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Jeroen Darquennes (Namur)

Convergences and divergences in the language policy of the Council of Europe and the European Commission. Jeroen Darquennes (Namur). Introduction. Language policy (based on Ricento 2000: 23)

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Jeroen Darquennes (Namur)

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  1. Convergences and divergences in the language policy of the Council of Europe and the European Commission Jeroen Darquennes (Namur)

  2. Introduction

  3. Language policy (based on Ricento 2000: 23) • a body of ideas, laws, regulations, rules and practices intended to bring about language change in a society, a group or a system. • may be realized at a number of levels, ranging from very formal documents and pronouncements (laws, decrees, ministerial directives, circular letters of school authorities, etc.) to more informal statements of intent (i.e. the discourse of language, politics and society).

  4. Language policy at the level of the EC and the CoE • broad topic • approach = restricted, preliminary, parsimonious • based on limited number of recent policy documents • based on own observations & literature • bird’s eye-view • background: existing theory on individual/ societal multilingualism

  5. Structure • brief historical overview • current policy trends related to individual / societal multilingualism • challenges (food for thought)

  6. Historical overview

  7. The early years

  8. The 1980s

  9. The 1990s

  10. Entering 2000

  11. Joint declaration … • < informal collaboration • < formal collaboration • Year of Languages ( Day of Languages) • Agreement between EU and CoE in 2007 for more cooperation (among other things in the field of education and culture)

  12. Joint declaration ‘lists’ shared values and principles • Respect for linguistic diversity • all languages (including less widely used and taught, migrant & sign languages) • Language learning for all • ability to understand & use several languages  helps citizens to achieve full social and professional potential • Need to develop plurilingual and intercultural education • < increasing mobility, globalisation of the economy, changing economic trends

  13. Joint declaration: ‘combined discourse’ • Are indeed shared values, yet it is clear that … • EC: puts more emphasis on competitiveness, economy, ... • CoE: puts more emphasis on cohesion, democratic citizenship, …

  14. current policy trends

  15. In order to grasp trends: classical distinction between … • individual multilingualism • societal multilingualism

  16. Individual multilingualism • Points of attention (cf. Mackey 2005) • Which languages / language varieties? • How many? • When, where and how acquired? • In what order? • How well are they known? • How are they used?

  17. Tried to find answers in … • EC’s ‘Framework strategy …’ (2005) & ‘Multilingualism: an asset’ (2008) • CoE’s documents on ‘plurilingual education’

  18. Plurilingualism / Dynamic multilingualism means that persons ... • use their languages / language varieties ... • in different contexts • for different purposes • with different interlocutors • do not need the same level of competence in all situations, let alone all the skills

  19. No need for symmetrical skills in all the languages belonging to one’s repertoire • Multilingual communication cannot only take place between people with identical repertoire but also between people with semi-identical or totally different repertoire • EC document (2008) stresses the possibility to rely on “linguistic nodes” • translators / interpreters • professionals / amateurs

  20. « To ease access to services and ensure smooth integration, some communities make basic necessary information available in different languages and rely on multilingual people to act as cultural mediators and interpreters. In particular, metropolitan areas and tourist resorts in Europe have gained considerable experience in coping with the need of foreigners who do not speak the local language. The Commission attaches great importance to this and will support the dissemination of good practices in this area. » (EC 2008: 6)  raises questions on ‘societal multilingualism’

  21. Societal multilingualism • According to Mackey (2005) it covers … • Multilingual institutions • families, schools, companies, … • organized by more structured forms of multilingualism • Multilingual communities • distribution, function, status of languages / language varieties

  22. Issue of societal multilingualism is touched upon in consulted documents • ‘institutions’: promotion of CLIL / plurilingual education in schools • ‘communities’: endorse the need to promote European linguistic diversity (RMLs, immigrant languages) + recognize the transversal nature of multilingualism and need to find ways to manage linguistic (hyper)diversity • Role of the ECRML and the FCPNM at the CoE-level

  23. What should be added … • no power to interfere with state affairs (field of languages & education) • take the trouble to develop policy guides (certainly at level of the CoE, increasingly so at level of the EC) • put considerable financial means at the disposal that can be used to develop initiatives that could contribute to the development of a multilingual society

  24. Challenges

  25. challenges • mainly to be understood as research challenges that could fuel future policy

  26. Societal multilingualism • need to find clever ways of managing the linguistic (hyper)diversity in and beyond education • Jørgensen/ Kristiansen (2000: 167): role of sociolinguistics for the 21st century is “to formulate the agenda for the discussion über den Status und die Funktion der Volkssprachen. … More precisely die Aufgabe de la sociolinguistique sera de formuler les thèmes de discussion concerning linguistic rights in everyday practice.”

  27. at least two challenges (related to ‘language conflict’): • find clever ways of remodelling the role of languages in the administrative functioning of member states that were mostly given shape in the era of nationalisation • think about / rethink the role of multilingualism in the life of the population of a state – a population that in very broad terms can be subdivided into the majority and the (indiginous, immigrant, affluent) minority/ies.

  28. Who is supposed to adapt his/her language use to whom, in which domains of (private, semi-official, official) language use, why, and in which way? • No ‘one size fits all’ answer. Catalogue of solutions?

  29. The EC’s MT +>2 objective • ‘theory’ vs. real life • less than half of the EU’s inhabitants know two languages next to their mother tongue • most dominating ‘foreign’ language is English (which seems to hamper the learning of other second languages, cf. Kelly 2010) • blame English or use English (L3 acquisition, trilingual education)? • (further?) attune CLIL and Plurilingual Education?

  30. …

  31. To conclude

  32. Many of the ideas expressed are in need of further elaboration • other policy documents need to be consulted • things need to be scrutinized in the light of other similar approaches

  33. Contact Pluri-LL – Groupe de Recherche sur le Plurilinguisme Université de Namur Rue de Bruxelles 61 B-5000 Namur http://www.fundp.ac.be/lettres/pluri-ll/

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