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Our paper discusses family language policies among multilingual families in Latvia with Russian as home language. The presentation is based on three case studies, i.e. interviews conducted with Russophones who have chosen to send their children to Latvian-medium pre-schools and schools. The main aim is to understand practices and regards among such families “from below,” i.e. which family-internal and family-external factors influenced the choice of Latvian-medium education and what impact this choice has on linguistic practices.
The paper shows that there have been critical events which both encouraged and discouraged the choice of Latvian-medium education. The wish to integrate into mainstream society has been met by obstacles both from ethnic Russians and Latvians. Yet, the three families consider their choices to be the right ones for the future development of their children in a multiethnic Latvia in which Latvian serves as the unifying language of society.
Aims and objectives:
Language debates in Latvia often focus on the role of Latvian as official and main societal language. Yet, Latvian society is highly multilingual, and families with home languages other than Latvian have to choose between different educational trajectories for their children. In this context, this paper discusses the results of two studies which addressed the question of why families with Russian as a home language choose (pre)schools with languages other than Russian as medium of instruction (MOI). The first study analyses family narratives which provide insight into attitudes and practices which lead to the decision to send children to Latvian-MOI institutions. The second study investigates language attitudes and practices by families in the international community of Riga German School.
Methodology:
The paper discusses data gathered during two studies: for the first, semi-structed interviews were conducted with Russian-speaking families who choose Latvian-medium schools for their children. For the second study, a survey was carried out in the community of an international school in Riga, sided by ethnographic observations and interviews with teachers and the school leadership.
Data and analysis:
Interviews and ethnographic observations were subjected to a discourse analysis with a focus on critical events and structures of life trajectory narratives. Survey data were processed following simple statistical analysis and qualitative content analysis.
Findings/conclusions:
Our data reveal that families highly embrace multilingualism and see the development of individual plurilingualism as important for integration into Latvian society as well as for educational and professional opportunities in the multilingual societies of Latvia and Europe. At the same time, multilingualism and multiculturalism, including Russian, are seen as a value in itself. In addition, our studies reflect the bidirectionality of family language policies in interplay with practices in educational institutions: family decisions influence children’s language acquisition at school, but the school also has an impact on the families’ language practices at home. In sum, we argue that educational policies should therefore pay justice to the wishes of families in Latvia to incorporate different language aspects into individual educational trajectories.
Originality:
Language policy is a frequent topic of investigation in the Baltic states. However, there has been a lack in research on family language policy and school choices. In this vein, our paper adds to the understanding of educational choices and language policy processes among Russian-speaking families and the international community in Latvia.
Der vorliegende, in das Themenheft einführende Text will einen Überblick über die Ursprünge, die wesentlichen Entwicklungen und die Perspektiven dieses jungen Forschungsgebietes geben. Er ist zunächst wissenschaftshistorisch angelegt, wird also zu Beginn auf einige Vorläuferstudien verweisen und dann versuchen, die Entwicklung der Auseinandersetzung mit den LL in ihren Grundlinien darzustellen und zentrale Themen und Anwendungsfelder, Methoden sowie Begriffe und Termini vorstellen. Im letzten Teil wird auf Forschungsdesiderate bzw. -perspektiven verwiesen. Dabei wird auch immer wieder die Relevanz dieses Ansatzes für den Deutschunterricht und andere Lehrsituationen angesprochen.
This paper discusses contemporary societal roles of German in the Baltic states (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania). Speaker and learner statistics and a summary of sociolinguistic research (Linguistic Landscapes, language learning motivation, language policies, international roles of languages) suggest that German has by far fewer speakers and functions than the national languages, English, and Russian, and it is not a dominant language in the contemporary Baltics anymore. However, German is ahead of ‘any other language’ in terms of users and societal roles as a frequent language in education, of economic relations, as a historical lingua franca, and a language of traditional and new minorities. Highly diverse groups of users and language policy actors form a ‘coalition of interested parties’ which creates niches which guarantee German a frequent use. In the light of the abundance of its functions, the paper suggests the concept ‘additional language of society’ for a variety such as German in the Baltics – since there seems to be no adequate alternative labelling which would do justice to all societal roles. The paper argues that this concept may also be used for languages in similar societal situations and, not least, be useful in language marketing and the promotion of multilingualism.
In the context of a Nordic Conference on Bilingualism, it can be a rewarding task to look at issues such as language planning, policy and legislation from a perspective of the southern neighbours of the Nordic world. This paper therefore intends to point attention towards a case of societal multilingualism at the periphery of the Nordic world by dealing with recent developments in language policy and legislation with regard to the North Frisian speech community in the German Land of Schleswig-Holstein. As I will show, it is striking to what degree there are considerable differences in the discourse on minority protection and language legislation between the Nordic countries and a cultural area which may arguably be considered to be part of the Nordic fringe - and which itself occasionally takes Scandinavia as a reference point, e.g. in the recent adoption of a pan-Frisian flag modelled on the Nordic cross (Falkena 2006).
The main focus of the paper will be on the Frisian Act which was passed in the Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein in late 2004. It provides a certain legal basis for some political activities with regard to Frisian, but falls short of creating a true spirit of minority language protection and/or revitalisation. In contrast to the traditions of the German and Danish minorities along the German-Danish border and to minority protection in Northern Scandinavia (in particular to Sámi language rights), the approach chosen in the Frisian Act is extremely weak and has no connotation of long-term oriented language-planning, let alone a rights-based perspective.
The paper will then look at policy developments in the time since the Act was passed, e.g. in the Schleswig-Holstein election campaign in 2005, and on latest perceptions of the Frisian language situation in the discourse on North Frisian Policy in Schleswig-Holstein majority society. In the final part of the paper, I will discuss reasons for the differences in minority language policy discourse between Germany and the Nordic countries, and try to provide an outlook on how Frisian could benefit from its geographic proximity to the Nordic world.
2008. godā tyka veikts pietejums, kura golvonais mierkis beja raksturuot niulenejū latgalīšu volūdys lūmu izgleiteibys sistemā. Itys roksts prezeņtej byutiskuokūs pietejuma rezultatus. Pietejuma īrūsme sajimta nu „Mercator Education Centre“ (Merkatora izgleiteibys centra), kas dorbojās Nīderlaņdē Ļuvortā (frīzu volūdā — Ljouwert), Frīzejis proviņcis golvyspiļsātā. Piļneigs pietejuma izvārsums ar Merkatora izgleiteibys centra atbolstu publicāts izdavumu serejā „Regional Dossier Series“ (Regionalūs dosje sereja) angļu volūdā. Itys roksts golvonom kuortom dūmuots taidam adresatam, kas mozuok ir saisteits ar Eiropys volūdu izpietis institucejom i kam roksti angļu volūdā var saguoduot izpratnis voi atrasšonys gryuteibys. Partū pietejuma suokumā teik dūts seikuoks metožu i mierķu raksturuojums, paskaidrojūt pietejuma strukturu i rezultatu apkūpuojuma veidu, kai ari dūts puorskots par latgalīšu volūdys lūmu myusdīnu izgleiteibys sistemā. Sacynuojumūs ir īzeimātys nuokūtnis perspektivis i prīšklykumi dabuotūs rezultatu izmontuojumam.
Raksta mērķis ir izvērtēt lingvistiskās ainavas laukā paveikto, apkopojot piecu gadu pieredzi un ieskicējot nākotnes perspektīvas turpmākajos pētījumos un studiju procesa satura plānojumā. Rakstā pamatā ir izmantota deskriptīvā pētniecības metode un kontentanalīze. Būtiskākie secinājumi: Lingvistiskās ainavas izpēte dažādās teritoriālajās vienībās Baltijas valstīs ir notikusi kopš 2008. gada, iesaistot arī studentus un vidusskolēnus. Lingvistiskās ainavas izpētes un metodoloģijas pilnveides rezultātā Rēzeknes Augstskolā (turpmāk – RA) ir izveidota kvantitatīvo un kvalitatīvo datu bāze, izstrādāti daudzveidīgi individuālie un kolektīvie pētījumi.Turpmāk ir plānots lielāku uzmanību veltīt Latgales skolu ainavai un citu iestāžu mikrovides izpētei, Latgales pilsētu datu salīdzinājumam ar citu Eiropas valstu reģionu lingvistisko ainavu, korelējot kvantitatīvos datus ar diskursa analīzes daudzveidīgo pieeju iespējām.
This article looks at Latgalian from a perspective of a classification of languages. It starts by discussing relevant terms relating to sociolinguistic language types. It argues that Latgalian and its speakers show considerable similarities with many languages in Europe which are considered to be regional languages – hence, also Latgalian should be classified as such. In a second part, the article uses sociolinguistic data to indicate that the perceptions of speakers confirm this classification. Therefore, Latgalian should also officially be treated with the respect that other regional languages in Europe enjoy.
Durch den Dezentralisierungsprozess in Großbritannien gibt es seit etwa einem Jahr neue Hoffnung für ein dauerhaftes Überleben der gälischen Sprache in Schottland. Mit der Einrichtung eines schottischen Parlaments, das seit Mai 1999 für innere Belange Schottlands verantwortlich ist, ist die gälischsprachige Bevölkerung viel näher an das Machtzentrum heran gerückt.
Das hier vorgestellte Dissertationsvorhaben am Institut für Englische Philologie der Freien Universität Berlin möchte der Frage auf den Grund gehen, welche Veränderungen in der Sprachpolitik gegenüber bedrohten Sprachen durch die Einrichtung dezentraler Parlamente erreicht werden können. Untersucht wird die Sprachpolitik gegenüber der gälischen Sprache in Schottland sowie der samischen Sprache in Norwegen. Kern der Untersuchungen wird dabei die Frage sein, welche politischen Initiativen zur Sprachunterstützung es in den letzten Jahren gegeben hat. Insbesondere soll darauf eingegangen werden, dass es mit dem Schottischen Parlament sowie dem Sameting in Norwegen jetzt parlamentarische Vertretungen gibt, in denen die jeweilige Sprachgruppe wesentlich größeren Einfluss geltend machen kann als dies vormals der Fall war.