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"OFFICIAL LANGUAGES"
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Language, Literature and the Construction of a Dutch National Identity (1780-1830)
The final decades of the eighteenth and the first decades of the nineteenth century show the birth of a Dutch national identity. In this time of political upheavel (the battle between Patriots and Orangists, the French occupation years and the period of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands), the study of Dutch language and literature received an important impulse. Many scholars, such as Matthijs Siegenbeek, Johannes Henricus van der Palm, Johannes Kinker and Jan Frans Willems, made an effort to promote the study of Dutch language and culture, by writing studies, anthologies and essays. The study of the national language and literature was considered to be significant, not only for the Dutch sense of self-worth, but also for the recovery of the country, which was - according to many contemporaries declining. - Language, Literature and the Construction of a Dutch National Identity (1780-1830) discusses twelve founding fathers of newly developed cultural nationalism and their various efforts in the creation of a new national identity.
eBook
Decolonising Multilingualism in Africa
This book interrogates and problematises African multilingualism
as it is currently understood in language education and research.
It challenges the enduring colonial matrices of power hidden within
mainstream conceptions of multilingualism that have been propagated
in the Global North and then exported to the Global South under the
aegis of colonial modernity and pretensions of universal epistemic
relevance. The book contributes new points of method, theory and
interpretation that will advance scholarly conversations on
decolonial epistemology by introducing the notion of coloniality of
language - a summary term that describes the ways in which notions
of language and multilingualism in post-colonial societies remain
colonial. The authors begin the process of mapping out what a
socially realistic notion of multilingualism would look like if we
took into account the voices of marginalised and ignored African
communities of practice - both on the African continent and in the
diasporas.
eBook
The Politics of Arabic in Israel
Although it remains an official language, Israel has made continued attempts to marginalize Arabic on the one hand and securitize it on the other. Camelia Suleiman delves into these tensions and contradictions, exploring how language policy and language choice both reflect and challenge political identities of Arabs and Israelis.
eBook
Blackness and la Francophonie
This book uncovers intricate convergences and divergences among Blackness, Canadian-ness and La Francophonie, positing anti-Black racism, linguistic discrimination, slavery, and colonialism and neo-colonialism as sites of identity exclusion. However, Black agency reconstructs and renegotiates identity meanings and praxis to strengthen belongingness and pave the way for inclusion in the future.
eBook
Struggles for Multilingualism and Linguistic Citizenship
This book offers a fresh perspective on the social life of
multilingualism through the lens of the important notion of
linguistic citizenship. All of the chapters are underpinned by a
theoretical and methodological engagement with linguistic
citizenship as a useful heuristic through which to understand
sociolinguistic processes in late modernity, focusing in particular
on linguistic agency and voices on the margins of our societies.
The authors take stock of conservative, liberal, progressive and
radical social transformations in democracies in the north and
south, and consider the implications for multilingualism as a
resource, as a way of life and as a feature of identity politics.
Each chapter builds on earlier research on linguistic citizenship
by illuminating how multilingualism (in both theory and practice)
should be, or could be, thought of as inclusive when we recognize
what multilingual speakers do with language for voice and
agency.
eBook
Language, emotion, and politics in South India : the making of a mother tongue
What makes someone willing to die, not for a nation, but for a language? In the mid-20th century, southern India saw a wave of dramatic suicides in the name of language. Lisa Mitchell traces the colonial-era changes in knowledge and practice linked to the Telugu language that lay behind some of these events. As identities based on language came to appear natural, the road was paved for the political reorganization of the Indian state along linguistic lines after independence.
eBook
Desired Language
Intellectuals and politicians have long sought linguistic homogeneity in a given geographic area, especially since the beginning of the contemporary period. Although this homogeneity has almost never been fully achieved, the desired language has become real to the extent that the processes of standardisation have modified reality.
eBook
English as a Lingua Franca in ASEAN
The lingua franca role of English, coupled with its status as the official language of ASEAN, has important implications for language policy and language education. These include the relationship between English, the respective national languages of ASEAN and thousands of local languages. How can the demand for English be balanced against the need for people to acquire their national language and mother tongue? While many will also need a regional lingua franca, they are learning English as the first foreign language from primary school in all ASEAN countries. Might not this early introduction of English threaten local languages and children’s ability to learn? Or can English be introduced and taught in such a way that it can complement local languages rather than replace them? The aim of this book is to explore questions such as these and then make recommendations on language policy and language education for regional policymakers. The book will be important for regional policymakers and language education professionals. It should also benefit language teachers, especially, but by no means exclusively, English language teachers. The book will be of interest to all who are interested in the development of English as an international language and the possible implications of this upon local languages and cultures.
eBook
The elevation of Sepedi from a dialect to an official standard language: Cultural and economic power and political influence matter
This study explored the role played by economic, cultural, and political power and influence when a particular dialect was elevated to the status of an official standard language. This was a qualitative study that employed text analysis where journal articles, dissertations, theses, academic books and Parliamentary Joint Constitutional Review minutes were considered for data collection and analysis. In order to supplement the above-mentioned method, 267 research participants involving students (undergraduate and postgraduate) and lecturers from the selected five South African universities, including members of the language authorities, were also invited to participate in the study. Self-administered survey questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were chosen as qualitative methods for data collection. From a dialectal point of view, this study indicated that all official standard languages were dialects before. However, these dialects were considered superior and elevated to the status of official languages because of socio-economic power and political influence. This article further recorded that the status type of language planning in the South African context is quite political in nature, not less linguistic. It was against this background that the researchers claim that there is no official standard language that was not a dialect before.
Journal Article