Languages have deep political significance beyond communication: a common language can strengthen cultural bonds and social trust, or it may exacerbate cultural differences and power imbalances. ...Language regimes that emerge from political bargains can centralize power by favoring the language of one ethnolinguistic group, share power by recognizing multiple mother tongues, or neutralize power through the use of a lingua franca. Cultural egoism, communicative efficiency, or collective equality determines the choice. As Amy H. Liu demonstrates, the conditions surrounding the choice of a language regime also have a number of implications for a nation's economy.
Standardizing Diversityexamines the relationship between the distribution of linguistic power and economic growth. Using a newly assembled dataset of all language-in-education policies in Asia from 1945 to 2005 and drawing on fieldwork data from Malaysia and Singapore, Liu shows language regimes that recognize a lingua franca exclusively-or at least above all others-tend to develop social trust, attract foreign investment, and stimulate economic growth. Particularly at high levels of heterogeneity, the recognition of a lingua franca fosters equality and facilitates efficiency. Her findings challenge the prevailing belief that linguistic diversity inhibits economic growth, suggesting instead that governments in even the most ethnically heterogeneous countries have institutional tools to standardize their diversity and to thrive economically.
By integrating two important areas of scholarly concern - the evolution and articulation of language rights in Canada, and the history of multiculturalism in the country - Haque provides powerful ...insight into ongoing asymmetries between Canada's various cultural and linguistic groups.
This book explores how high-stakes tests mandated by No Child Left Behind have become de facto language policy in U.S. schools, detailing how testing has shaped curriculum and instruction, and the ...myriad ways that tests are now a defining force in the daily lives of English Language Learners and the educators who serve them.
This book traces translation and interpreting practices in the Habsburg Empire’s (1848-1918) administration, courts and diplomatic service, and takes account of the “habitualised” translation carried ...out in everyday life. It then details the flows of translation among the Habsburg crownlands and between these and other European languages, with a special focus on Italian–German exchange. Applying a broad concept of “cultural translation” and working with sociological tools, the book addresses the mechanisms by which translation and interpreting constructs cultures, and delineates a model of the Habsburg Monarchy’s “pluricultural space of communication” that is also applicable to other multilingual settings. German version of the book: http://e-book.fwf.ac.at/o:18
Das Buch befasst sich mit der Übersetzungs- und Dolmetschpraxis der Habsburgermonarchie zwischen 1848 und 1918 in der Verwaltung, bei Gericht, im diplomatischen Dienst und als tägliche Alltagspraxis. Analysiert werden ebenso die Übersetzungsströme zwischen den einzelnen Sprachen der Kronländer und mit Ländern außerhalb der Monarchie; der Fokus dieser Untersuchungen wird schließlich auf die Übersetzungen aus dem Italienischen gelegt. Unter Anwendung des Konzepts der „kulturellen Übersetzung“ und auf Pierre Bourdieu basierender translationsoziologischer Methoden untersucht das Buch die kulturkonstruierenden Mechanismen von Translation und skizziert einen „plurikulturellen Kommunikationsraum der Habsburgermonarchie“, der auch auf andere mehrsprachige Räume anwendbar ist. Deutsche Version des Buches: http://e-book.fwf.ac.at/o:18
Language politics in the new global era presents policymakers with significant ethical challenges. How should the reality of English as a global language influence the normative considerations ...underpinning national language policies? What moral arguments justify the imposition of national languages in an era of increased immigration and ethnolinguistic diversity? What role is there for non-dominant varieties in a globalised world? Building on the emerging notion of 'normative language policy', this book proposes an integrated framework for the study of such questions, combining recent normative work on language in political theory and philosophy with empirically-derived insight from the fields of sociolinguistics and applied linguistics. The case of Quebec forms the backdrop of the study, providing a particularly illuminating setting for investigating the common moral challenges that face contemporary polities seeking to maintain distinct linguistic identities, in an irreducibly diverse world increasingly dominated by English as a global lingua franca.
English-Only Europe? explores the role of languages in the process of European integration. Languages are central to the development of an integrated Europe. The way in which the European Union deals ...with multilingualism has serious implications for both individual member countries and international relations. In this book, Robert Phillipson considers whether the contemporary expansion of English represents a serious threat to other European languages. After exploring the implications of current policies, Phillipson argues the case for more active language policies to safeguard a multilingual Europe. Drawing on examples of countries with explicit language policies such as Canada and South Africa, the book sets out Phillipson's vision of an inclusive language policy for Europe, and describes how it can be attained.
Recently, in the wake of the Bologna Declaration and similar international initiatives, there has been a rapid increase in the number of university courses and programmes taught through the medium of ...English. Surveys have consistently shown the Nordic countries to be at the forefront of this trend towards English-medium instruction (EMI). In this paper, we discuss the introduction of EMI in four Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden). We present the educational setting and the EMI debate in each of these countries and summarize relevant research findings. We then make some tentative suggestions for the introduction of EMI in higher education in other countries. In particular, we are interested in university language policies and their relevance for the day-to-day work of faculty. We problematize one-size-fits-all university language policies, suggesting that in order for policies to be seen as relevant they need to be flexible enough to take into account disciplinary differences. In this respect, we make some specific suggestions about the content of university language policies and EMI course syllabuses. Here we recommend that university language policies should encourage the discussion of disciplinary literacy goals and require course syllabuses to detail disciplinary-specific language-learning outcomes.
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