1. Multilingualism: rights and policy

2. English English is the official language of the United Kingdom and is spoken by around 400 million people around the world.

4. The Welsh Language Act 1993 establishes in law the equality of the Welsh and English languages in Wales. It places an obligation on the public sector to treat the Welsh and English languages equally in the provision of services to the public in Wales.

5. According to the 2001 census results, 582,368 people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh - 20.8 per cent of the population of Wales.

7. Cornish Since 2002, Cornish has been recognised as a minority language by the UK government, under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The Charter protects and promotes historical regional and minority languages in Europe, in recognition of the contribution they make to Europe's cultural diversity and historical traditions, and to limit the danger of extinction. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012519

8. And the others? What are we talking about when we refer to multilingual language rights? Do you have a right to speak your native language? Do you have a right to be educated in that language? What’s at stake in issues of language rights? Where do you get those rights from?

9. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007, UN) Three articles pertain to language: Article 13 1. Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons. Article 16 1. Indigenous peoples have the right to establish their own media in their own languages and to have access to all forms of non-indigenous media without discrimination.

10. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2 Article 14 1. Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning. 2. Indigenous individuals, particularly children, have the right to all levels and forms of education of the State without discrimination. 3. States shall, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, take effective measures, in order for indigenous individuals, particularly children, including those living outside their communities, to have access, when possible, to an education in their own culture and provided in their own language.

11. US Commissioner of Indian Affairs for Alaska in 1886, justifying the introduction of schools to Inuit & American Indians: They [Native Americans] must abandon tribal relations; they must give up their superstitions; they must forsake their savage habits and learn the arts of civilization; they must learn to labor, and must learn to rear their families as white people do, and know more of their obligations to the Government and society (Darnell & Hoem, 1996:62).

14. Edward Piwas, (Innu elder and hunter) Utshimassit There will be no fish, caribou, ducks, geese at Emish [Kaupiskatish-shipis] after the mining starts. The bear is different. The bear is like the whiteman, but he can’t live with them in the winter. He will walk around in the Emish camp. He will eat at the whiteman’s table because the Akanishau has killed the fish in the river. The white people will keep the baby animals for pets and these animals will starve - they will not know how to hunt for themselves. Take for example the goose that was seen at Black Ash. It was lost and didn’t know its migration route. Even the moose - he is the brother of the Akanishau. He will walk on the streets of Emish with a tie. The Akanishau has three friends - bear, moose and raven, but he can’t be friends with the squirrel because it steals from them. The smog from the milling plant will kill the plants and animals. And it will float into our community. We will not see the smog - it will slowly kill the animals and us. They will probably not just drill in one place - they will drill all around us. The wildlife officer will know when he can’t find any animals. He will blame us for the lack of them but he will not think about the drilling. (Innu Nation, 1996a:38)

15. The white man takes such things as words and literatures for granted, as indeed he must, for nothing in his world is so common-place. On every side of him there are words by the millions, an unending succession of pamphlets and papers, letters and books, bills and bulletins, commentaries and conversations. He has diluted and multiplied the Word, and words have begun to close in upon him. He is sated and insensitive; his regard for language – for the Word itself – has diminished nearly to the point of no return. It may be that he will perish by the Word. N. Scott Momaday House Made of Dawn

16. 3-600 languages left in 2100? Optimistic estimates 50% of today’s spoken languages may be extinct or seriously endangered in 2100 Pessimistic but realistic estimates 90-95% may be extinct or seriously endangered in 2100

17. What then is language policy? Planned interventions pronounced and implemented by states, supported/enforced by law Nearly always in multi-lingual/-cultural ecologies Policies compare/evaluate language status/function and differentially impact the varieties they recognize As well as those that were left out for whatever reasons Necessarily reflect power relations among groups Various political & economic interests – internal & external Latter include (ex-)colonial powers, international business concerns, neighbour states, politically aligned groups, etc.

18. Examples of official Language Policies Assam Language Act 1960 made Assamese compulsory in govt, led to ethnic tensions/violence w/Bengali migrants Tanzania changed language of secondary education from English to Kiswahili (2001) Ghana changed from using vernacular languages in first 3 years of primary school to English (2002) Council of Europe (2001) urged govt. of Macedonia to allow use of Albanian in schools, courts & administration Egyptian govt requires fire extinguishers in Cairo taxicabs to have instructions written in Classical Arabic In fact most taxi drivers cannot read them…

19. Examples of un-official Language Policies Consider non-official policies, too – states may be dysfunctional, contested, newly-formed, multinational Kansas City school suspends child for using Spanish in class– no policy?– school board rescind suspension (2005) Arab funding of Somalian schools leads to Arabic replacing Somali as language of education (2004) Linguistic landscape studies (street signs, site and place names) show different bilingual patterns in Israel: Hebrew/English in Jewish areas, Arabic/Hebrew in Arab ones, Arabic/English in East Jerusalem. (Official languages are Hebrew and Arabic.)

20. Elements of language policy 1 Language practices of community or polity: patterns of selection from linguistic resources /repertoire, for particular domains Domains: constellations of institutional factors which affect language selection (Fishman 1965, 1972) – typically, settings, occasions and role relationships; Or, locations, topics and participants

21. Elements of language policy 2 Language ideologies and attitudes about language and use Ideology: a system of symbolic forms which work to create and support systems of social power Language ideologies systematically associate language choices and speakers with e.g. economic, political, and moral dimensions Languageplanning then is an attempt to change practices, which must engage with language ideologies.

22. Contrasting definitions of Language Policies Spolsky (2004): Language policy is comprised of all three components (practices + ideology + planning) Shohamy (2006): Language policy falls between ideology and practice. Includes both overt & covert mechanisms which create & maintain both official policies & de facto ones (=practices) Overt: school language policy, citizenship or voting test Covert: street sign, school language test, monolingual health info

23. Contrasting definitions of Language Policy Schiffman (1996): Language is main vehicle for the construction, replication, transmission of culture itself Language policy is primarily a social construct, rests primarily on other conceptual elements: Belief systems, attitudes, myths Whole complex can be treated as linguistic culture "Language policy is not only the specific, overt, explicit, de jure embodiment of rules in laws or constitutions, but a broader entity, rooted in covert, implicit, grass-roots, unwritten, de facto practices that go deep into the culture."

25. They promote ideologies favored by state or powerful groups,

26. Marginalize or exclude minorities, or powerless majorities;

27. But they could be used to raise language awareness, change attitudes, protect language rights & reform policy.

28. So, language policy could be a way to turn language ideology into practice.

30. But Language Policy in whose interests? Q of how language is used to reproduce social and economic inequality, & role of experts, loomed larger Use of post-colonial language for technical/formal domains, indigenous vernacular for others, led to Imposed stable diglossia, status loss for I/V, and privileging of educated elites, like colonial model How are language policies used as instruments of Western extension of control over other peoples? Do they favor majority/elite/client interests over those of minorities/masses/independence-seekers?

31. Critical views of language shift Are Western ideas of monolingualism and cultural homogeneity – with diglossia as “2nd-best” fallback – And a “rational-choice” model of decision-making, with capitalism and market values underlying it,… Assumed as prerequisites for modernization, social/economic progress, democracy and national unity? Histories of standardization reveal it as product of modern state-formation processes and ideologies; Why is this pathway presumed good for developing, multilingual countries w/indigenous diverse peoples?

32. Linguistic Imperialism & LHR Societal multilingualism should be set as the norm, Accepted as prerequisite for functioning democracy. Groups can better participate on level ground with institutional recognition given their language/culture. LHR is one way to champion such goals both at level of states and international protections & instruments. LHR also aimed against linguistic imperialism – the continued dominance/exploitation by large powers, using their languages as weapons and contributing heavily to language shift and loss (soit’s argued).

33. Linguistic hegemony at home “Monolingualism but…” is common among nations – Hegemony of one national or official language, named in a constitution or legislation, but with Tolerance for 1 or more regional/minority languages achieved by (variously enforceable) legal means Eg, US 14th Amendment and Civil Rights Act Title VI One LP goal is to codify such tolerance, determine who it should extend to, & make it accessible to them NB: such “Lx tolerance” only makes sense where ethnic/nationalist monolingualism is assumed to rule Paradigm set by Act of Union, French Revolution, post-1812 treaties, then German & Italian nationalism...

34. Print Capitalism & Nations Print capitalism – dissemination of the written word in the standardized form of a national language, as commercial enterprise …was crucial to the formation of modernity & building of nation-states. Print capitalism also was agent for the development and marketing of language ideologies, …which place citizens within national contexts by linguistic means. - “Greeks speak Greek, wherever they are” Educational systems were organised, in part, to guarantee the success of this enterprise, and of the new national identity it supports and is emblematic of

35. Selling National Language Ideology A principal type of successful language ideology 1) Creates hierarchies of language, 2) Valuing most highly the written standard form of a national language, abstracted from elite speech, 3) Makes it subject to (upper middle) class norms through education, and 4) Sells it to the whole society as the Only True Form of Language. 5) Other forms are then erased & made Not-Language.

36. Functions of a Monoglot Ideology “Monoglot ideology” invests in monolingualism as a fact, and denies evidence of linguistic diversity. How? by coupling belief in pure standard language, With membership of ethnolinguistically-defined group + Right to reside in a region occupied by them. “We’re English. We speak English here!” Herder: Volk + language + territory = nation-state This ideology produces identities (=of citizens), and Works effectively to prohibit public linguistic diversity.