kenya and addresses the following broad themes: Language variation, contact and changeThe dynamics of urban, rural and youth languagesPolicy and practice This book provides an alternative to the Eurocentric view of sociolinguistic dynamics in Africa, and will make an ideal read or supplemental textbook for scholars and students in the field/disciplines of African languages and linguistics, and those interested in southern theory or ‘sociolinguistics in the margins’.


Handbook of Multilingualism and Multiculturalism

Handbook of Multilingualism and Multiculturalism

Author: Geneviève Zarate

Publisher: Archives contemporaines

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 431

ISBN-13: 2813000396

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Built around the concept of linguistic and cultural plurality, this book defines language as an instrument of action and symbolic power. Plurality is conceived here as : a complex array of voices, perspectives and approaches that seeks to preserve the complexity of the multilingual and multicultural enterprise, including language learning and teaching ; a coherent system of relationships among various languages, research traditions and research sites that informs qualitative methods of inquiry into multilingualism and its uses in everyday life ; a view of language as structured sociohistorical object, observable from several simultaneous spatiotemporal standpoints, such as that of daily interactions or that which sustains the symbolic power of institutions. This book is addressed to teacher trainers, young researchers, decision makers, teachers concerned with the role of languages in the evolution of societies and educational systems. It aims to elicit discussion by articulating practices, field observations and analyses based on a multidisciplinary conceptual framework.


The Oxford Handbook of the French Language

The Oxford Handbook of the French Language

Author: Wendy Ayres-Bennett

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2024-07-08

Total Pages: 1057

ISBN-13: 0192634410

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This volume provides the first comprehensive reference work in English on the French language in all its facets. It offers a wide-ranging approach to the rich, varied, and exciting research across multiple subfields, with seven broad thematic sections covering the structures of French; the history of French; axes of variation; French around the world; French in contact with other languages; second language acquisition; and French in literature, culture, arts, and the media. Each chapter presents the state of the art and directs readers to canonical studies and essential works, while also exploring cutting-edge research and outlining future directions. The Oxford Handbook of the French Language serves both as a reference work for people who are curious to know more about the French language and as a starting point for those carrying out new research on the language and its many varieties. It will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students as well as established scholars, whether they are specialists in French linguistics or researchers in a related field looking to learn more about the language. The diversity of frameworks, approaches, and scholars in the volume demonstrates above all the variety, vitality, and vibrancy of work on the French language today.


Metalinguistic Awareness: Recomposing Cognitive, Linguistic and Cultural Conflicts

Metalinguistic Awareness: Recomposing Cognitive, Linguistic and Cultural Conflicts

Author: Oreste Floquet

Publisher: Sapienza Università Editrice

Published: 2024-04-16

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 8893773112

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This volume is dedicated to Maria Antonietta Pinto’s research across the past five decades. The title reflects not only the dominance of metalinguistic awareness in Pinto’s work but also the pathway through which this construct has been elaborated over the years. Under the influence of two great mentors, Jean Piaget for the cognitive aspects, and Renzo Titone for the psycholinguistic aspects, Pinto created an original construct of metalinguistic awareness and instruments to measure it at different developmental stages. The volume pays tribute, among other aspects, to the heuristic value of this construct and its use in international research.