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Immigrant students bring to school multiple identities, shaped by language exposure at home and in school. The present study examined the relationship between the multiple identities of 264 immigrant students’ and their classroom engagement. Participants from French (n = 105), Russian (n = 63), English (n = 55) and Kuki (n = 41) speaking backgrounds in elementary, middle and high schools rated their current, preferred and future Israeli and heritage identities. Five identity clusters emerged: Strong Israeli (n = 27), Future Israeli (n = 43), Bicultural (n = 96), Current home (n = 49) and Strong home identity (n = 49). No differences were found among immigrant groups in terms of the identity cluster they fall under except for Kuki-Hebrew immigrants. Classroom engagement as measured by class attendance, participation, textbook use and assignment submission differed for the different identity clusters. Bicultural and Future Israeli identity clusters showed the highest engagement levels. Furthermore, younger students who opted for Current home identity exhibited the lowest engagement levels. The discussion argues for a multiple identities approach, challenging the conventional Home-School dichotomy used to study identity. This approach proposes using pedagogical approaches, such as translanguaging, to foster a sense of belonging and promote achievement among immigrant students by acknowledging their diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the theorisation of codeswitching (CS) as an emotional-identification phenomenon, little research has examined the emotional side of CS. The present study explored 15 Iranian English language teachers’ CS-invoked emotion and the contribution of such emotions for their identity construction. Collecting data over a three-month period and from classroom observations, post-class discussion, semi-structured interviews, and narrative frames, we found three major categories as defining the teachers’ CS-related emotion and identity construction: codeswitching as an agentic act, codeswitching as enhancing institutional emotionality, and codeswitching as a source of emotion labour. We found that CS interacts with circulating discourses and institutional participants to define the push and pull of teachers’ perceptions about CS and how such factors contribute to their emotionality, agency, and interpersonal identities. Based on the findings, implications for teacher educators are provided in how to anchor CS in teachers’ agency and emotionality to positively contribute to teachers’ effective identity construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This ethnographic article examines the interactional processes through which Tibetan-Canadian heritage language learners agentively construct their linguistic identities in everyday family interactions. Because food is centrally involved in family routines, as well as broader cultural practices and the articulation of individual tastes, talk about food provides a site for analyzing negotiations of individual agency amid expressions of shared identity. Drawing from previous language socialisation scholarship that approaches family meal times as a resource for constructing identity, this paper analyzes children’s conversations at meal-times, during food preparation, and about food preferences. Through interactional analysis of twelve months of longitudinal video ethnography in two Tibetan-Canadian families, I found that, in these activities centered on food, children used multilingual and multimodal resources to negotiate authority over their cultural and linguistic knowledge. Specifically, children agentively displayed their knowledge of Tibetan language forms, elaborated on their capacities to participate in cultural activities, and instructed parents about their individual preferences. By analyzing these interactional displays of knowledge through the concepts of agency and co-operative action, I argue that children construct their identities as speakers of Tibetan, despite the dominance of English in their language repertoires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous communities, linguists, teachers, and language activists have been developing methods to revitalise endangered languages over several decades. Not only are these methods diverse, they are usually implemented in various ways according to local needs and aspirations. Language revitalisation methods focus on proficiency, but there is also interest in strengthening identity, resilience, and wellbeing. Aside from a handful of successes, programs may not be achieving desired outcomes. One could try to evaluate specific programs. However, we believe that a necessary first step is to examine published literature of revitalisation efforts to develop initial understandings of how they work. In particular, we seek to understand how revitalisation efforts tap into the speech community, how local participation affects outcomes, and how this involvement is supported and sustained by external programs, with a focus on language revitalisation efforts in Australia. We conduct a realist synthesis, and through analysis of 125 pieces of literature, we identify 13 initial theories. In analysing these theories, we identify two major gaps in our understanding of language revitalisation: how revitalisation programs work to strengthen communities and promote commitment. We propose these as significant, under-theorised elements of successful revitalisation which can guide exploration at the level of individual programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports findings from a three-year qualitative study that explored the nature of translingual writing practices of the emergent multilingual youth who are ethnic Korean migrant children from Central Asia and Russia to South Korea. While settling into a new society, these emergent multilingual children tend to navigate and negotiate multiple languages, literacies, and identities. As a researcher and former teacher of Russian-speaking ethnic Korean migrant children in Korea, I became interested in examining how and why they engaged in translingual writing practices beyond school walls (referring to the capabilities and the processes of translingual language learners' appreciation, negotiation, and evaluation of multiple semiotic resources). Drawing upon 'translingualism' , this study gathered and analysed the data from multiple sources (i.e. observations, interviews, fieldnotes, and artefacts). The findings demonstrate the emergent multilingual youth's agentive engagement in translingual writing practices for differing purposes such as meaningful interaction, language development, and academic success. This study suggests that the dynamic and spontaneous use of multiple semiotic resources is the key to the emerging multilingual children's everyday communicative and literate lives as well as in the process of multilingual language development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociolinguistics has seen an emergence of new theoretical perspectives that somehow cater for the, according to Li, 'complex linguistic realities of the twenty-first century' (2017, p.14). Thus 'overwriting' conventional ways of understanding language/language use and its relation to identity construction. Taking these changes as a starting point, this paper expands research into complex identity construction of students attending a complementary language school and investigation of linguistic repertoires of German language learners through language portrait work. The motivation for the research presented in this paper is to explore the relationship between linguistic repertoires and complex identities of young people attending a complementary language school in a multilingual city. It suggests an organic approach to investigating the relationship between young people as social beings, that are more than 'just' language learners per se, and the ways they use organic linguistic repertoires (OLRs) to construct their complex linguistic identities. The findings presented in this paper highlight the complexities of young people's identities in relation to their OLR. The term OLR points towards the dynamic nature of 'languages'. Although these terms point toward a dynamic understanding of language and identity the term OLR seems to foreground the changing nature of these, pointing toward their 'aliveness'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the multilingual lived experience (MLE) of four Mongol-Chinese individuals. This lived experience is set in the multilingual context of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR) of China. Compared to the ethnic majority Han people, who are Mandarin (Putonghua) speakers, and who study English as a L2, Inner Mongolian ethnic minority students' experience is often trilingual, with Mongolian as their L1, Mandarin as their L2, and English as a L3. The study is presented in two analytical stages. First, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is used to understand the MLE of the Mongol-Chinese participants. IPA shaped the selection of these participants, the semi-structured interview methodology, and the processing and coding of the interview data. The subsequent presentation of the participants' MLE includes two super-ordinate themes: (a) multilingual experience in school, which appeared to be influenced by externally determined linguistic challenges, and (b) multilingual experience beyond school, which contributed to an ethnic consciousness and a wish to use Mongolian more. Second, post-structuralist theory is used to provide a broader interpretation of the MLE, as well as more general conclusions about the relationship between language and identity in the IMAR and China, with potential relevance also for other multilingual contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This systematic review explores the extent and nature of research on the experiences of international students transitioning from non-anglophone high schools to universities in anglophone settings and then curates and synthesises the empirical evidence on their experiences. An extensive and systematic search of the literature revealed 1247 potentially eligible papers. After screening, eleven empirical studies were deemed suitable for data extraction for narrative synthesis focusing on students’ transitional experiences. The university destinations in the included studies were the USA (n = 8), Canada (n = 2) and a variety of English-speaking university destinations (n = 1). Seven of the included studies were cross-sectional, and four studies were longitudinal. Results showed that previous studies have explored students’ decision-making processes, university and international readiness, and language and identity development. Five studies suggested the need for longitudinal perspectives to better understand student participants’ transition. Four studies proposed to incorporate the perspectives and impact of relevant stakeholders in investigating students’ transitional experiences, including students’ families, teachers, peers, and university professors. This review calls for more targeted, rigorous, and longitudinal studies to better understand and enhance international students’ experiences studying abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to reveal different stakeholders’ beliefs and opinions on heritage language maintenance and complementary schools in the Netherlands, namely those of parents, educators, and students. A case study was conducted at a Chinese school in the south of the Netherlands. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 respondents (N = 21) consisting of nine parents, eight educators, and four students. The results reveal that (1) Chinese parents value their children learning both Dutch and Mandarin due to economic, socio-cultural, and identity factors; (2) Heritage language maintenance is perceived by parents and educators as vital in ethnic grouping (sense of belonging), connection with the heritage culture, and for instrumental purposes. They also recognise Mandarin as a new diasporic linguistic standard replacing Cantonese; (3) Chinese parents view complementary schools as a platform to strengthen their ethnic bonding and community formation. Despite students’ perceptions of heritage language maintenance do not align with adults’ (parents and educators) views, their identity construction in complementary schools is in line with adults’ expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to our conceptualization of linguistic identities in English as a lingua franca (ELF) communication by analyzing a group of multilingual international students' narrativized accounts of their ELF communication experiences in an international university in Hong Kong. The findings of the study indicate that despite their status as L2 speakers, the participants considered themselves as legitimate speakers of English when interacting with others through ELF. Moreover, they oriented to their national cultural identities and personal identities indexed through their accents in ELF communication. Their frequent use of ELF with other students from diverse linguacultural backgrounds also prompted them to identify positively with a local ELF-using community and envision their imagined identities as members of a global ELF-using community. The findings further reveal that the participants' ELF communication experiences opened up a space for them to take on new and alternative L2-speaking personal identities which they perceived to be markedly different from and more desirable than their L1-based selves. Overall, the analysis provides empirical support for applying a tripartite model of linguistic identity for understanding ELF communication experiences and calls attention to the multidimensional nature of linguistic identities and the interrelatedness between different dimensions of linguistic identities in ELF communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the complex interplay between language policies, religious beliefs, and cultural identity within two Indonesian Muslim families, residing in urban and rural contexts. Given Indonesia’s diverse linguistic landscape, with over 700 languages spoken, this research examines how religious beliefs and cultural identity shape their language ideology and their utilisation of the Indonesian language, local languages, and Arabic within Indonesian Muslim families. This research fills a gap, as there is limited literature on this topic in Indonesia. Through a case study design, including semi-structured interviews with two families in different contexts, the study explores language use for daily communication, cultural preservation, and religious practices. Findings reveal that the urban family members prioritise the Indonesian language for broader communication, while the rural family members maintain stronger ties to local languages to preserve their cultural identity. Their religious convictions place Arabic as a language designated for religious purposes rather than for daily communication. The study underscores the significance of religious beliefs in shaping language choices and highlights the challenges and strategies to preserve cultural identity and religious devotion. This research contributes to the understanding of how faith and cultural identity influence language ideology and practices in Indonesia’s multilingual society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal inductive research unpacks the process of African post-secondary students' Chinese language identity (CLI) with the purpose of exploring a model of CLI development. We traced how 12 multilingual African students developed their CLI during the first year in a Chinese university. Data coded from three rounds of interviews conducted at different times reveal that over time, there are fewer distractors and more contributors to the development of CLI. We also found three bidirectional factors that both facilitate and impede CLI construction. In terms of dimensions of language identity, Chinese language expertise and positive affiliation with the new language increased over time without change in students' original language inheritance. Results inform both African students' adaptation in China and the instruction and administration of African students in Chinese universities. This study helps to discover patterns of change in language identity from a micro perspective and informs models of language identity development among multilingual adult learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we have explored language learning motivation, attitudes and exposition strategies in participants' L2 and FL in an attempt to adopt a multilingual view that better suits the complex sociolinguistic context of the Basque Country. The study includes 200 young multilinguals from the Basque Country. Most of them have Basque as their L2 and have studied English as a foreign language since they were young. For data collection, a questionnaire was designed combining closed Likert-type questions and open questions. The results show that young people who have had certain exposition to the minority language at school and outside school have developed a positive attitude toward multilingualism and motivation to learn Basque and English and that the linguistic identity of these young multilinguals is built according to the characteristics of a globalised world. This highlights new challenges in the goal of preserving and revitalising the minority language as the strategy of isolating the language is no longer valid, and it points at a need to delve into new strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In English-medium instruction (EMI), students learn content knowledge through their additional language. Despite the implicit English learning goals, EMI content subject teachers have been urged to provide more language support for their students. Such expectations may not be something that EMI teachers were professionally prepared for. It is then worth examining how EMI teachers (re)construct their identity when facing such new expectations. Based on Wenger’s [Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge University Press] identity construction framework, this qualitative multiple case study reveals how three EMI teachers in Hong Kong and Mainland China secondary schools negotiated their identity when being supported to incorporate language teaching in their content lessons. From data collected in co-planning meetings, lesson observations and interviews, all the teachers were engaged in constructing the identity of language aware content teachers, but some of them appeared to experience identity conflicts. The contrast of the three cases reveals that teachers’ professional training, school context and curriculum requirement are important in shaping teachers’ professional identity. Teachers’ agency also impacts on how teachers negotiate their identity, especially when facing contextual constraints. These findings underscore the importance of preparing teachers both psychologically and practically in EMI teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decade, Linguistic Landscape Studies (LLS) have grown into a robust discipline within sociolinguistics. There is a growing focus on multilingualism within linguistic landscape (LL) scholarship, which is gaining traction in European contexts. However, empirical research conducted in Indian contexts has been notably scarce despite India’s potential as a multilingual society. This study addresses the research gap by focusing on an Indian urban context, i.e. Siliguri. The study aims to explore the social identity construction of Siliguri through LL in light of the theoretical underpinning proposed by Landry and Bourhis (1997) and Ben-Rafael et al. (2006). A total of 446 photographic data were collected and analysed employing a mixed method analysis. The findings show five languages in the LL: English, Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, and Urdu. English is the most commonly used language, followed by Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, and Urdu. Furthermore, the finding shows the city as an emerging commercial hub in the entire North Bengal, leaning towards Western cultural influences and the process of globalisation. The predominant representation of English signs in public spaces also proves their high symbolic value in the city, making it a language with ‘linguistic capital’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores eight Kazakhstani postgraduate students' reflections of their international educational experiences in the UK after their immediate re-entry into Kazakhstan. Special focus was on their language identity development after their one-year stay in the UK. It was informed by Benson et al.'s ([2013]. Second Language Identity in Narratives of Study Abroad. London: Palgrave Macmillan) three-dimensional model of L2 identity: (a) identity-related aspects of L2 proficiency, (b) linguistic self-concept, and (c) L2-mediated aspects of personal development. The qualitative data collected from a written narrative and three subsequent rounds of individual semi-structured interviews suggest that most participants had lofty goals in the first period of their study abroad. They gradually became aware that full immersion in the host country could take a long time, and accordingly, they set concrete goals. The analysis of the data also revealed that the participants exercised their agency in displaying their development of sociopragmatic competence and a global citizenship identity, by respecting different opinions and accepting cultural differences. Nevertheless, some of them experienced racism based on their usage of English and presumed ethnicity. This study underlines the significance of introducing pedagogical interventions in all phases of study abroad to avoid student sojourners' unrealistic or impractical goals and empower their language identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of Chinese language diversity, it is important for Mandarin teachers to demonstrate an accurate understanding of language variation and critical pedagogy, empowering and embracing all emergent bilingual students and incorporating recognition of those learners whose heritage languages are alternative Chinese varieties. While Standard Mandarin is often referred to as 'Chinese', other varieties are usually called 'fāngyán' or 'dialects', a misleading translation causing confusion in both public and educational fora. In this study, I investigated pre- and in-service Mandarin Chinese teachers' developing language and teaching ideologies regarding Chinese varieties in the U.S. context. Participants were 30 Chinese natives from a graduate language education programme in the United States. They represented three Mandarin teaching stages: beginning and advanced-stage students, and recent graduates teaching Mandarin in the field. Data came from 60 semi-structured interviews, two with each participant. Framed by constructivist grounded theory and viewed through the lens of critical theory, results revealed participants' complex ideologies and their evolution across the three developmental stages related to sociolinguistic notions regarding Chinese varieties. Participants' views about teaching often reflected the realities of the educational and social cultures in which they participated, revealing the importance of acquiring a strong foundation in sociolinguistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing influx into Australia of (im)migrants whose first language is not English has made Australia linguistically more diverse than ever. Despite this, Australia remains a strongly Anglocentric nation, and migrants, in response, tend to abandon their heritage languages (HL) and shift to English relatively quickly. Korean migrants in Australia buck this trend, as they show a relatively high level of language maintenance. The Australian Korean community, nevertheless, experiences a language shift to English among different generations, and a sharp decline in the rate of high school students enrolled in Korean community language schools. The present study expands existing accounts of HL maintenance in Australia. Specifically, drawing on interviews with six Korean-speaking children, it compares the views about the HL of primary and secondary school students. In line with language ideologies (Kroskrity [2004]. "Language Ideologies." In A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology, edited by A. Duranti, 496–517. Malden, MA: Blackwell.; Woolard [1998]. "Language Ideology as a Field of Inquiry." In Language Ideologies: Practice and Theory, edited by B. B. Schieffelin, K. A. Woolard, and P. V. Kroskrity, 20–86. New York: Oxford University Press.), data analysis and interpretation employ positioning theory (Davies and Harré [1990]. "Positioning: The Discursive Production of Selves." Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 20 (1): 43–63.). A key finding is that their ideologies around the HL vary by school age. The comparison also suggests that their language ideologies are associated with the domains where they practise their HL, and the ways they position themselves. The study contributes to a dynamic understanding of multilingualism and HL education in a multicultural society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue focuses on family language policy as part of the language maintenance and shift efforts of Turkish heritage-speaker families in Australia, Belgium, France, Sweden and the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the Family Language Policy of second- and third-generation Turkish parents in Melbourne, Australia. Earlier research has shown that the family home is a crucial site for language maintenance [Fishman 1991. Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters]. The family, and the family home, remains for most migrant groups and their younger generations the main domain for heritage language use. The presence of heritage language speakers, especially those with lower majority language (English) proficiency levels in the family, is conducive to language maintenance. However, in the case of second and third-generation, particularly Australian-born parents, communication in English with their children becomes more dominant. As there has been no earlier study on Family Language Policy of Turkish-speaking parents in Australia, data were collected on the language beliefs and practices of 45 bilingual families. The findings show that Turkish maintenance is a symbolic part of cultural identity of the families studied. Findings reveal the challenges faced by families concerning heritage language maintenance within the family home, particularly as children become more fluent in English and as further generations become more intertwined within other cultures and an expectation to assimilate towards Australian culture and the English-speaking mainstream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates Azerbaijani bilinguals' language choice and identity construction processes in family and friendship domains. Individual interviews were conducted with 19 (11 male, 8 female) participants. The emerged themes were classified under three categories, i.e. age, gender and language ideologies. The findings revealed that language attitudes and ideologies are the main reason for Azerbaijani bilinguals' language choice in family and friendship domains. Farsi as the national language and the only language of education is considered important symbolic power compared to Azerbaijani Turkish language. The findings of the study also showed that age and gender in family domain and gender in friendship domain are influential factors in Azerbaijani bilinguals' language choice. Azerbaijani bilingual females use Azerbaijani Turkish to speak to their older family members while they choose Farsi to speak to other family members. Azerbaijani bilingual males choose Azerbaijani Turkish to speak to their older family members, their brothers and their male friends but they speak in Farsi to their female family members and female friends as well as their children. The findings and implications are discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines diasporic language ecology based on a sociolinguistic study of a Chinese complementary school (CCS) in Birmingham, England. The study applies a historical perspective to investigate local multilingual practices in relation to language ideology and identity. The discussion in this paper draws on heteroglossia to investigate language stratification in the CCS. It documents the impact of global mobility and socio-economic changes on shifting power relations among two Chinese language varieties (Putonghua and Cantonese) and English. Data for the discussion includes audio-recordings of interaction and interview as well as fieldnote vignettes. Findings show that (1) a stratified ideological ecology including 'separate bilingualism', 'translanguaging', 'a preferred school-wide monolingualism', and 'a standard language ideology' is dynamically constructed and negotiated in the school as a local heteroglossia; (2) At the intra-Chinese level, the Chinese language shift from Cantonese to Putonghua at global level is seeing its power in the local discourses of Putonghua becoming 'the new diasporic standard'. This standardisation towards Putonghua, on one hand, is claimed and celebrated in the school by some Putonghua-speaking members as 'practical' and 'useful' for better communication; on the other side, it is also contested – sometimes silently – in tension-filled local interactions by groups of Chinese people who lack the resource of Putonghua in their repertoires. This complex and tension-filled standardisation of diasporic Chinese language provides new local discourses of global mobility and the ongoing conversion from linguistic standardisation to social inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article summarises the results of pilot research about communicative practices among adolescents at bilingual schools in Austrian Carinthia. I present the findings by referencing Bourdieu's Theory of Practice, which I supplement when necessary with established concepts from sociolinguistics and social psychology. Bilingual schools are one of the last public spaces in the region where the use of Slovene is said to prevail, but even here it seems that Slovene is not the first choice of most pupils. We can conclude from what the young people say about their language practices that the decisive elements for the formation of an individual's (language) identity are the habitus acquired during primary socialisation and the linguistic capital acquired during the phase of secondary socialisation or formal education. The current relative values of different languages in Austrian Carinthia as determined by their use are, of course, not set in stone, but it seems that that any change would require active language policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years there has been a focus in language policy research on understanding how national policies are interpreted and negotiated by social actors on the ground. This paper looks at the interplay between government and grassroots initiatives to create Galician-speaking spaces in predominantly Spanish-speaking urban settings. While official language policies in Galicia since the 1980s have increased the potential for language use through bilingual educational policies, these policies have failed to convert the large pool of potential speakers amongst a younger generation of Galicians into active language users. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews with Galician neofalantes (new speakers) this paper looks at instances where such policies seem to have worked and where the linguistic capacity created through the education system has been converted into active language use. The article examines how such speakers rationalise their practice of linguistic conversion not as success stories of language policy but as reactions to and dissatisfaction with what is perceived as ‘top-down’ governmentality through a reflexive process in which existing power structures are brought into question. The article looks specifically as the ideologies underpinning their decisions to become active speakers and the role they play as language planners in contemporary Galicia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on a particular understanding of linguistic justice, one described as the ‘fair background conditions position’. This position has clear liberal-egalitarian roots, and its main feature is the contention that the basic requirement of justice with regard to language is the establishment of certain fair background conditions. The aim of the paper is to further the discussion regarding the implications of this understanding of linguistic justice. It will be argued that current accounts of how we realise fair linguistic conditions are lacking, due to their resource-based nature, which means that they tend to focus solely on people’s holdings of basic linguistic resources, in the form of rights, goods and services. While these resources are important, they should be viewed as only part of the story. If our goal is the establishment of conditions that provide people with truly fair opportunities to use and sustain their respective languages, then other factors, in particular the constraining influence of implicit social norms, also need to be considered, a matter that can be better grasped by adopting a capability-based, as opposed to a resource-based approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many contributors to the normative literature on language policy argue that inclusive multilingual regimes are beneficial on several grounds. However, despite the professed advantages of multilingualism, most nation-states have been reluctant to equally recognise minority languages alongside the majority language. This reality raises three questions. First, why is this the case? Second, should the situation be remedied? Third, if yes, how can change be achieved? The present article contends that a large part of the problem stems from the emphasis scholars and activists alike have placed on the deep ties between a minority group’s language and its collective identity. Yet, advocating for multilingualism on grounds of identity is likely to encounter strong resistance by the majority group and, consequently, thwart attempts to promote the official recognition of minority languages. In response, this article advocates three alternative defences of policies of multilingualism, which circumvent the obstacles that generally accompany identity-based arguments. The first justification stems from the uniqueinstrumentalnature of language, the second fromutilitarianconsiderations regarding democratic performance and the third emphasisesmoralconsiderations such as equality and access. Together, these non-identity arguments provide normative and efficient grounds to the adoption of multilingual policies in heterogeneous societies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Policymakers need a conception of linguistic disadvantage to supply guidance about the relative priority of inequalities with a linguistic dimension and to inform decisions about whether such inequalities require correction or compensation. A satisfactory conception of linguistic disadvantage will make it possible to compare the situations of speakers of different languages and to assess the normative significance of a range of linguistic inequalities. This paper evaluates four rival conceptions and asks whether they satisfy these criteria. Respectively, these conceptions associate linguistic disadvantage with inadequate communicative opportunities, with being unable to do the things that one cares about, with lacking (access to) important resources, and with capability deprivation. It is argued that a conception of linguistic disadvantage derived from the capabilities approach is the most promising option available to policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores the implications of John Rawls’ political liberalism for linguistic diversity and language policy, by focusing on the following question: what kind(s) of equality between speakers of different languages and with different linguistic identities should the state guarantee under political liberalism? The article makes three claims. First, language policy under political liberalism should guarantee the equal basic rights and liberties of all citizens, regardless of language(s) spoken. This may require positive forms of state intervention, such as the provision of interpreters and translators in courts of law or hospitals. Second, while permissible under political liberalism, symbolic recognition by the state of all languages is not required, because the notion of self-respect does not involve the ability to identify with the institutions of one’s own political community. Finally, while neither the protection of citizens’ basic rights and liberties, nor the guarantee of their self-respect, demands multilingual policies, the latter may be required under political liberalism by the principle of fair equality of opportunity. This last step involves recourse to democratic deliberation in order to ascertain people’s linguistic identities, the costs they associate with the enjoyment of available opportunities and their resulting demands with regard to language policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A significant body of research has begun to explore the association between language and identity, a relationship that becomes more complex when considering multilingual communities. Important for this field, a number of studies have examined the interrelation between language and identity in the Cuban population in the USA, a case in which dominant (English) and minority language (Spanish) interaction has largely resulted in language maintenance and a positive correlation between language use and ethnic identity. While the Cuban population in Russia shares cultural and historical background with the well-studied US Cuban community, key differences allow for the examination of the role of several external factors (e.g. community size, lack of contact with monolingual speakers) on patterns of language use and identity. Employing quantitative survey methods and qualitative sociolinguistic interviews, the present study examines language use and language identity in the Cuban community in Russia, including both first and second-generation speakers. In contrast with the US Cuban community, results illustrate a shift towards the dominant language (Russian). Considering language and identity, results show the development of a dual identity, particularly among the second-generation speakers. The contribution of external factors on patterns of language use and identity is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local people's sense of place identity might feel threatened in the midst of rapid social change or at a time of crisis, they come into collective consciousness and are particularly likely to assert and highlight their local place identity. Languages (including scripts) become one way for them to maintain an authentic claim to a place and give it a social meaning that in turn authenticates their status as ‘true’ residents of this place. The use of a simplified Chinese sign by McDonald's in Macao in May 2012 has sparked a debate on the protection of traditional Chinese characters against simplified Chinese characters. With the application of the ideology of linguistic authenticity to netizens' comments, this study reveals the sociolinguistic imagination of a homogeneous Macao speech community and illustrates how Macao people discursively negotiate and construct their identities under the tension of ‘One Country’ and ‘Two Systems’. It also discusses some of the contextualizing factors that help situate the debate in a broader sociopolitical context. Small as it is, Macao serves as an illustration of the ways in which local–national tensions play out in languages and has wider resonance beyond the site under investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyses the controversial discourses around the significance of the Arabic language in Eritrea. It challenges the arguments of the government and some scholars, who claim that the Arabic language is alien to Eritrean society. They argue that it was introduced as an official language under British rule and is only spoken by the Rashaida minority and by a small educated elite. By contrast, this paper demonstrates that Arabic has served as the established lingua franca among the Eritrean Muslims and as the administrative language and medium of education for centuries. The main focus of the paper is a critique of the government's post-independence language policy, which replaced Arabic as the medium of instruction by mother tongue education under the purported aim of establishing the equality of all nine Eritrean languages. I argue that the promotion of this policy has political implications and that one of its purposes is to alienate the Muslim community from the use of the Arabic language as a marker of their common identity. The article is written from a sociological perspective and draws on numerous conversations with mother tongue school teachers, students and parents, and on participant observation of the public debate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the results of fieldwork conducted among the small Italian minority living in Kerch, a coastal town in Crimea, between 2012 and 2013. After introducing the socio-historical background and the current situation of the minority, it presents and discusses the attitudes of members of the community towards the different languages which constitute their linguistic repertoires. The research builds on Bourdieu's theoretical approach to symbolic (linguistic, social and cultural) capital and on analyses and conceptualisations of linguistic identification in Ukraine and Crimea. Analysed data generate a picture of language use and attitudes within a minority group in the Crimean pluralistic environment, where individuals may feel allegiances and commitments to different ethnic communities and to different languages simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article investigates to what extent the European Union (EU) has the means to protect minority and regional languages in the EU, looking at the ways three different bodies of the EU, the European Parliament (EP), the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) differ in handling language diversity and the principle of language rights. Whereas the CoE pursue the protection of minority languages as a universal human right, the ECRML looks at it from a language planning perspective. This has two significant consequences: (1) the CoE incorporates the minorities into their resolutions, whereas the ECRML ignores the language users and focuses solely on the languages; (2) the former pursues the collective language rights principle, whereas the latter follows the territorial language rights principle. This article examines the impact the narrative built into the language planning policies has on their effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present study is a nationwide survey of language identity among English language learners in Iran. The participants who completed the survey in this research included 1851 English language learners from different parts of the country who belonged to different genders, age groups and English language proficiency levels. The main instrument was a validated questionnaire which included 19 items and was administered online and by hand. The results of this survey revealed that Iranian English language learners had a moderate level of language identity and there was no significant difference between the language identity of male and female participants. In addition, the results indicated that there were significant differences in the language identity of participants across different age groups (teenagers and adults) and language proficiency levels (low- and high-proficiency learners). Finally, the results showed that 73.3% of the participants preferred American English, followed by British English (23.6%), Persian English (1.6%), Canadian English (1.2%) and Australian English (0.3%) as their favourite varieties of English. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study consisted of three main phases including the development of a hypothesised model of language identity in Iran, developing and validating a questionnaire based on this model and finally testing the model based on the questionnaire data. In the first phase of this research, a hypothesised model of language identity in Iran was developed based on the literature and consultations with a panel of experts. After that, a questionnaire was developed and validated to tap the components of the hypothesised model. In order to develop this questionnaire, the researchers went through a number of rigorous steps including content selection, item generation, writing the rating scales and personal information part, expert opinion, item revision, initial piloting, reliability estimation and finally validation. The results of the questionnaire administration indicated that the reliability of the questionnaire estimated through Cronbach's alpha was 0.73 and exploratory factor analysis also identified six factors. As the final phase of this study, structural equation modelling through AMOS 21 was utilised to test the model. The initial results showed a poor fit model; however, the model was trimmed by removing one item from the questionnaire, and final statistical indices indicated that the model was fit. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]