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Mercator Network of Language Diversity Centres
Annual Report 2009 – Language Education
Table of Content
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Introduction of the Mercator Network – Partners, Themes, Visions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
a. Findings of the Workshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
b. Findings of the Conference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
i. Involvement of immigrants in multilingual education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
ii. Innovative Teaching Systems – Language Transmission outside school . . . . . . . . . 20
iii. Minority Language Education and its challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Outcome of the discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
iv. Promotion of language outside the formal education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Swedish as an Asset – Ways to promote Swedish language and culture
in Finland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Promotion of a language outside formal education: “our language is cool”
– and – How to reach youth: Froeks.TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Teenage Ankst – How a record label made the Welsh language cool. . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
v. Scaling up processes in language legislation in Europe. A need to protect
its achievements from downgrading threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Conclusions of the Annual Report 2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Recommendations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
a. Research Recommendations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
b. Policy recommendations on all levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
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Foreword, Jeroen Darquennes (Namur)
In the past decade the European Commission has put considerable effort in shaping a coherent language policy for the EU under the flag of multilingualism. In this respect it has
published two official communications: A New Framework Strategy for Multilingualism
(COM(2005) 596 final) and Multilingualism: an asset for Europe and a shared commitment
(COM(2008) 566 final). The 2005 communication, i.e. the first Commission communication
that explores multilingualism as a policy area, favours the idea of setting up a European network of “Language Diversity Centres”. Where possible, the network should build on existing
structures. In the years following the 2005 communication this idea has taken shape through
the creation of funding lines that aim at supporting networks such as the Mercator Network
of Language Diversity Centres, a network that was launched in 2009.
Besides the formerly EU-funded Mercator Centres in Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, Barcelona and
Aberysthwyth the Mercator Network also incorporates the Research Institute for Linguistics
of the Hungarian Academy of Science (located in Budapest) and Mälardalen University’s Centre for Finnish Studies (located in Eskilstuna). With the Mercator European
... the Mercator Network is intended to be a
Research Centre on Multilingualism
platform for the exchange of research results,
and Language Learning (Ljouwert/
Leeuwarden) as a leading partner, the
information, experience and good practice in
Mercator Network is intended to be a
the field of language learning and linguistic
platform for the exchange of research
diversity.
results, information, experience and
good practice in the field of language
learning and linguistic diversity. The resolution that was drafted at the occasion of the network’s first meeting on the 5th of March 2009, the network’s first annual report and an active
participation in some of the network’s activities allow for the following general characterisation of the network’s guiding principles:
- the Mercator Network aims for an inclusive approach to multilingualism and
linguistic diversity
Although each of the partners shows a special interest for European autochthonous minority
languages and the network states the importance of the recognition of these languages in
scientific research in the European Union, the scope of the Mercator Network is all but limited to autochthonous minority languages. Next to autochthonous minority languages, the
network also embraces immigrant languages, sign languages and national languages as being essential parts of the European language mosaic. The network wants to take the interplay
between the different constituents of multilingual reality as a starting point to fuel multidimensional and multidisciplinary reflexions on future (supra)national and regional language
policy and planning initiatives in Europe. In doing so, it acts in line with the vision expressed
in the European Commission’s communications on multilingualism, the final report of the
High Level Group on Multilingualism and the language policy documents of the Council of
Europe.
- the Mercator Network emphasizes the importance of language learning inside
and outside of formal settings as a prerequisite for the advancement of the individual multilingualism of the EU-citizens and as a prerequisite for the maintenance of the EU’s linguistic diversity
Being aware of the EU’s general language learning objective (mother tongue + 2) and the
importance of the concept of lifelong learning for the advancement of the European knowl-
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edge economy, the Mercator Network investigates and calls for an investigation of ways to
optimize (the organization of) language learning and multilingual education in formal educational settings and to optimize (the organization of) teacher training in respect of language
learning and multilingual education in formal educational settings. The network partners,
however, also comply with the sociolinguistic maxim that schools alone can neither be made
responsible for raising the individual multilingualism of European citizens, nor for the continuation of societal multilingualism through ensuring the so-called intergenerational mothertongue transmission in minority language communities. As a consequence, they also stress
the need for and are involved in research on best practices in the field of language learning
outside of formal education.
- the Mercator Network scrutinizes the role of language as a factor in the creation
of social cohesion, as a factor contributing to economic prosperity and as a factor
that is constitutive of multiple (i.e. European, national, regional, local) identities
Through addressing the role of language as related to social cohesion and prosperity the
Mercator Network in a constructive way wants to discuss the linkage between the European
Commission’s policy on multilingualism and linguistic diversity and the central objectives of
the Lisbon strategy. On the one hand,
the goal of this discussion is to gain
Even though the Mercator Network has only
a better insight in the mechanisms
been running for one year now, it can already
through which languages as typical
social constructs do, could or should
present a track-record that clearly shows that
try to contribute to the realization of
the partners succeed in meeting up to the
the Lisbon objectives. On the other
original intention of the network.
hand, this discussion allows for a
better consideration of these mechanisms in language policy and planning initiatives at various levels. In the same vein, the network partners also question the role of language in the crystallization of multiple identities
as promoted by the European Union as it stresses unity in diversity.
- the Mercator Network actively stimulates the participation of junior upcoming
researchers, policy makers, language professionals and representatives of immigrant, minority and majority language groups in the network’s activities in order
to assure an adequate transfer of knowledge, expertise and research results and
to help raise linguistic awareness on as many societal levels as possible
The Mercator Network not only functions as a platform (or: a hub) for the partners involved
in the network. It also takes care to involve members of the active networks of each of the
partners in the network activities, makes sure to strengthen the ties with other EC-funded
networks on linguistic diversity (such as NPLD, the Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity)
and invites policy makers and language professionals as well as language group representatives to network activities. Special care is taken of the transfer of knowledge and expertise
to young(er) people active in the field of multilingualism and linguistic diversity. The reason behind this is that precisely these people bank on the future and are a precious link in
spreading the message that individual and societal multilingualism are normal phenomena
that are part of the way of life of many European citizens.
Even though the Mercator Network has only been running for one year now, it can already
present a track-record that clearly shows that the partners succeed in meeting up to the original intention of the network. Active at the forefront of the European research on individual
as well as societal aspects of multilingualism, the network’s partners jointly contribute in a
most constructive way to the advancement of a coherent European language policy.
6
Introduction of the Mercator Network – Partners, Themes, Visions
The Mercator Network of Language Diversity Centres consists of 5 partners institutes that
are dedicated to support and further linguistic diversity in Europe.
The lead partner Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language
Learning gathers and mobilises expertise in the field of language learning at school, at home
and through cultural participation in favour of linguistic diversity of Europe. The Centre,
which is part of the Fryske Akademy, is an independent and recognised reference centre for
policy-makers and professional workers in the field of multilingual education and language
learning.
As further partner Mercator Linguistic Rights and Legislation, which is part of CIEMEN, offers resources for researchers and scholars in the field of law, as well as for lawmakers and
policy-makers responsible for the regulation and treatment of multilingualism in Europe.
Mercator Legislation also carries out permanent monitoring work regarding the official recognition of languages and their juridical status. In its research, the centre focuses on models
or linguistic regimes and the regulatory framework for the protection of the linguistic rights
of the European population.
The Research Institute for Linguistics (founded in 1949, and placed under the direction of the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1951) researches Hungarian linguistics, general, theoretical and applied linguistics, Uralic linguistics and phonetics, as well as the preparation of a
comprehensive dictionary of the Hungarian language, and the maintenance of its archival
materials. Other research projects investigate various aspects and different variants of Hungarian as well as minority languages in and outside Hungary, including issues of language
policy within the framework of European integration.
Established in 1988, the Mercator Institute for Media, Languages and Culture (which includes
Mercator-Media) is a research centre at the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, at Aberystwyth University, Wales. It hosts a number of projects specialising in languages, creative and literary translation, media, publishing and culture, with much of the activity
based around European and world-wide networks.
The Centre for Finnish Studies at the Mälardalen University was established in 2003 as a
result of governmental, regional and local strivings to support the Sweden Finish language
and culture, following the requirements of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which was ratified by
Sweden in 2000. The primary objec... the Mercator Network is one of the few
tive of the Centre is to study and inEU funded Networks, which includes and
form about the linguistic, cultural,
labels Regional or Minority Languages and
social and political conditions, which
influence the position of Sweden
immigrant minority languages as part of
Finnish. It attempts to relate this to
linguistic diversity.
the national and international development of other regional and minority languages. A major dimension of this task is to study and inform about both specific and
general characteristics of bilingual/multilingual minorities. The Centre aims at improving its
international networking at a European level.
With its cooperation the Network intends to harmonise research in order to complement
practical and project oriented work of people with minority language interest.
One underlying thought is that “minority” and “majority” are not two separate boxes, but a
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whole and ideally holistic continuum of people using a continuum of values, identities, cultures and languages. Whereas many other EU Networks only reflect nation state languages,
the Mercator Network is one of the few EU funded Networks, which includes and labels
Regional or Minority Languages and immigrant minority languages as part of linguistic diversity. The Mercator Network underlines the place of those languages in the continuum of
state languages, cross border languages, less widely taught and used, minority and regional
languages. Within these, special attention shall be given to the accommodation of immigrant and sign languages, whose speakers are confronted with the acquisition of a country’s
majority language, sometimes concurrently with a regional language as well as with the
consolidation and maintenance of their own language.
On their first meeting on the 5th March 2009 the five partners confirmed these themes
and visions. The resolutions of this first meeting were:
1. to reach new generations of minority language experts as well as new generations of minority language users in order to broaden the basis for linguistic diversity
2. to raise public awareness of language related public issues amongst speakers
and non-speakers of minority and smaller state languages
3. to follow an inclusive approach, with the focal point being the question where
language is an influential factor when it comes to social cohesion, economic
prosperity and the meaning of regional uniqueness, not only with regard to regional and smaller state languages but also comprising immigrant minorities or
sign languages 4. the promotion of mutual understanding and cooperation. With this the Network
shall gain Europe wide importance and influence, e.g. by aiming to feed into the
next EU communication.
To get the best outcome, the Mercator Network exploits the interdisciplinary composition and the varied expertise of its partners as well as that of experts invited to the
workshops and conferences.
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a. Findings of the Workshop
On the 7th an 8th March 2009 the first workshop of the Mercator Network took place in
Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
The aim of this workshop was to furIn addition to the participating Network
ther define the general outcomes and
partners 8 experts in the field of language
goals of the Network’s activities, by
preparing the first Mercator Network
learning and minority languages took ...
conference in September 2009.
In addition to the participating Network partners 8 experts (1) in the field of language learning
and minority languages took part. During the workshop they were asked to contribute to the
following questions:
1. From your point of view, in which way does multilingual education contribute to
social cohesion in a multicultural society?
2. Do you think the integration of immigrant languages and Regional or Minority
Languages into multilingual education contributes to the economic prosperity of a
country as a whole?
3. In what way does multilingual education contribute to the awareness of regional
uniqueness / regional identity of both inhabitants and newcomers?
1 The Experts taking part in the Workshop were James Costa (Institut National de Recherche Pédagogique,
Lyon), Jeroen Darquennes (Université de Namur), Kristina Kovacic (Slovene Research Institute), Gwyn
Lewis (Prifysgol Bangor University, Gwynedd, Cymru/Wales), Eva Pons (University Barcelona – Faculty
of Law), Boyd Robertson (Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Isle of Skye, Scotland), Alastair Walker (Nordfriesische
Wörterbuchstelle, Universität Kiel), Tomasz Wicherkiewicz (Uniwersytet Poznan) and the Experts of the
Mercator Network Partner Institutes.
9
Opinions and ideas that arose during the discussion of each question were noted on flip
charts. By the end of the discussion sessions these notes were organised into topics, which
were then ranked according to the participants’ appreciation. This way the topics for the September conference were constituted. Also general ideas for future research, suggestions for
papers and recommendations on speakers were made. These ideas, suggestions and recommendations will further be used for the Network’s activities and were also incorporated in
the concept of the conference in September 2009.
The topics considered most important for this conference were visible in the call for abstracts. There the speakers were asked to present on the underneath listed topics. The papers
handed in referring to these topics were then presented and discussed under the provided
workshop titles:
a. Involvement of immigrants in multilingual education
b. Economic and social value of learning of RML, immigrant and foreign languages
 “Involvement of immigrants in multilingual education”
c. Developments in tri-lingual education
d. Continuity between school systems
 “Innovative teaching systems”
e. The role of Multilingual Education in relation to the Multicultural Society
 “Minority Language Education and its challenges”
f. Promotion of a language outside formal education: “our language is cool” -> Innovative teaching systems / Promotion of language outside formal education
 “Promotion of language outside the formal education”
g. Testing of language skills
 For this topic no papers were submitted
In addition to providing the Network with inspiration and practical ideas on the shaping of
the September ’09 conference, the workshop participants were asked to send in a text in
writing on the 3 questions already asked during the workshop. This way the Network was trying to not only extract the participants’ spontaneous ideas and answers but also learn their
contemplated opinions.
This is the summary of the answers provided, according to each of the questions:
1. From your point of view, in which way does multilingual education contribute
to social cohesion in a multicultural society?
First the question was raised about the definition of what a multicultural society actually is.
Does this term only refer to a multicultural society of indigenous cultures or rather only with
newcomers? However, then one also would need to discuss whether it is necessary to make
this difference (Walker). According to the workshop participants different models of multilingual education should be applied depending on the kind of multicultural society – whether
it applies to a model where not fully integrated immigrant groups are split into several subsocieties, which do not share many or any social features, or whether it applies to a model
10
where several different autochthonous language groups are embedded in the social system
(Wicherkiewicz). It was agreed that multilingual education can promote acceptance of all cultures and languages. As one example
the case of the re-immigrated Crimean Tartars in Crimea was provided: a
... multilingual education can promote
model was introduced in which Taracceptance of all cultures and languages.
tarian children receive language education in their mother tongue, while
simultaneously the other pupils of the school would receive lessons in the ABC of the Tartar
language. This way the school curriculum could successfully contribute to the social cohesion within the local society (Wicherkiewicz).
However, the question is to what extend all languages can be included in one school curriculum? In the case of one dominant language plus one community language models might
be easily found. But what happens if a school has to cater for several community languages?
One major problem could spring from a lack of resources (Walker).
2.Do you think the integration of immigrant languages and regional minority
languages into multilingual education contributes to the economic prosperity
of a country as a whole?
Experts had difficulties finding satisfactory definitions for the different terms mentioned in
the question. With regard to integration, the subsequent question was formulated from what
minimum and to what maximum extent immigrant languages and regional minority languages should be integrated into education in order to have a positive effect. Further the
term economic prosperity gave rise to the question, whether this is in fact the general goal
of society. Finally, the experts wondered whether the unit ‘country as a whole’ is justified
(Walker). This is a critical question as for the same question regarded from the regional or
municipality point of view, the response is most probably positive (Wicherkiewicz). Alternatively the question could phrased differently: what non-integration of languages would cost
the state, in reference to burning suburbs of Paris (Walker). More questions were raised:
whether children will use their abilities to the benefit of the society and whether pupils’ native multilingualism may help to conquer commercial markets due to their relevant levels of
communication (Walker). Are naturally multilingual people more flexible, creative, adaptable
etc? The example of Wales was mentioned to explain why on the other hand it is important for
the economy to understand which role industry and agriculture plays in shaping a regional
character, also in respect to politics
and culture (Lewis). The reinforced
... the integration of immigrant languages into
feeling of regional uniqueness can
multilingual education does not only touch
result from and accompany the ecoon the enhancement of economic prosperity
nomic development of the district/
county/province etc (Wicherkiewicz).
but also on the protection of certain profitable
The discussion on the integration of
economic structures already in place.
immigrant languages into multilingual education therefore does not
only touch on the enhancement of economic prosperity but also on the protection of certain
profitable economic structures already in place.
On the basis of all subsequent questions the original question raised, it was agreed that too
few study projects are known have made a qualified exploration about the topic.
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3.In what way does multilingual education contribute to the awareness of
regional uniqueness / regional identity of both, inhabitants and newcomers?
It was stated that the concept of Multilingual Education means different things to different
people (Walker). For example in the first chapter of Ofelia Garcia’s latest publication (2) this
concept was classified according to four different reasons
1. Regional uniqueness - referring to the question of what is local language, food or customs,
2. Regional identity – referring to the question whether such things exists, which constitute a certain identity,
3. Inhabitants and 4. Newcomers - referring to the question of whether their origins matter strongly (from a country far away or the village at the other side of the river) and
when, in a continuum, newcomers become locals.
Multilingual education can show pupils that a language is recognised as a language, which is
used and accepted in the community. It can be important that pupils get the opportunity to at
least talk about a language rather than conceal it (Walker). However, the appropriate amount
of time, which is dedicated to a language, is also of importance – a single hour per week
after school might have a negative influence on the status of a language in a community. A
lot of pupils’ awareness of a language also depends on the teacher. So the value systems
the teachers experience in place at their training institutes during their education become
relevant. A language community’s situation should be reflected in a European context and,
in association with that, also the cooperation with the language community needs to be part
of tertiary education (Walker).
The Welsh example shows what can be done to develop pupils’ awareness of a Welsh identity in a multicultural society. Here the pupils can be given a sense of place and heritage,
and belonging by means of the important part language and literature has always played in
school education (Lewis). By recognising that there are many different levels of fluency in
Welsh also the non-native Welsh speakers are invited to embrace the Welsh identity as part
of their own and also become part of it.
By encompassing regional aspects in a school’s profile, using the language to create a school
ethos that reflects the school’s position as a school in Wales, people will become more aware
of both the school and the regional aspects.
With regard to multilingual education for immigrants it can be discussed whether regional
identity is something, which newcomers attach to the place where they originally come from
or something, which they find at the
new place and which they can inter... a certain degree of awareness of the
nalise as their own. Based on that disregional politics needs to exist already as
cussion the question is whether mula prerequisite to put in place multilingual
tilingual education should answer the
question of people’s opportunities to
education ...
either internalise an identity deriving
from the place where they now live or
become aware of an identity they ‘imported’ from the place they once came from? (Walker)
2 García, Ophelia; Bilingual Education in the 21st Century – A global perspective, John Wiley & Sons Ltd,
Chichester, UK, 2009
12
It has to be considered that a certain degree of awareness of the regional politics needs to exist already as a prerequisite to put in place multilingual education, which then again is meant
to create more regional awareness. This political regional awareness can come from bottom
up or top down, encompassing all levels of society (Walker).
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b. Findings of the Conference
The Conference took place in Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, Netherlands, on 17th and 18th September.
Each day started with a keynote speech, which gave deeper and more general insights to one
or several workshop topics, discussed that day.
The working scheme was organised in five workshops, which were preceded by introductive
presentations. These presentations were functioning as practice examples on the general
topic of the workshops and later functioned as basis for the subsequent discussions.
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i. Involvement of immigrants in multilingual education
The first workshop was in fact based on three presentations: The keynote presentation given
by Guus Extra on inclusive perspectives on minority languages in Europe, the presentation
on the status of Welsh in Argentina was led by Ian Johnson and a final presentation on a bilingual picture reading book project in Germany was delivered by Havva Engin.
Although these papers had very different foci, they all suggested why and how immigrant
languages in Europe could find more recognition in the educational system.
Inclusive perspectives on minority languages in Europe
In his presentation Guus Extra critically illuminated the difference in rights and status given
to immigrant languages in Europe in comparison to other languages used and advocates for
an equalisation between them as a prerequisite for an improved education (3).
He started with an explanation of the language hierarchy in Europe in which he identifies
English as being the most prestigious language, in which it is followed by official state languages, descending further to regional or minority (henceforward RM) languages and rendering immigrant (henceforward IM) languages at the lowest level of prestige. Therefore
IM languages are only marginally covered by EU language promotion programmes, which
mainly support provisions of learning the national languages of the country of residence.
He made the point that the EU “Mother tongue+2” policy totally ignores the fact that for
many EU inhabitants the concept of
mother tongue does not coincide
... the EU “Mother tongue+2” policy totally
with the official language of the state
ignores the fact that for many EU inhabitants
they live in. Furthermore, the concept
of “+2” encompasses languages of
the concept of mother tongue does not
two other states, thus language with
coincide with the official language of the state
high prestige, one of them probably
they live in.
being English. In this respect the term
neighbouring language always refers
to a neighbouring country, but not to language spoken by the next door neighbours.
He pointed out that it is very contradictory that on the one hand diversity of languages and
cultures is seen as prerequisite for European identity but on the other hand this very same
sort of diversity is regarded as threat to national identity and an obstacle for integration
within a nation state.
Even on the basis of the amount of users, the difference in status of languages is totally unjustified, as across EU member states many RM and IM languages have larger numbers of
speakers than many of the official state languages. This illegitimacy also counts for the distinctions made between RM and IM languages. The distinction between historical and new
minorities is especially unjust as it is the reason why states “assign policies that privilege
certain identities and damage others for numerical or historical reasons” (p 29).
Regarding the difference, which is further made in respect to IM and RM languages Prof Extra pointed out that it is curious that the teaching of RM languages is generally argued for as
prerequisite to social fairness, social cohesion, group identity or economic benefit, while such
argumentation does not seem to be valid for the teaching of IM languages. Also the fact that
3 For more information see Annex pp. 3-12
15
many recognised RM languages are
official languages in other European
states makes the non recognition of
IM languages questionable. He therefore pleads to correct the commonly
made distinction between historical
and new minorities and to replace
unilateral processes of integration of
IM groups in particular nation states
with democratic management of cultural diversity on the basis of inclusive citizenship.
... is curious that the teaching of RM languages
is generally argued for as prerequisite to social
fairness, social cohesion, group identity or
economic benefit, while such argumentation
does not seem to be valid for the teaching of
IM languages.
For a successful approach to such democratic management which also tackles the challenges of integrating newcomers into the
state’s education system, basic knowlIt remains a paradoxical phenomenon that
edge and empirical facts about multilanguage policies and language planning
lingualism and home language data
in multicultural contexts often occur in the
is required. Prof Extra concluded “It
remains a paradoxical phenomenon
absence of knowledge and empirical facts
that language policies and language
abour multilingualism and home language.
planning in multicultural contexts
often occur in the absence of [such
knowledge]”.
An immigrant language in South America – The status of Welsh in Argentina as a regional
minority language compared with European immigrant languages
By presenting the example of the Welsh-speaking community in Argentina Ian Johnson
brought up the question of what constitutes a traditional minority (4). For this he also referred
to the hierarchy of languages in which IM languages rank last and in which RM languages are
legitimised through prolonged existence within a particular area. By explaining the reason
why the Welsh community in Argentina wants to maintain Welsh as a community language
- to keep in touch with family history, to converse with other family members in their language, understand their family origins – Mr Johnson pointed out that the same reasons are
true for recent immigrant groups in Europe. Thus these groups prove to have similar needs
and characteristics as the Welsh community: language maintenance motivations, transnationality, ethnolinguistic vitality, need
for education. It is unlikely however
... the acceptance and respect of the state’s
that the status of Welsh in Argentina
civic society is a highly necessary prerequisite
would be granted to more recent imfor bilingual groups not to be regarded as a
migrant groups to Europe. In Argentina the bilingualism and “biculturalthreat.
ity” of the Welsh community does not
seem to be regarded as a threat to
civil society whilst in Europe the recognition of similar groups is hindered by a fear that multilingualism and multiculturalism stands against minority language communities’ loyalty to
the state. On these grounds Mr Johnson brought forward the opinion that the acceptance
and respect of the state’s civic society is a highly necessary prerequisite for bilingual groups
not to be regarded as a threat. Therefore IM language communities need to take the initiative
to become recognised in the state of their residence by agreeing on common objectives and
ways how they should be reached. This way not the length of their presence in a certain area
but the strategy with which they design their position in civil society will provide them with
a higher status.
4 See annex pp. 13-18
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Family Literacy Programs for Migrants – Promoting Bilingualism and Enhancing Parent-Child
Book Reading
Havva Engin explained in how far immigrants can be supported in their efforts to improve
their status in the European society (5). As regards the IM education in Germany, Dr Engin
explained that almost 20% of all pupils with migrant background leave school without a
degree. Language plays a dominant role in respect to this phenomenon. By including a
child’s first language into second language acquisition the expansion of the child’s lexis and
especially the cognitive and further (language) learning is supported. Unfortunately elementary educational institutions in Germany do not take note of to the first
Bilingual story book reading has been
language(s) of the children. In this
identified as being a central prerequisite for
context an even more prominent role
is granted to parent-child interactions.
a child’s successful knowledge acquisition
Bilingual story book reading has been
and that it therefore forms the basis of his/her
identified as being a central prerequilanguage and further learning development.
site for a child’s successful knowledge
acquisition and that it therefore forms
the basis of his/her language and further learning development. Especially in families where
written language plays a minor or no role in story telling, book reading needs to be encouraged. To address this issue a Turkish-German project was developed, whose aim is to encourage parents to speak to their children in the strong language(s) of their home and read to
them bilingually. For this purpose a bilingual Turkish-German picture book reading edition
has been published, especially designed for the age group of 2 to 6 years-old. This way
parents are provided with bilingual language learning material according to their children’s
cognitive development and linguistic competence.
Discussion
After the presentations, the conference participants started discussing the issue of how immigrants can be integrated best into multilingual education. The following text is a summary
of this discussion and reflects opinions and thoughts of the conference participants.
It was agreed that it would be important to test bilingual competences of children, who are
raised and educated bilingually. Testing them in only one (usually dominant) language does
not do justice to their cognitive development, especially since very little is known about this
cognitive development! Yet, there are many practical challenges to overcome. Are tests the
best way to gather this information or is documenting/reporting enough? How would that be
undertaken in a practical way? It was noted that documenting can be done if primary teachers
and parents would fill in a language
diary. The lack of instruments to meaThe lack of instruments to measure language
sure language skills is nothing short
of lamentable. Without reliable data
skills is nothing short of lamentable.
the requirements for other needs, e.g.
better phonological training, cannot
be measured. Despite these drawbacks, it was agreed for now that in the absence of better
instruments and resources the existent ones have to be used: children and their parents. It
is a matter of awareness raising and building up the parents’ confidence. If the parents feel
proud of their language, they will be more confident to this language on to their children.
Following this line of argumentation education alone cannot always be held responsible. As
an example the Chinese community in Leeuwarden was mentioned: the children are taught
Chinese on Saturday mornings in their own community and they integrate well at school.
5 See annex pp. 19-22
17
One further well known problems in schools are the lack of funds and the question of having
teachers that are qualified to teach the languages. In this respect, it was also highlighted that
there is a difference between banning a language and not teaching it. As Ireland shows, one
compromise could be to make provisions that examinations can be taken in any language.
Following Ian Johnson’s idea that a language community itself has to set a goal to how and
if it wants to secure the survival of its language, it was said that this highly political issue can
only be solved sustainably when it is an officially recognised bottom-up approach.
However, the problem of children’s illiteracy in the language of their community comes
again to the foreground. Illiteracy often results from poverty and from the illiteracy of the
1st generation parents, which also influences the 2nd and 3rd generations’ illiteracy. Here,
school needs to step in to compensate. It was also reminded, that the focus of the question
lies on the social aspect of integrating immigrants into multilingual education. How can children be supported to become appreciated/acknowledged citizens of the state they live in? It
was agreed that this cannot happen without greater public support. The (linguistic) majority
needs to be made aware that immigrant children failing public education is an unpleasant reality which cannot be ignored. This educational failure affects the whole society. The mindset
of the majority has to change in order to support the civil society. So far, in European nation
states the idea of teaching immigrant
languages at school is assumed to go
The (linguistic) majority needs to be made
against the idea of integration. Mainaware that immigrant children failing public
taining a language or culture, which
is different to the states majority laneducation is an unpleasant reality which
guage or culture, often is assumed to
cannot be ignored.
imply unwillingness to integrate. Although bilingual school programmes
proved to be successful because they led to overall better results, in the Netherlands, for
example, these programmes were no longer carried out because some members of society
feel threatened by non-Dutch speaking mothers. It has to be found out how respect for different identities and languages can be fostered. Multilingualism awareness-raising is very
important. One example of how this may be achieved is a School in London where the pupils
speak about 40 different languages. Through this exchange they recognise one language per
week, not by learning it or having it taught to them but by paying respect to it. But language
awareness-raising is only a first step, not a substitute. Another example given for how to
deal with 60 languages in one school is the model of a school in Melbourne, where some
languages are taught at the school itself, while others are taught at or by other institutes cooperating with the school. The question is: who takes the bike - the teacher or the pupils? The
children also get grades for their languages, which is a sign of status and success.
18
Conclusion
From the discussion and the foregoing presentations several points arose. First, it was
explained that the inclusion of IM languages into multicultural education is necessary,
for reasons of fairness, following a logical definition, and the well being of the whole
society. The latter point is based on the fact that a high percentage of the European immigrant population receives a very low or no school degree – a deficiency, which has
to be absorbed by the social system.
Second, it was agreed that such integration is a common effort, in which the language
communities have to take an active part by defining goals and embracing provisions,
such as support by bilingual picture books.
This leads to the third point: the responsibilities of the educational system. Morally,
schools can largely contribute to the social awareness of multilingualism and multiculturalism. By recognising the languages spoken by their pupils and also teaching
them, they give status to the languages, foster public support and, most importantly,
contribute to pupils’ self-esteem in coming from a “different” cultural background and
using another language. Technically schools take care for pupils’ education and also
educational successes. By providing tuition, which recognises the needs of the pupils,
they considerably aid educational success.
It has largely been proved that pupils’ needs can be catered for. However, this was
often not continued due to society’s lack of moral support. Furthermore, studies on
the positive impact of such schooling systems are badly needed in order to foster support.
19
ii. Innovative Teaching Systems – Language Transmission outside school
1. Main questions of the workshop:
– Why is it important to deal with language transmission?
– What does it mean?
– How can it work?
During the three presentations of the workshop we got acquainted with different techniques
that could be considered as good practical solutions with the purpose of promoting minority
languages or language usage and also good means of language transmission.
2. Short summary of the presentations
Ms. Sileas Landgraf and Dr. Alasdair MacMhaoin, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Slèite, Isle
of Skye:
Using Gaelic and Encouraging the Spirit (6)
This presentation has shown that giving reason and opportunity to pupils outside of the
school system, “surrounding them with enriching activities” (J. Fishman, Public lecture at
Eden Court, Inverness, 2004) could
enrich their minority language expe... giving reason and opportunity to pupils
rience, which will then involve and reoutside of the school system, “surrounding
inforce the wider language communithem with enriching activities” (J. Fishman,
ty (home-family-neighbourhood) and
not just the school. Any of the wellPublic lecture at Eden Court, Inverness,
chosen enriching activities could ex2004) could enrich their minority language
pand the range of minority language
experience ...
usage (education), increase the children’s cultural awareness (community), increase confidence (personal development) and offer fun and exercise through the
medium of the language.
Francesca La Morgia, Bilingual Forum Ireland:
Bridging the gap between researchers and the community (7)
The founder of the Bilingual Irish Forum has emphasized that misconceptions concerning bior multilingualism and lack of information available for parents and teachers have negative
consequences. The deficit-concept is
still widely spread. It assumes that
the development of individuals living
Disseminating all the accurate information
in bilingual situations directly affects
about bilingualism among parents, educators,
them mentally, cognitively and emopolicy makers and the society could change
tionally, their school performance
negative attitudes and misconceptions.
and that their chances of future social integration can be hindered. Yet,
research on bilingualism has shown that bilingual children and adults have an advantage
over monolinguals in performing tasks that require attention and memory. Bilingual children
6 See annex pp23-26
7 See annex pp. 26-28
20
have also been found to be aware of other people’s points of view, to be more tolerant and
to be better at multitasking and learning other languages. Disseminating all the accurate
information about bilingualism among parents, educators, policy makers and the society
could change negative attitudes and misconceptions. Means of dissemination could be anything depending on the society itself. In Ireland, as an example, several services have been
providing targeted to different groups, offering an online discussion forum, web pages with
information and links to resources, a newsletter and one-to-one consultancies or organizing
talks and workshops for parents and teachers in different settings, such as schools, community centres and nurseries.
Silvana Schiavi Fachin:
Involvement of immigrant children in plurilingual education at primary school level: the Friulian case (8)
The Friulian example has unequivocally refuted the notion that intensive exposure to one
language only – the language of instruction – is the best way of teaching minority children.
The plurilingual (in two, three or four languages) education programmes developed in Friuli
since 1985-1986 have proven that common cognitive/academic cross-lingual proficiencies
underlie the obviously different surface manifestations ( e.g. pronunciation, fluency, etc.) of
each language.
3. Summary of the workshop
During the discussion the focus was on both research and policy dimensions of language
transmission and the role of schools vis-à-vis other stakeholders in encouraging first/minority/regional language transmission as well as strengthening bi- and multilingualism. There
is no unified model for effective practices that could be generalized to dissimilar contact
situations. However, building on a multidisciplinary approach and based on the outcomes
of previous research and existing best practices, we can make a critical description of factors affecting success or failure of language transmission and language maintenance. In her
introduction Csilla Bartha emphasized the role of the following factors and concepts:
• Symbolic versus market value of languages;
• Sociolinguistic considerations (e.g. status and prestige of the languages is contact: standardized, vernacular, dialect, unwritten etc.);
• Factors and the process of language shift and maintenance;
• Conceptual problems and myths (myths: mother tongue, native speaker, home
language vs. school language, language proficiency, divergence of ideologies
and norms);
• Different views and misconceptions of bilingualism (the role of attitudes and
ideologies, hegemony of monolingual views and norms, language testing „regime”);
8 See annex pp. 29-30
21
• The role of different stakeholders: home, community, schools (inclusion vs exclusion, norms, models of bilingual/multilingual education);
• Centralized versus bottom-up language planning;
• Geographical, historical and ideological similarities and differences within and
among EU countries.
The participants of the workshop concluded that language transmission within the family
(c.f. Fishman 1991) is one of the most important questions concerning first language maintenance and stable multilingualism. Intergenerational family language transmission has an
inevitable prevalence in language maintenance. Since in most cases linguistic skills in a
minority language learned by children at home are limited, a different approach to education
is needed in order to encourage language maintenance as well as bilingualism positively in
terms of teacher-training, methods, coordination and monitoring system.
4. Conclusions
Effective language transmission practices should be based on:
—Critical review of state of the art;
—Common attempts by interested parties, including individuals, cultural or community groups, researchers, schools, governments, as well as political authorities;
—Combination of research and practice (e.g.: crossing, street language, subcultures and activities)n which has been proved to be very effective;
—Locality and multidisciplinary approaches as key principles.
There are further important statements:
• Beside symbolic prestige real market value of minority languages should be increased.
Possible ways to do this should be found.
• Minority speakers have their own attitudes, ideologies and feelings of their own (and
others’) language usage. These attitudes should be studied systematically and need to
be used to develop strategies for those who do not feel moved to maintain their own
minority language.
• The role of media is crucial. Research, policy and practice should pay enormous attention to it.
• Within the school domain different actors (children, adolescents, parents, and communities) should be involved and considered as resources at the same time.
22
• If people were taught how to learn languages, language transmission would be much
easier.
• All information on the role of mother tongue, bi-/multilingualism in cognitive, social,
emotional etc. development related to different education options must be made available to parents to enable them to make the correct decision regarding placement of
their children.
... attitudes should be studied systematically
and need to be used to develop strategies for
those who do not feel moved to maintain their
own minority language.
23
iii. Minority Language Education and its challenges
Introduction
The conference provided the framework for dialogue on the multiple aspects linked to the
developments in the curriculum of language teaching and learning at primary and secondary
school level. Speakers from both the academic and private sectors participated in the discussions concerning multilingual education in regions where immigrants and regional minority
languages and smaller state languages are spoken alongside with the dominant language
of the country.
Professor Helmut Vollmer from the University of Osnabrück, Germany, was the keynote
speaker in the third session of the conference. He held a plenary presentation on behalf of
the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe, The project Languages of Schooling and the right to plurilingual and intercultural education followed by three speakers
who gave their contribution to the theme “Minority language education and its challenges”.
Helmut Vollmer focused on the ongoing project of the Council of Europe entitled Languages
in Education - Languages for Education (9). The main purpose of this project is to create a
platform of resources and references for plurilingual and intercultural education on the internet, enabling member states to benefit from the experience and expertise of other member states in formulating their programs related to languages of schooling and all language
teaching.
The Slovenian Minority in Italy
Primož Strani highlighted the changes the Slovene schools in Italy have gone through during the last twenty years concerning Slovene as a language of instruction (10). The Slovenian minority in the North Eastern part of Italy at the border to Slovenia has met a quite
rapid upcoming of their language and culture in just a few years. Nowadays the knowledge
in Slovene language is being set as an opportunity and the number of students attending
Slovene schools is slightly increasing
after having reached its lowest level
in 1965. Not only pupils from entirely
Nowadays the knowledge in Slovene language
Slovenian families but also numbers
is being set as an opportunity and the number
of pupils from mixed families and
of students attending Slovene schools is
even Italian families are attending
slightly increasing ...
the Slovenian schools. Pupils with
different standards in knowledge of
the Slovenian language are taught together in the same classrooms. This scenario with linguistically heterogeneous classes has put the teachers in front of new challenges. Most of
them are not specialized in teaching Slovene as a second or a foreign language. The biggest
concern of the teachers is how to maintain the current competence of Slovenian knowledge
despite linguistically heterogeneous groups.
Two Minority Languages in Italy - Two Different attitudes towards the mother tongue
Simone Ciccolone from Italy concentrated on the results of a survey conducted on the different projects focused on minority languages and culture (11). Simone Ciccolone discussed
the actual situation of two minority languages, i.e. Furlan in Friuli, Venezia Giulia and Francoprovençal in Apulia in relation to the importance of the commune citizens’ attitudes towards
their mother tongue. How vital the language is in the community, depends on the attitudes
9 See annex pp.30-36
10 See annex pp. 36-40
11 See annex pp. 41-45
24
the minority groups are having towards their mother tongue. The same language can be
seen as an important factor in one community whereas in another community is hardly considered worth to be used in public communication.
The use of global norm in the cross-border classes
Karen Pedersen from Denmark introduced a new linguistic norm “the global norm” besides
the international norm as a successful teaching method in bilingual and trilingual education
(12).
The global norm integrates all language resources and accepts the use of several languages
and varieties in one communicative act whereas the international norm keeps languages
separated, thus using them in different domains. The use of the global norm in combination
with an international norm in a transnational class has turned out to be a successful method
in developing a high linguistic competence in the cross-border class in the Danish-German
border region.
Outcome of the discussion
In the subsequent Workshop the participants to the conference and the speakers were asked
to discuss the presented ideas. The main topic in this discussion was to find ideas which
could prove useful in order to improve and develop the language learning of regional, minority, migrant and smaller state languages. Several ideas and proposals were discussed
which should be considered for the future planning of language education and learning.
The audience found the ideas of Professor Vollmer about plurilingual education very interesting, i.e. Languages of Schooling and the Right to plurilingual and intercultural Education.
In multilingual education one or more languages are learnt and kept separately. The plurilingual competence is one’s capacity to successively acquire and use different competences in
different languages, at different levels of proficiency and for different functions. The central
purpose of plurilingual education is to develop this competence. Vollmer shifts the focus
from the linguistic diversity to mental integration of all kind of language capacities and experiences of the individual. Not only is the simple acknowledgement of linguistic diversity
enough. There is also a need to move towards the development of plurilingual education.
Among others the need for teacher training was set high on the list of tasks that should be paid
more attention to in the future. Highly linguistically competent and up-to-date teachers having knowledge of teaching a second or a foreign language are required. The teachers should
also hold the latest knowledge of research on language learning strategies and multilingualism. Moreover we should make good
use of the latest language research
and become more sensitive for lanMoreover we should make good use of the
guage diversity in order to accept
latest language research and become more
language and cultural background of
sensitive for language diversity in order to
others. More bilingual teachers aside
accept language and cultural background of
the native teachers would be seen as
others.
a contribution. Finally, increased attention should also be paid to teachers’ and families’ role as important resources in language education.
Furthermore a rethinking in language education is required; new structures and models
12 See annex pp. 45-49
25
should be established. Another important step would be to raise awareness of and respect
for linguistic diversity.
In general, we should also be keener on motivating young learners by encouraging them to
develop their language and intercultural skills. Successful strategies could be extracurricular
activities outside the school like clubs and sports, which offer creative opportunities to practice languages. Preferably, the environment outside the school should be somehow involved
in language learning.
Young people should consider the language something cool. How can this be achieved? The
minority language can’t be considered an old-fashioned language that no one uses. When
looking for ways to make pupils learn languages, we should pay attention to the interests
of the young people. Different media attracting young people should be used in language
learning, e.g. Internet, music, computer games, videos and movies.
There was also a proposal to move away from all kind of labels, i.e. there is a need to de-label
and to stop talking about dialect, variety, minority or state official languages etc.
Stressing the importance of rethinking the linguistic norms was seen as an important change.
Attitudes towards code mixing should be more tolerant; at the beginning of language learning it should be allowed to mix languages.
As can be seen from above, the raised comments cover a very broad area of action. Each of
us is more or less involved in the process of developing and promoting the linguistic diversity. We should build an environment in Europe that is favorable to languages by embracing
linguistic diversity, building language-friendly communities, and making language learning
easier and cool.
Main conclusions
The need to rethink of teacher training is one of the essential matters that should be
given more attention in the future planning of language education and learning. Education systems need to ensure the harmonious development of learners’ plurilingual
competence through a coherent, transversal and integrated approach that takes into
account all the languages in the learners’ plurilingual repertoire and their respective
functions. We should also find instruments to motivate young people to use their mother tongue; for example by making the language cool. It is also important to support
activities outside school to keep the mother tongue alive and improve the linguistic
and cultural skills in a natural and effective way. Furthermore we should promote and
raise awareness of the value of each language and make them adequate instruments
for modern communication.
Different media attracting young people
should be used in language learning, e.g.
Internet, music, computer games, videos and
movies.
26
iv. Promotion of language outside the formal education
Three papers presented at the conference highlighted the relevance of other possibilities beyond the walls of schools, which help languages have a further domain to spread their use.
Although the three situations discussed were considerably different from one another, they
portrayed the interest of looking for alternative ways to make language acquisition and use
gain spaces, and enjoy higher recognition.
Swedish as an Asset – Ways to promote Swedish language and culture in Finland
Anna Jungner-Nordgren, in representation of the Swedish Assembly in Finland, presented
ways in which they are trying to promote Swedish language as an asset of the Swedishspeaking Finns. It is worthwhile noticing that Swedish is a national language of Finland,
according to the Constitution, and public authorities are required to cater for the 280000
people, about 5,6% of the population who speak the language. Furthermore, the Language
Act of 2004 granted Swedish speakers the right to use their own language when dealing
with governmental bodies and local authorities. In their turn, the management of each public
authority is responsible for meeting these demands.
The two reports undertaken in 2006 and 2009 assessed the implementation of the Language Act. Unfortunately, there was
little improvement between the two,
and the same proposals and meaSeveral activities have been developed by
sures were requested to be brought
all organizations interested in the upkeep of
forth. Considerable ground for worry
Swedish. Among them there is a celebrated
comes from the decline in pupils takSwedish day ...
ing the second national examination
in Swedish. The weakening of Swedish lessons in schools has also led to universities having to provide basic Swedish-language
courses.
Although the situation of the Swedish speaking Finns is fairly good in terms of legislation,
there are considerable difficulties in putting the written law into practice. There needs to be a
stronger drive in the promotion of Swedish, in order to maintain its current vitality.
Several activities have been developed by all organizations interested in the upkeep of Swedish. Among them there is a celebrated
Swedish day, celebrated on the 6th of
The celebrations include concerts for all
November and a new cultural project
to extend celebrations to a cultural
ages, theatre performances and cooperation
week, from the 1st to the 8th of Nobetween Finnish and Swedish schools.
vember, in 10 cities around Finland.
The celebrations include concerts for
all ages, theatre performances and cooperation between Finnish and Swedish schools.
Moreover, there is a musical and circus called Play Me, which started through an audition in
the internet, including a song writing completion, and club evenings and an internet game as
part of the project. Alongside, teaching material for Swedish was made available in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and about 3000 teachers use the material.
Beyond those programmes there is also a brochure called “Give your child a gift”, highlighting the advantages of raising a child bilingually in Finnish and Swedish; Theatre bus, a travel
grant for schools to take a trip to watch a play in Sweden; “I’m here for you” a pocket dictionary to ensure medical nursing staff has a way to ensure Swedish speakers are taken care
27
of appropriately; Movies in Schools and Cook in Swedish are self-explanatory projects; and
Papper, a monthly paper with interesting information for where to go out, mixed with articles
about music and fashion.
The case for Swedish in Finland is thus framed in a situation where language policy needs
to be turned into practice, and in which promotion and encouragement are seen as the key
ways to do so. The success of these processes cannot be assumed to take place in a short
time.
Promotion of a language outside formal education: “our language is cool” – and- How to
reach youth: Froeks.TV
Jacco de Boer, TV producer, and Sytske de Jong and Tsjerk Bottema, members of the department for Culture, Language and Education at the Province of Fryslân presented the magazines subsidized by the province in a framework of their policy on Frisian in written media
(13). There is a monthly magazine on news, culture and politics, named De Moanne, with a
section named Trotwaer, devoted to Frisian writers, poets and critics; Ensafh. is an online
literary magazine published at www.ensafh.nl; The Afûk Tomke includes reading material for
pre-primary children, as well as the Tomke adventures, which are broadcasted in regional
and national television; Switsj is a magazine for children in primary education, and is used
in schools as learning material; LinKk is another magazine, aimed at the lower grades in secondary education, and is also used in lessons. Furthermore, there is the F-side, a publication
that appears 20 times a year in two regional newspapers.
However, there was a considerable gap in the readership audience. They had emphasized on
young children and adults, leaving the 14-20 year-olds outside their remit. To cover this gap,
a contest was set up for the best multimedia alternative to reach the teenage audience. The
two runner-ups were awarded a grant to develop their ideas further. The final winner was
Froeks.TV an interactive multimedia
user-made content website not about
The final winner was Froeks.TV an interactive
Frisian, but ‘in Frisian’.
multimedia user-made content website not
about Frisian, but ‘in Frisian’.
Jacco de Boer was the mind behind Froeks.TV and he presented his
project. It was the opportunity to do
something for youth culture in Frisian. This required a strategy. It had to create interest and
bring the audience in contact with something that was to be theirs. In order to do so, Froeks.
TV had an expectation campaign, through which they appear on the media for hacking the
Mayor’s webpage and for pouring dye into the city fountain. These actions, widely publicized,
gathered the attention of youngsters
who started visiting the Froeks.TV
Since the page was advertising everything in
homepage. Then, Froeks.TV engaged
Frisian, it became clear to those participating
in hosting a beauty pageant to look
that Frisian was the language of exchange, and
for Fryslân’s most beautiful girl, using
Froeks.TV as the site to post images
they used it freely.
of those participating and garnering
the votes. This way they connected
with the audience by having them participate in the pageant, going to the places they socialize (e.g. Discos) and allowing for them to make comments about the contest. Since the page
was advertising everything in Frisian, it became clear to those participating that Frisian was
the language of exchange, and they used it freely.
13 See annex pp. 50-52
28
From that moment on the page has presented a variety of videos made by the in-situ crew
or by user-created content which gets edited, selected and uploaded. This page, the Youtube
in Frisian, has received considerable attention by the Frisian youth, and it is now a channel
where they exchange in forums, post videos and comments, and exercise their language.
Teenage Ankst – How a record label made the Welsh language cool
Dr. Ian Johnson presented the role of the record label ‘Ankst’ and its influence on increasing
the recognition of Welsh-language rock bands in the 1990s (14).
The label started as a student project in 1987, at Aberystwyth University, in Wales. Until that
point, Welsh language bands and labels were relatively successful commercially amongst
the Welsh speaking public, but largely ignored outside Welsh-Language environments.
When bands began playing music that was not seen as traditionally Welsh (such as punk),
the Welsh-language establishment was not willing to support them. This led to bands taking
a DIY (Do-it-yourself) approach, by producing, editing and distributing their own albums.
?Ankst’ appeared as an option for this independent music scene.
At the beginning of the 1990s,’Ankst’ began to develop a large roster, still based on independent principles. They crossed different musical genres, from guitar pop to dance, dub rap
and house music. However, it was the development of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci and Super Furry Animals that raised the profile of ‘Ankst’ outside Wales. With Gorky’s 1995 album, ‘Ankst’
had its greater commercial success. It
became the norm to read interviews
‘Ankst’ created a space in which Welsh
with bands that were singing exclulanguage music bands could find an
sively in Welsh through the medium
alternative voice. This made the concept of
of English. ‘Ankst’ policy changed to
allow bands to sing in English, aclistening to Welsh language music into a true
cording to his owners, because these
alternative of Anglo-American cultural norms.
enabled them the freedom to choose
in which language they felt they wanted to express themselves. Despite criticism for this move, it was the willingness of Welsh
bands to break out from their niche that, ironically, increased their appeal both by their
former Welsh-speaking and their new non-Welsh-speaking audience. In 1997 ‘Ankst’ finally
split into a management company and ‘Ankstmusik’ which continues to release new music
by Welsh artists in North Wales.
‘Ankst’ created a space in which Welsh language music bands could find an alternative voice.
This made the concept of listening to Welsh language music into a true alternative of AngloAmerican cultural norms. As such, ‘Ankst’ then allowed for the possibility of a social sphere
for Welsh speakers to participate spontaneously and engage with their own culture.
In learning from ‘Ankst’ success, minority languages should not be scared to be experimental, rather than following the majority language norms. The end product cannot be planned,
but it is certainly an open opportunity to empower teenagers to create something with which
they feel comfortable.
Discussion
There is one common thread that links the presentations. As pointed out by Dr. Ian Johnson
in his contribution, making something attractive for a young audience is not an easy task to
14 See annex pp. 53-57
29
accomplish. He summarizes it very well into one sentence: “Cool, of course, is a non-tangible
subjective subject with shifting parameters, and subsequently, difficult to ‘plan’”. However,
‘cool’ needs spaces to form, to be debated and to be constructed. The efforts developed by
the Swedish Assembly of Finland, to support activities such as concerts, theatre plays, magazines, and other projects, as well as a similar commitment from the Language and Education
department at the Province of Fryslân, and the engagement and production efforts of the
extinct record label ‘Ankst’ certainly allow for ‘cool’ to become a possibility. Not everything
these endeavors produce will be cool, but certainly failing is part of the process when you
aim to reach a community whose interests dwindle.
There is also a degree of hybridization, following García-Canclini’s (2000)concept, because
to expand language domains means they need to compete openly with the current cultural
trends available in the other languages with which they coexist. In this sense, the Welsh music label ‘Ankst’ had as much to thank the British cultural and music scene, as much as to the
Welsh language outlets on television (S4C), and radio (BBC Cymru, and radio Ceredigion),
because without them, the whole Welsh rock scene would not have had the space to flourish.
This evidently shows the importance of media, and how the media provide the opportunity
for these efforts to gain a foothold.
In the case of Froeks.TV, it was highlighted how their approach to young people from the
start allowed them to even gain access to large media outlets, which in their turn made those
participating and watching Froeks.TV feel like they were no longer on the border of the cultural spectrum, but rather in the midst of it. Their web-page, with user made content mixed
with in-house production led by a young group of people, manages to break the barriers
of traditional and old stereotypes to promote hip-hop in Frisian as a form of expression of
their age. Furthermore, being a project partly financed by the region itself, it can also enjoy
the contacts and connections of other media outlets equally sponsored. Froeks.TV was not
aimed solely as a video site, but as part of the general strategy to promote reading and writing in Frisian. The web-site, with its interactive content and the possibility for commenting
and developing forums, serves as a space to increase usage of Frisian in the written form.
Although standardization and orthography are probably beyond the scope of the project, the
outlet may grant informal support from the community. That is, of course, if there is an interest by community members to do so.
All of these situations bring questions to the fore, especially for those who still associate certain languages with a static, classical tradition. In the process of making the language ‘cool’,
does the language shed its relation to other forms of culture usually attached to it? Is the
only way forward to support a language, for it to become modified and hybridized with other
cultural forms, associated with the largest expanding languages? Although these questions
seem to apply more profoundly to those languages which are considered to be endangered,
or at least in a minority situation against a language more widely used, it can be seen as applicable to all languages in the face of the growth of global English. Even if we see hybridization as the way to proceed, the questions of cultural imperialism come to the discussion.
From another perspective, the positive developments of the Swedish week in Finland,
Froeks.TV for the Frisian-speaking minority in the Netherlands, and the expanding career of
former Welsh-language musicians, cannot be gauged easily in respect to language usage.
They clearly provide spaces for the use of minority languages, and they are good tools for
education, yet their real impact upon language use and acquisition depends on many other
factors, among them, precisely, whether the ‘cool’ element is actually the language rather
than the event (in the case of the concerts during the Swedish Day), the images (as in Froeks.
TV) or the music (as is the case of the Welsh bands under the Ankst label). In fact, this ends
up being the issue criticized by many, as pointed by Ian Johnson in his paper. As soon as the
musicians turn to bilingual albums, in order to widen their listener base, they were scorned
30
by some as being ‘traitors’ to their cause. Language, for these groups, is not only a matter of
identity and emotional attachment; it is also a political statement. One interesting question
that was asked at the conference reflected upon this political value attached to language:
“When the Swedish-speaking Finns cheer for their national
football team, in a match against Sweden, which language do
they use?” – “Swedish, certainly”.
It is unavoidable to see this answer as somewhat mindboggling. Of course it underscores
how the collective association remains in place, and the idea of one language, one nation, is
embedded into all our actions to such a degree, that it is still expected for national teams to
be cheered in any language which is not the “same” as the name of the nation. Challenging
these associations is clearly what it means to be ‘cool’: to dare to be different.
... the positive developments ... clearly provide
spaces for the use of minority languages, and
they are good tools for education, yet their
real impact upon language use and acquisition
depends on many other factors, among them,
precisely, whether the ‘cool’ element is actually
the language rather than the event ...
31
Conclusion
The papers presented show that new media spaces are required to allow for the speakers of minority languages to express themselves. Certainly these new spaces might
include trade-offs, including cultural impositions, linguistic borrowings or other criticism which is an important part of the debate of their usage. However, this debate is
not exclusive of minority language media, it concerns media in majority languages in
pretty much the same way.
Areas of cultural expression, as those presented, can serve a double function: they
engage young people in using their acquired linguistic skills, and they also serve as
source of new information and debate in the language itself. This, in its turn asks for
more specific research aimed at the interaction of minority language speakers and other multilingual users with the media at their disposal. The presentations have showed
some successful examples of the use of these languages in the domain of media, yet
they do not present a clear picture of whether they actually encourage, or help maintain the language. There needs to be more research focused on this aspect of the media, because arguing in favour of sufficient media outlets for minority language media
– as presented in the given examples – does not grant, in and of itself, an increased
usage and improved maintenance of the language (Cormack, 2005). Despite this lack
of empiric evidence, one thing remains certain: if media is established to cater for linguistic minorities, chances are they will feel more confident and increase their use of
language in that specific domain.
There is no question, then, that the media spaces are useful for the language. The
involvement of state and local administration in supporting these endeavors is commendable and necessary, although independent enterprises are not to be discouraged.
But as the examples from froeks.tv and Ankst point out, the appropriation of media
expression may include a trade-off in terms of cultural specificity. The question that
remains unanswered is whether the cultural sacrifices described are an acceptable
trade-off in order to ensure spaces where language education can be actively applied.
This question rests without any clear answer, at least for now.
Cormack, M. (2005). The Cultural Politics of Minority Language Media. International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, 1(1), 107-122.
García Canclini, N. (2000). Culturas Híbridas: Estrategias para entrar y salir de la modernidad. Bogotá D.C.: Grijalbo.
32
v. Scaling up processes in language legislation in Europe. A need to protect its achievements
from downgrading threats.
The two presentations brought into the workshop dealt with current legislative processes
taking place in Europe regarding the situation of RML in Education. While the first one analyzed in depth the effects for RML of the New Act on Education of Catalonia, the second one
presented a wide comparative perspective of the situation of 8 EU regions with RML.
The New Education Act of Catalonia: Consolidation of the Catalan Linguistic Model
Júlia Cordonet and David Forniès, from the Mercator Linguistic Rights and Legislation - CIEMEN (Barcelona, Catalonia), presented a paper to introduce the brand new Education Act of
Catalonia (LEC, as it is known in Catalan), as a new tool of the Catalan self-government to
consolidate and strengthen the position of the Catalan language in the education system.
After introducing some basic facts about the Catalan language (15), such as its numerical
strength (7.7 million speakers and 10.8 million people claiming to understand it in 20012004, official sources) and its geographical domain, there was an explanation for a general
overview of the different language
models that are used in the territories
Catalonia holds a model where all the subjects
where Catalan is official. It was said
are usually taught through the medium of
that Catalonia holds a model where
all the subjects are usually taught
Catalan, both in primary and secondary
through the medium of Catalan, both
education, except foreign language teaching.
in primary and secondary education,
except foreign language teaching.
The Balearic Islands are trending to implement the same model, but some obstacles have
ensued. A more complex situation is found in the Valencian Country, where three models
coexist, two of them using Catalan as the teaching language, and another one using Spanish. Also thee models are to be found
in Andorra: one of them with Catalan
... the new Education Act of Catalonia ...
as the usual language, another with
French and a third one with Spanish.
At this point, the audience demanded
more information about which of the three systems had more pupils. It was explained that it
was the Catalan one, which had been increasing its share of pupils over the last years, distancing itself from the French and the Spanish ones.
Once the models were introduced, there was a brief explanation about the Statutes of Autonomy of Catalonia, with a comparison between the 1979 and 2006 texts. In general, it was
made clear that the first Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia (1979) lacked a lot of linguistic
provisions when compared with the more recent one (2006). Some of the points that were
highlighted as main features of the 2006 Statute were: a) knowledge of Catalan language
had been made compulsory for every citizen of Catalonia; b) the Catalan Government had
assumed the exclusive power “over the matter of Catalonia’s own language”; c) judges are
required to understand Catalan in order to serve in Catalonia; d) the Catalan Government
has to establish its own model of education. Besides, the strengthened position of Occitan
(which has been declared an official language of Catalonia for the first time) was also cited
as a very relevant example of a great protection for a language which is spoken by less than
0,1% of the total population of Catalonia.
15 See annex pp. 60-64
33
It was explained that these new provisions were the source for the approval of the new Education Act of Catalonia (LEC, in Catalan), a law that traces its origins in the National Pact for
Education, which was signed in 2006 between the government of Catalonia and the educational community of Catalonia. The debate on this law has been long and full of obstacles, as
was outlined in the presentation of the paper. A chronology explaining the main stages of the
procedure was put forward; its culmination was the vote in the Parliament of Catalonia, in
July 2009, when 78% of the MPs said ‘yes’ to the act, including those belonging to the three
major parties of the chamber.
As a final explanation, it was said that the LEC wanted to ensure a full command of Catalan
and Spanish for pupils, something that must be reached using Catalan as the main language
of instruction. Linguistic immersion as a methodology for Spanish-speaking pupils is enhanced. Those same principles must
apply to the Occitan language in Aran
... wanted to ensure a full command of Catalan
Valley. When presenting these points,
the speakers were required to further
and Spanish for pupils, something that
elaborate upon the linguistic aspects
must be reached using Catalan as the main
of the law, especially as regards to
language of instruction.
the learning of English. The speakers
said that Catalan authorities had envisaged a trilingual system to grant a good command of English to pupils in the next few
years, but they also made clear that this is to be achieved with Catalan retaining its position
of vehicular language.
Study on the Devolvement of Legislative Power & Provisions
Sieta de Vries and Alex Riemersma, on behalf of the Mercator Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, presented the results gathered by the report Study on the
Devolvement of Legislative Power & Provisions on request of the Province of Fryslân (16). The
8 EU regions presented were selected according to four criteria: being part of the European
Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, having undergone the process of devolvement,
having created a new balance between the national government and the regional authorities
and being good practices in Europe.
A table comparing the total population and the percentage of mother tongue speakers of
each RML was provided. For each case, strengths and weaknesses (general ones and specific
ones of education), were listed in order to identify the main traits of each RML situation.
In the case of Swedish in Finland, the Constitution and the 2004 Language Act, among other
developments, were shown as strengths and the increasing interest of English as a weakness. Regarding education it was pointed out that Swedish is compulsory for all students
and that the Inspectorate for Swedish in education is part of the National Board on Education. There is, nonetheless, a lack of qualified Swedish-speaking day care personnel.
In Scotland, the Gaelic language is favoured by the fact that there is a Scottish Parliament
since 1999, which passed the Gaelic Language Act in 2005, and in it the Bòrd na Gàidhlig was
established for the following year. Its weakness is the amount of mother tongue speakers in
Scotland, only 60.000 speakers or 1,2% of the population. In education it is a national priority to establish Gaelic Medium Education, but Scotland has not established yet minimum
teacher’s qualifications or minimum teaching hours.
16 See annex pp. 57-59
34
The situation of Welsh in Wales is better than that of Gaelic in Scotland. They have had a
Welsh Language Act since 1993 and a Welsh Language Board since 1988. Welsh is growing
in users among young people. It was pointed out, however, that there is an ongoing debate
on the distribution of powers between the Welsh Assembly and the UK Government. Welsh
Medium Education accounts for 33% of pupils in Wales but nowadays there is an ongoing
debate on the need, structure and content of Welsh education.
As for Catalan in Catalonia, the economic power of the region and its autonomy since 1978,
in conjunction with the Act on Linguistic Policy 1998, are the main strengths of the language. No weaknesses were pointed out. In education it is expected that in 2015 all schools
develop trilingual education (Catalan - Spanish - English). Nonetheless in Catalonia there is
an ongoing discussion with Spanish-speaking newcomers and the needs and structure of
Catalan and bilingual education.
Ladin in South Tyrol and Franco-Provencal in Aosta Valley both have the same strengths: the
legal provisions around them. In South Tyrol they are the Statute of Autonomy of 1946 and
the revised statute of 1972 and in Aosta Valley they are the Constitution of 2001 and the
Statute Special (1948/2001). In education both RML enjoy a balanced trilingualism (Italian –
German – Ladin in one case and Italian – French – Franco-Provencal in the other).
Finally the situation of Frisian in Fryslân was presented. Many strengths were mentioned,
among them the fact that 54% of the population of the province of Fryslân has Frisian as
mother tongue, 74% can speak it and 94% can understand it. Frisian is a strong oral cultural
language and remains strong as a second language. As for the main weaknesses the fact
that the legal provisions concerning Frisian are like a patchwork and that there is no article
in the Constitution, or a Language Act for Frisian were noted. Language awareness and
language transmission are weak as well. In education, Frisian is a subject for all pupils and
receptive bilingualism is favoured by language distance. The main weakness in education
is the attitudes presented by school boards, teachers, parents and pupils, all much more in
favour of English and Dutch than Frisian.
Discussion
During the presentation of the new Education Act of Catalonia many questions were raised
in order to obtain more details on the general position of the Catalan language, regardless
of the LEC provisions. For example,
the situation of teachers moving from
Many of the workshop participants stated
other regions of the Spanish State
their surprise about for how far the Catalan
was a concern, as well as the lanlegislation has gone in the protection and use
guage used in kindergarten. Many of
the workshop participants stated their
of Catalan as the language of the schooling.
surprise about for how far the Catalan
legislation has gone in the protection
and use of Catalan as the language of the schooling.
It is worth noticing that during the presentation of the Study on the Devolvement it was
pointed out that Ladin has as another weakness the fact that the Ladin speaking territories
are divided in three administrations.
This point led to a discussion about
the influence of borders to language
It was also pointed out that regions with
policy. It was pointed out that these
powers but no economic resources are in a
Ladin-speaking territories were divery difficult situation for developing those
vided by Mussolini and that a referpowers.
endum was held in Cortina (Veneto
35
region) to join South Tyrol. As a possible solution it was pointed out that the Charter could
influence decisions to change administrative borders in favour of languages. The fact that
Italy has not yet ratified was pointed out negatively. Francesco Palermo’s New Dynamism
was mentioned: to create a new balance between centre and region in cultural affairs. It was
also pointed out that regions with powers but no economic resources are in a very difficult
situation for developing those powers.
After the presentations the discussion turned to issues not directly related to legislative issues but rather addressing other problems of RML education.
Taking reference to Francois Grin’s three key factors to language planning – capacity, opportunity, and desire - one workshop participant brought up the point that it is often overlooked
that capacity implies two things: the infrastructure provided by the authorities, and the
language command in all five respects of the Common European Framework of Reference
(CEFR): listening, reading, speaking and talking, writing. In terms of strengthening language
capacity and language use it is therefore essential to strengthen the efforts for continuous
language teaching and learning. It was added that multilingual education aiming at language
maintenance of IML and RML should be structured towards the multilingual development of
the language users.
Another workshop participant resumed the discussion with the remark that the key words
of the Charter are “to protect & to promote”, and that in these terms “Capacity” means
that the state has to take adequate measures for the safeguarding of the languages recognised, and in accordance with the expressed needs and wishes of the language communities. It was agreed that this means that the state has to develop an adequate infrastructure
in terms of enough qualified teachers, civil servants, judges and public
... the state has the obligation to create
services, social and cultural workers
enough opportunities for its citizens to use the
who are able to serve the language
language in social and public life.
community through the medium of
the regional or minority language.
Furthermore the state has the obligation to create enough opportunities for its citizens to use the language in social and public
life. It was reminded that this infrastructure and these opportunities can best be developed
in co-operation with the language communities concerned in the language plans. All these
activities can be summarized in the key words of the language planning: capacity, opportunities and desire (see: F. Grin 2003:43).
Further, it was reasoned that the counterpart of the key words of language planning for the
authorities are the key words of the language planning for the individual: language command, language use and language will.
36
Conclusion
A general conclusion from this discussion was that over the coming years more research is needed on the various aspects of language command of the multilingual
student, in particular with regard to the continuity of teaching and learning from early
childhood onwards to the end of obligatory schooling and passing the university entry
exams. Essential foci are the functioning of the multilingual competence in daily practice, the development of so called “can do”-statements related to the GRID analysis of
the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), and the didactic approaches
and instruments aiming at tailor made education both for mother tongue speakers and
second language learners.
37
Conclusions of the Annual Report 2009
When studying regional or minority (hereafter RM) languages, it becomes clear that it is not
sufficient to recommend studies and actions on how to maintain these languages based on
single domains. It is equally insufficient to recommend more studies and spread the knowledge on good practice on education or media or language transmission efforts in isolation
from another. These facets have to be combined into to a more coherent and holistic view.
Thus, even if we are aware that the concept of multi- or cross-disciplinary approach to some
extent may seem to be worn out, this is exactly what is needed to come to grips with safeguarding linguistic diversity. We have known for long the crucial factors:
• understanding how the legislative framework works,
• recognizing what is the status of languages from a societal and socioeconomic point of view,
• determining how languages are provided within the educational sphere,
• knowing how media symbolically and in practice promote RM languages,
• and how language prestige needs to be raised among younger speakers, is
crucial for the maintenance and protection of RM languages.
In practice, however, it is uncommon to find these elements strategically integrated in research and in social practices to be coherently and holistically treated. According to our opinion it is therefore crucial, to proceed with research on and to provide to these languages. This
is also the main principle according to which the Mercator network is aiming at in its work.
It has also become clear to the project members and the participants of the seminar and
conference that there is no difference in principle between children as speakers and users of
different types of (dominated) language backgrounds, be they RM or immigrant languages
(IM). This means that for the well-being and the educational career of any potentially bi- or
multilingual child, a systematic integration of their first language into their schooling in several languages, should be seen as necessary for the successful educational outcome at the
individual level. Furthermore, this is also a prerequisite for the promotion and maintenance
of the languages per se. It was commonly agreed that speakers of immigrant (IM) languages
should be better supported in Europe. Yet, there is a special situation in places where speakers of IM languages are found in school next to speakers of RM languages. This can be
found in many European regions, for example in Friesland and Wales. In regions where a RM
language is spoken by a large part of the society along with a state language, children with
an immigrant background find it difficult to get a command of the RM language. However,
since the RM language does play an important role in social life, not being able to acquire
this language at school is a potential obstacle for those children’s integration. Nevertheless,
the systematic integration needs to be agreed upon and developed in cooperation with the
speakers, and taking into account other societal domains and processes that may influence
the willingness to choose the language as a language of instruction in the first place. Therefore it demands common attempts by all interested parties: individuals, cultural or community groups, researchers, schools, governments, as well as political authorities. In any case a
critical review of state of the art is needed. It may turn out that for example speakers of RM
languages are to some extend more keen to not only safeguard the bilingual educational careers of their children but also to promote and maintain their languages as part of the cultural
39
heritage of their society. In comparison, speakers of IM languages may be more focused on
the educational aspects than on the secondary target of maintaining the language, which of
course nevertheless varies between language groups. In participating in the newly created
EU Civil Society Platform the Network clearly shows its large commitment to find the links
and common issues of several domains in supporting speakers of any minority language.
There is still not enough cooperation and exchange of experience found between multilingual areas, groups and institutions. We think that opportunities to see how things are
going on in places where three or more official languages are used should be more seized.
In many ways, such places can be used as proofs that multilingual education works, before
implementing it in other areas. The Mercator Network therefore pleads for the strengthening of research and comparing results between places like Luxembourg (LuxemburgishFrench-German, + English as usual foreign language), Aran Valley (Occitan-Catalan-Spanish,
+ French and/or English as usual foreign languages), Ladin valleys in South Tyrol (LadinGerman-Italian, + English as usual foreign language).
40
Recommendations
These recommendations are the outcome of the valuable written and / or presented input
and discussions of all Network participants. The cross-disciplinary work approach of the Mercator Network led to a good insight into what research and policy approaches are needed,
when multilingual education is meant to improve in Europe.
When contemplating these recommendations, which reflect the 2009 focus on education, it
is necessary to remember that no discipline can be regarded and no issue can be approached
in isolation but must be viewed in relation to its environment.
a. Research Recommendations
• Studies on the positive impact of schooling systems, which include minority language
teaching, are needed. Earlier studies on how pupils’ needs can be catered for have often not been continued due to society’s lack of moral support.
• Didactic approaches and instruments addressing the large variety of linguistic backgrounds in the class room need to be researched. These should aim at tailor made
education both for mother tongue speakers and second language learners of RMLs
and IMLs.
• Development of educational instruments for the strengthening of continuity of teaching and learning (from pre-primary to primary, and from primary to secondary education).
• Beside the symbolic prestige the real market value of minority languages should be
further researched and promoted.
• Speakers’ attitudes (this includes both, speakers of minority languages and speakers
of dominant languages) towards their own and other languages should be studied
systematically and be used for developing strategies for those who are not motivated
to maintain linguistic diversity.
• Specific research aimed at the interaction of minority language speakers and other
multilingual users with the (new) media at their disposal is needed, as areas of cultural
expression can engage young people in using their acquired linguistic skills, and also
serve as source of new information and debate in the language itself.
• There needs to be more research focused on how the (new) media helps maintaining
and developing a language. Arguing in favour of sufficient media outlets for minority language media does not grant, in and of itself, an increased usage and improved
maintenance of the language.
• Research on the interaction between speakers of IM and RM languages at school (formal and informal). How can the dominant as well as the RM language be effectively
learned by IM language speakers to integrate well in the region, overcome the hegemonic use of state languages and the loss of their IM language either.
b. Policy recommendations on all levels
• All information on the role of mother tongue as essential prerequisite for school success, bi-/multilingualism in cognitive, social, emotional etc. development related to
41
different education options must be made available and accessible to parents. This is
crucial in order to enable them to make the correct decision regarding school placement of their children.
• By providing tuition, which recognises the needs of the pupils, schools would considerably take care not only for pupils’ education but also would foster educational successes.
• In the school domain different actors (children, adolescents, parents, teachers, and
communities) should be involved and considered as resources at the same time.
• The inclusion of IM languages into multicultural education is necessary, for reasons of
fairness, following a logical definition, and the well being of the whole society, bearing in mind that this inclusion must not harm already existent provisions for minority
groups.
• An increase in the establishment of media to cater for linguistic minorities to improve
the chances that speakers will feel more confident and increase their use of language
in that specific domain.
• National governments as treaty party to the Charter shall take into consideration the
spirit and measures proposed by the Charter, in particular art. 7.1.b = to overcome the
obstacle of administrative borders to promote the regional or minority language in
question.
42
The Mercator Network can only accomplish its mission with the help
and input of the many workshop and conference participants.
At this point we would like to thank them all:
Akkerman, Siem
Areny, Maria
Bangma, Jelle
Bartha, Csilla De Boer, Frank
De Boer, Jacco
Bottema, Tsjerk
Ciccolone, Simone
Cordonet, Júlia Costa, James Darquennes, Jeroen Engin, Havva
Extra, Guus Faber, Annekin
Forniès, David Gorter, Durk
Haf Jones, Elin
Johnson, Ian De Jong, Sytske
Jungner-Nordgren, Anna
Klarenbeek, Hedzer
- Province of Fryslân
- CIEMEN, Mercator Legislation
- Taalsintrum CEDIN
- MTA Nyelvtudományi Intézet
- Youth of European Nationalities
- PS Produkties
- Province of Fryslân
- Università “G. d’Annunzio” (Chieti-Pescara)
- CIEMEN, Mercator Legislation
- Institut National de Recherche Pédagogique, Lyon
- Université de Namur
- Fachhochschule Bielefeld
- Universiteit van Tilburg
- NHL Hogeschool
- CIEMEN, Mercator Legislation
- Ikerbasque - University of the Basque Country
- Mercator Media
- Plaid Cymru
- Province of Fryslân
- The Swedish Assembly of Finland
- Municipality of Leeuwarden
Knol, Hester
Kovacic, Kristina
Kovacs, Gabriella
Lainio, Jarmo
Lewis, Gwyn
Macleoid, Fionnlegh M.
Mearns, Alexander
Van der Meer, Cor
- Youth of European Nationalities
- Slovene Research Institute
- MTA Nyelvtudományi Intézet
- Mälardalens högskola
- Prifysgol Bangor University, Gwynedd, Cymru/Wales
- Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
- Mercator European Research Centre
43
Van der Meer, Willy
La Morgia, Francesca
Oudeboon, Jan
Pedersen, Karen M. Pons, Eva
Riemersma, Alex
Riney, Marie
Robertson, Boyd
Sauriol, Micheline
Schiavi Fachin, Silvana
Soutolahti, Tarja
Steinbrink, Verena
Sterk, Richt
Strani, Primoz
Uribe-Jongbloed, Enrique
Vellinga, Mirjam
Vollmer, Helmut J
Walker, Alastair
Wicherkiewicz, Tomasz
- AFÛK
- Dublin City University
- Proloog – Primair Openbaar Onderwijs Leeuwarden
- University of Southern Denmark
- University Barcelona – Faculty of Law
- Mercator European Research Centre
- National Council for Curriculum Assessment, Ireland
- Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Isle of Skye, Scotland
- Universität Osnabrück
- Mälardalens högskola
- Mercator European Research Centre
- Berie foar it Frysk / KO
- Mercator Media
- AFÛK
- Universität Osnabrück
- Nordfriesische Wörterbuchstelle, Universität Kiel
- Uniwersytet Poznan
44
www.mercator-network.eu
[email protected]
www.mercator-research.com
[email protected]
http://www.aber.ac.uk/~merwww/
[email protected]
http://www.ciemen.cat/mercator/Menu_nou/index.cfm?lg=gb
[email protected]
http://www.mdh.se/2.985/utbildning/amnen/finska (education)
http://www.mdh.se/2.985/utbildning/amnen/finska/forskning (research)
[email protected] and [email protected]
http://www.nytud.hu/eng/index.html
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