The implementation of minority language education policies is always socially, economically, and politically embedded. This paper focuses on the implementation of Tibetan language education policies ...in a secondary school dominated by students who are officially categorized as Tibetan, to investigate the nuances of individual practices as they are situated in particular institutional and social contexts. Adopting ethnography of language policy as the guiding theoretical and methodological framework, a two-month fieldwork was carried out with data collected from multiple sources. The analysis highlights social actors' different forms of positioning regarding the unique institutional space of Tibetan language education, and pries open a local market wherein Tibetan language education has obtained a high pragmatic value for students' pursuit of academic advancement and upward social mobility. However, it also points to dilemmas facing social actors as the pragmatic value could not directly translate into higher symbolic power for the Tibetan language. (148 words)
Language is an important aspect of communication and language status is known to impact healthcare accessibility, its perceived suitability, and outcomes. However, its influence on treatment ...engagement and/or disengagement is unknown. Our study therefore sought to investigate the impact of language on service disengagement in an early intervention psychosis program in Montreal, Quebec (a province with French as the official language). We aimed to compare service disengagement between a linguistic minority group (i.e., English) vis-à-vis those whose preferred language was French and to explore the role of language in service engagement. Using a mixed methods sequential design, we tested preferred language and several sociodemographic characteristics associated with service disengagement in a time-to-event analysis with Cox proportional hazards regression models (N = 338). We then conducted two focus groups with English (seven patients) and French speakers (five patients) to further explore differences between the two linguistic groups. Overall, 24% (n = 82) disengaged from the service before the two-year mark. Those whose preferred language was English were more likely to disengage (n = 47, 31.5%) than those whose preferred language was French (n = 35, 18.5%; χ2 = 9.11, p < .01). This remained significant in the multivariate regression. In focus groups, participants identified language as one aspect of a complex communication process between patients and clinicians and highlighted the importance of culture in the clinical encounter. Language status of patients plays an important role in their engagement with early psychosis services. Our findings underscore the value of establishing communication and cultural understanding in creating clinical/therapeutic alliance.
In bilingual settings, the communication between majority and minority language speakers usually takes place in the majority language. This paper examines whether majority language speakers, who ...receive positive feedback from minority language speakers when accommodating to them, use the minority language more frequently for authentic purposes. We propose positive feedback from L1 users as a potential facilitator of L2 use. We report the development and the properties of the scale we utilised to assess L1 user feedback (L1FB). We embedded L1FB into the socio-contextual model of L2 communication and tested four hypotheses regarding the effect of L1FB on L2 use among majority language speaking high school students in bilingual Finland. All the hypotheses were supported by the data. Most importantly, L1FB significantly moderated the effect of L2 confidence on L2 use. L2 confidence had a larger effect on L2 use among those who received positive feedback. In the absence of positive L1FB, however, confident L2 learners used their L2 as little as their more anxious and less competent peers did. We discuss the relevance of L1FB with regard to authentic L2 use in general and the promotion of lesser used languages, in particular.
Heritage language maintenance is affected by many different factors. Particularly for families in subtractive bilingual environments, it is crucial to have a well-defined family language policy ...(FLP). Even with an established FLP, major disruptions and changes, as well as smaller shifts in families’ lives, can significantly affect children’s multilingual development and threaten heritage language maintenance. These shifts can be sudden or gradual. This study focuses on the importance of bringing the need for a FLP into multilingual families’ awareness and explores the challenges of sustaining it. More specifically, this study uses two parents’ reflections regarding their own families’ language policies to gain a better understanding of the challenges and to make recommendations to other families. It is guided by the following questions: To what extent are parents aware of their family’s multilingual habits and policies? How can parents support their children’s heritage language development in the face of significant disruptions or even subtle life changes? Two linguists raising multilingual children in different contexts agreed to become accountability partners to gain a better understanding of their own dynamic situations and support each other to become more intentional in their family multilingual development. Data were collected over a six-month period. Findings suggest that intentionality increased due to the accountability partnership. Furthermore, this study challenged several of the researchers’ assumptions, particularly regarding the amount of heritage language spoken, how transitions affect the family, what it takes for linguistic changes to occur, and the ease of tracking one’s own family’s linguistic habits. This study suggests that having a FLP is not sufficient, but that it requires periodic updating, and changes need to be implemented to match the evolving plan.
Though computer mediated communication has been widely studied, private messaging in minoritized languages (many without standardized orthographies) is an area of minimal research. This article looks ...at texting in four multilingual language communities: Maguindanaon (Philippines), Sebuyau (Malaysia), Mamaindê (Brazil) and Marubo (Brazil). The majority of the data comes from the Maguindanao case study, an Austronesian language spoken by over one million speakers in the Maguindanao province of Mindanao Island. Based on this preliminary data, an initial framework with which to understand the language choices for digital messaging in such societies is proposed. The broader implications of this study are its insights into the variable patterning of texting in minority languages in general, providing a baseline for future work in this area. This preliminary study suggests that the texting repertoires of minority language communities are found to pattern after their parallel repertoires of either orality or literacy. These patterns are collectively referred to as the “Language Repertoire Matrix”. The variable that distinguishes one texting repertoire from another is the language(s) used for intra-group texting: minority (L1), majority (L2), or minority + majority (L1 + L2) languages. We propose that the choice of employing either the orality or literacy repertoires for intra-group texting demonstrates the underlying function of such texting within that society. The conclusion offers some suggestions on how these insights might apply to the field of minority language development.
Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic touched every corner of the globe, even impacting the sphere of linguistics in terms of communication, lexis, and how linguists conduct their research. However, Rusyn, ...a minority language in Ukraine’s Transcarpathian region, took advantage of this period in a new attempt at revitalization. Rusyn is spoken in several European countries and has the privilege of being recognized and protected in most of them. Ukraine does not, however, consider Rusyn to be a language, and, therefore, does not protect it. There have been several movements for recognition and autonomy in the past, but all have been unsuccessful. The pandemic gave this small community of speakers a new chance to elevate their work towards boosting the language’s vitality and status through digital platforms such as YouTube and collective writing projects. This paper looks at the before-and-after of the pandemic in relation to Rusyn in Transcarpathia, focusing on the shift in digital approaches to protecting and promoting the language. It concludes that, in fact, a shift has occurred in terms of utilizing digital media in order to promote the language.
This is a pilot study on the relationship between speaking Irish and belonging, with a focus on Irish-speakers of diverse ethnicities and/or nationalities in Ireland. The research includes twelve ...respondents with diverse backgrounds in terms of nationality and/or ethnicity. We examine whether the language gives them a sense of belonging to Ireland, but also if they experience any exclusion on the basis that it does not 'belong' to them. Our research is qualitative and we analyse the data through the lens of nationalism studies. We suggest that Irish can be an important tool in the hands of speakers of diverse ethnicities and/or nationalities, a power that they can use in diverse ways, including to foster integration, avoid alienation, legitimise their presence in the country and fight against forms of discrimination. Yet, questions arise when the national heritage is passed on by individuals that many people do not consider 'national'. Do clashes occur between people who consider themselves to be of Irish ethnicity and nationality and Irish speakers of diverse ethnicities and/or nationalities? What are the reasons for the clashes and what are the consequences? This study offers some answers while pointing to the needs of more investigation of the subject.
Tragic collective events bring about long-term consequences for affected groups. These effects not only affect the immediate victims of trauma, but can also influence subsequent generations. In the ...present research, we examined the effects of minority language use on historical trauma. In a study of 237 Lemko participants, members of a severely victimized ethnic minority in Poland, we tested the effects of cognitive availability of historical trauma on three categories of trauma-related symptoms: emotional, behavioral, and depressive. The study found that minority language use is positively related to cognitive availability of trauma, but it also limits the effects of such availability on trauma-related symptoms. Based on this finding, we discuss the potential of minority language use to act as a social cure protecting from the negative psychological consequences of historical trauma.
Since the early 2000s, the Taiwanese government has been increasingly employing multiculturalism as a frame for imagining Taiwanese nationhood for political and economic strategy, aiming at ...strengthening ties with Southeast Asian countries. In recent years, the official imaginary of multicultural Taiwan has taken a new direction to include previously neglected groups of minorities, such as immigrants from Southeast Asian countries. In 2019, seven Southeast Asian languages were introduced into the national curriculum. While this reflects the government's desire to include immigrants' cultures and languages in the formal curriculum to promote a multicultural vision of Taiwanese identity, it also potentially creates a new avenue for immigrants to negotiate their identities in school classrooms. Through two case studies conducted at primary schools in New Taipei City, this study explores the interaction of local immigrant teachers and official identity discourses. Evaluating language education from a critical multicultural perspective, we argue that minority language instruction could be a catalyst for raising the status of the speakers of these languages in Taiwanese society, but only in so far as it signifies their genuine inclusion in the knowledge construction process.
