Presentation

The preservation of diversity has become a concern for many researchers, politicians and leaders of different language communities worldwide. Some estimates indicate that more than half of the six thousand languages ​​currently spoken could disappear during the 21st century. Since language policies have a major influence on the life of languages pretended to examine their theoretical and practical aspects and also look into the new cultural, social, political, economic and technological factors that globally act upon linguistic diversity. Over 230 researchers, social actors, linguists, experts and professionals involved in the promotion and use of languages took part in the round-table discussions scheduled in this World Congress on Language Policies organized by Linguapax, in collaboration with the Governments of Catalonia and of the Balearic Islands, and with the Culture of Peace Foundation and Forum 2004. The congress was held in Barcelona from April 16 to 20, 2002, at the World Trade Center in Barcelona. It consisted in six plenary lectures and five concurrent workshops, the findings of which were presented at the closing session.

You can download the Congress programme


Papers and abstracts (v.o. texts)

Introductory words by Fèlix Martí (Chairman of Linguapax)

Opening Session

Message from  Koichiro Matsuura (Director General of UNESCO) and opening address by John Packer (OSCE)

Welcome reception

“El model català de política lingüística” de Lluís Jou, Director General of the Language Policy Department of the Catalan Government

Keynote speeches

  • Albert Bastardas ‘Política lingüística mundial a l’era de la globalització: intercomunicació i diversitat des de la teoria de la “complexitat”‘
  • E. Annamalai ‘Language policies in multilingual societies’
  • Tove Skutnabb-Kangas ‘Language policies and education: the role of education in destroying or supporting the world’s linguistic diversity’
  • Lahman Khubchandani ‘Demographic imperatives in language planning’
  • Emmanuel Emenanjo ‘Language policies and cultural identities’
  • Peter Mühlhäusler ‘Theoretical approaches to language planning

Workshop 1

Language laws and their implementation. Laws and other legal documents as tools to promote languages: drafting, implementation and monitoring

  • Jean-Claude Corbeil ‘Les législations linguistiques et leur application”
  • Virginia Unamuno ‘La Carta Europea de les llengües regionals i minoritàries i la legislació lingüística: de la incidència formal a la incidència pràctica.
  • Zeynep Beykont ‘English Only Laws in the US’
  • Aleksandra Gjurkova ‘Language policy and minority language issues: An interactive relation’
  • Tamara Borgoyakova ‘Language law in Russia: models of implementation in Tyva and Khakassia’
  • Robert Dunbar ‘Minority language legislation and rights regimers: a typology of enforcements mechanisms’
  • Miyawaki Hiroyuki ‘Colonial language policy and their effects’
  • Paula Kasares ‘Cinco estatus diferentes para la lengua vasca y los derechos lingüísticos’
  • Alfred Matiki ‘Language planning and linguistic exclusion in the legislative process in Malawi’
  • Angel Pachev ‘Europeanisation trends and linguistic diversity’
  • Uldis Ozolins ‘Post-imperialist language situations: The Baltic States’
  • Snezana Trifunovska ‘International legal aspects of protection of minority languages in Europe’

Workshop 2

The management of language diversity in large cities. How to manage and preserve linguistic diversity in large urban settings and prevent tensions and linguistic conflicts.

  • Joan Rubin ‘From Assimilation Toward Accommodation in Montgomery County’
  • Ignace Sanwidi ‘La gestion de la diversité linguistique dans les grandes villes subsahariennes’
  • Anxo Lorenzo ‘Modelo de política y planificación lingüística desarrollado en Galicia para la revitalización social de la lengua gallega’
  • Trillos y Etxebarria ‘Política lingüística y realidad sociolingüística en el caribe colombiano’
  • Raymond Renard ‘La politique linguistique de l’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie dans son “espace francophone”‘
  • José Antonio FloresFarfan ‘Language revitalization and development in Mexico. The case of Mexicano’
  • Davyth Hicks ‘Scotland’s linguistic landscape: The lack of policy and planning with Scotland’s place-names and signage’
  • Karita Laisi ‘Comparing the language policy change in Guatemala and Ethiopia’
  • Nijolé Merkiené ‘Language planning and practice: The Lithuanian model’
  • Leyla Dodykhudoeva ‘The sociolinguistic situation of the Autonomous Region of Gorno Badakhshan’
  • Tariq Rahman ‘Language teaching and power in Pakistan’
  • J. Smolicz, I. Nical and M.J. Secombe ‘Assimilation or Pluralism ? Changing Policies for Minority Languages Education in Australia and the Philippines
  • Albert Fabà, Noemí Ubach, Pilar López, Alfred Castells, Mercè Romagosa (Consorci per a la Normalització Lingüística) i Joan Solé (Direcció General de Política Lingüística) (Comissió Ofercat) ‘Tarragona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet i Manresa: tres ciutats, tres models del procés de normalització lingüística a Catalunya?’
  • Janis Valdmanis ‘Relevance of economic factor in language policy in major cities of Latvia’

Workshop 3

Models of language policies: case studies. The study of specific models and best practices in the field of language policy, and their linguistic assessment according to cost-effectiveness criteria.

Workshop 4

The role of civil society in language policy processes. Effective participation of civil society (associations, NGOs, etc.) in the design, development, implementation and monitoring of language policies.

  • Bojan Brezigar ‘Role of civil society and NGOs to promote minority languages’
  • Dennis Cunningham ‘Civil society and language policy: A role for associations’
  • Alie van der Schaaf ‘Developments in bilingual education in Europe’
  • Kara Brown ‘Between two Unions: The revival of Võro in Post-Soviet and Pre-European Estonia’
  • Malika Ahmed Zaid ‘La dynamique associative de Kabylie pour le développement de la langue berbère’
  • David Ferguson ‘Practical and theoretical difficulties for NGO action for language equality in a European perspective’
  • Carmen López‘ Participación indígena en la implementación de políticas lingüísticas en la educación: una experiencia con comunidades guaraníes bolivianas’
  • Joe Mac Donnacha ‘Power differentials in language planning’
  • Angéline Martel ‘De/constructing with global paradigms. On governance, democracy and policies for language communities.
  • Joxe Jabier Iñigo ‘El acuerdo Bai Euskarari: (Sí a la lengua vasca) como experiencia de implicación de los agentes sociales en la normalización de la lengua’
  • Miquel Martí ‘Gestió de la diversitat cultural i lingüística en l’educació’
  • Martha Muntzel ‘Educational philosophy and minority languages’
  • Mary McGroarty ‘Niches for minority language use: What does civil society support?
  • Vicent Romans ‘Escola Valenciana. Federació d’associacions per a la llengua’

Workshop 5

New information technologies and the languages of small and medium-sized population. The challenge of new technologies and production of linguistic resources to promote language diversity and the culture of peace.

  • Diana Rumpite ‘Teamwork in Virtual Environments – Effective Approach in Language Learning’
  • Bernard Salvail ‘La francisation des technologies de l’information au Québec. Une intervention à succès variable’
  • Gotzon Egia ‘Las ventajas de ser pequeño: notas sobre la presencia de la lengua vasca en Internet’
  • Éda Heloisa Pilla ‘Por una política lingüística para el portugués contemporáneo de Brasil’
  • Joan Martí i Castell ‘La diversitat lingüística en la societat de la informació’
  • Olga Kazakievitch ‘A sounding dictionary of an endangered language’
  • Miquel Strubell i Marta Torres ‘El projecte Atlantis: recursos vinculats a les noves tecnologies per a les llengües minoritzades de la UE’
  • Monica Ward ‘Using new technologies to produce language material for minority and endangered languages
  • Victor Montviloff ‘Meeting the challenges of language diversity in the information society’
  • Pamela Nuñez ‘Cómo ayudan las nuevas tecnologías a proteger las lenguas minoritarias’

Conclusions

Workshop 1, coordinated by Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer
Workshop 2, coordinated by Mohamed Miled
Workshop 3, coordinated by Marc Leprêtre
Workshop 4, coordinated by Björn Jernudd
Workshop 5, coordinated by Irmela Neu

Pictures

You can watch a few photos in this gallery.

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