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Based on Spolsky's (2004) tripartite framework for language policy, this study explores language practices, language ideology, and language management in relation to minority languages, Putonghua, and English in ethnic minority families in Yunnan, China. Through observations of and interviews with nine interethnic marriage families in Kena Village and Anmin Village, we found that although people in both villages recognise the value of their native languages in ethnic identification and cultural inheritance, people in Anmin Village make efforts to teach the children Mosuo, while children in Kena Village usually acquire Malimasa naturally. Such differences are associated with sociolinguistic environment and child agency. Meanwhile, Putonghua is widely used in television programmes and smartphone applications and acquired by the young generation due to national policy and the spread of smartphones and television. Families in both villages demonstrated similar aspirations for their children's English learning, but low socioeconomic status affected their ability to invest in foreign language learning. The results suggest that in the special context of multi-ethnic and multilingual villages in Yunnan the agency of rural parents and grandparents is relatively weak, and family language policies are mainly influenced by meso – (e.g. school) and macro- (e.g. socioeconomic environment, national policy) level factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the evolving means of China's formal language policy on Putonghua and minority languages from 1986 to 2021. This paper identifies four stages based on the shifting focus between Putonghua and minority languages: status planning of the central government (1986–1990), balance via bilingual policy (1991–2000), strong Putonghua spread at all levels (2001–2011), and Putonghua promotion and minority language preservation (2012–2021). Through descriptive and corpus analysis of a self-constructed language policy database, for each stage, we explore the major means stated in policy documents by analysing keywords to explain policy changes with consideration of social conditions. The results show that China has continuously adjusted its formal language policy according to social changes, and that language planning in this emerging economy has been profoundly influenced by national strategy and government administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Amazigh language in the city of Melilla (Spain) is recognised as a regional and minority language, but it is not recognised as a co-official language, nor does it have the status of an official language. The unequal relationship between the official language, Spanish, and the Amazigh language has not only linguistic but also social implications, which have been little studied in this particular territory. Against this backdrop, we propose to investigate the situation of the Amazigh language in this context. For this purpose, an exploratory sociolinguistic study has been carried out, which approaches the uses, attitudes and opinions of the Melilla population – speakers and non-speakers – of the language in relation to the role it plays in the life of the city, its contribution to individual and collective cultural identity, as well as the role of political decisions on these dynamics. To this end, a mixed methodology was applied, including a questionnaire, as a pilot application, focus groups and semi-structured group and individual interviews. Among the conclusions, it is clear that there is a differential valuation of languages, which leads to inequalities. In response, the study recommends strong institutional support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, there has been a surge in ethnographic films by Han directors in China, highlighting the complex interplay of power dynamics between these filmmakers and the minority communities they portray. This study examines these dynamics through the lens of spirituality and cultural representation, focusing on the film “Ashiq: The Last Troubadour.” A case study and interviews with the director, Liu Xiangchen, reveal an essentialist portrayal of the Uygur Ashiq that emphasises their spiritual and cultural identity on Uighur language chant, inadvertently reinforcing Han dominance. The analysis suggests that while the director's intentions reflect a critical self‐awareness, the film perpetuates the marginalisation of the Ashiq. We argue that ethnographic cinema should offer a more nuanced depiction of ethnic minorities and their minority language to challenge social injustices further and promote inclusivity in China's diverse linguistic and cultural landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Zhuang language test (Vahcuengh Sawcuengh Suijbingz Gaujsi, VSSG) is the first minority language test in the People's Republic of China. It was designed with multiple goals including improving Zhuang language teaching, recruiting students for relevant majors of tertiary study, identifying proficiency for work-related applications, and piloting the standardisation of national minority languages. Informed by a use-oriented testing perspective that takes into account social consequences and value implications, we examine attitudes of stakeholders (i.e. testers in an official capacity and testees) toward the test and consider how well the VSSG meets its goals. Drawing on documents and interviews, our study suggests that the test falls short of its primary goals due to a mismatch between stakeholder attitudes, the social functions of the tested language, and the value attached to the minority language. As a result, the test is an ineffective agent for promoting the status of the Zhuang language in the ways intended by its designers and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the digital media era, the preservation of minority languages and cultures faces profound challenges. This article focuses on the Gyalrong Tibetan language (GTL) as a representative case within the broader context of linguistic diversity endangerment. The emergence of digital technology as a supplementary tool to preserve endangered languages provides opportunities and challenges in language conservation. Adopting a qualitative research approach and thematic analysis, collecting data from previous studies, fieldwork, and interviews, this study considers the intersection of digital technology and GTL preservation. It examines 1) the opportunities, 2) the challenges and concerns of integrating digital technology and minority languages and 3) the evolving dynamics of language proficiency influenced by educational systems among younger generations. Moreover, these considerations are placed within the framework of media ecology and language shifts, exploring how communication technologies shape GTL and its cultural context. This research contributes empirical insights to the discourse on minority language revitalisation and offers a strategic view for further research into language preservation in a digitised world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the multidimensional view of reading comprehension (RAND), reading comprehension (RC) is influenced by three components‏: the reader, text, and task. A broader perspective considers factors beyond the cognitive and linguistic dimensions and incorporates the contribution of emotional condition. The present study examined individual differences in readers' literacy and emotional involvement in the RC process, including ‏the reader, text, and task components. A total of 230 Hebrew-speaking students in the fourth and fifth grades received a battery of emotional and non-emotional vocabulary, word reading, RC measures (simple and mental inferencing questions), and comprehension of different text types. The students were classified as typical readers (TRs), poor readers (PRs), minority-language (ML) students, and students with learning disabilities (LDs). In monitoring the reading fluency measure, an analysis of variance revealed that students with LDs performed significantly lower in all variables than the TRs and PRs. They also performed lower than the ML students in emotional factors such as comprehension of narrative texts and the theory of mind task. The findings highlight the language-specific nature of gaps in ML students vis-à-vis the complex multicomponent nature of deficits in students with LDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Arabic is the native language of a fifth of the Israeli population, its representation in the Israeli linguistic landscape (LL) is problematic. Adopting a sociolinguistic framework that underscores the political nature of language (Ben-Rafael 2009), this study invited Palestinian-Israeli college students to reflect on the linguistic reality in their area through the participatory documentary photography tool ‘PhotoVoice’. The students captured photos of linguistic landscapes, analysed them, and wrote commentaries voicing their reflections. Students ‘PhotoVoices’ shed light on the abundance of mistakes in Arabic words on the signs. Content analysis of the ‘PhotoVoices’ on this issue highlighted students’ cognitive and emotional perceptions and emerging awareness of the explicit and implicit messages delivered through the signage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a pilot study on the relationship between speaking Irish and belonging, with a focus on Irish-speakers of diverse ethnicities and/or nationalities in Ireland. The research includes twelve respondents with diverse backgrounds in terms of nationality and/or ethnicity. We examine whether the language gives them a sense of belonging to Ireland, but also if they experience any exclusion on the basis that it does not 'belong' to them. Our research is qualitative and we analyse the data through the lens of nationalism studies. We suggest that Irish can be an important tool in the hands of speakers of diverse ethnicities and/or nationalities, a power that they can use in diverse ways, including to foster integration, avoid alienation, legitimise their presence in the country and fight against forms of discrimination. Yet, questions arise when the national heritage is passed on by individuals that many people do not consider 'national'. Do clashes occur between people who consider themselves to be of Irish ethnicity and nationality and Irish speakers of diverse ethnicities and/or nationalities? What are the reasons for the clashes and what are the consequences? This study offers some answers while pointing to the needs of more investigation of the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article details findings from an exploratory case study that examined the efficacy of a phonological awareness and vocabulary programme with children educated in a bilingual immersion context of English and te reo Māori (Māori language) in Aotearoa New Zealand. The current paper discusses changes in the development of early literacy skills in English and te reo Māori in two groups of children aged from 5 years 0 months to 7 years 5 months. Twenty-six children from two bilingual classrooms in a rural school participated in a programme implemented by teachers over 15 weeks. The programme included explicit instruction in phonological awareness and vocabulary. One classroom was from Level 1 te reo Māori immersion, and one was from Level 3 te reo Māori/English. Results were analysed at cohort and class levels. Analyses indicated that both groups of children significantly improved in phonological awareness skills, non-word reading, and expressive vocabulary. Correlational analyses indicated that growth in te reo Māori skills was positively associated with growth in English skills. These findings suggest that further investigation into how the explicit teaching of te reo Māori can benefit the development of phonological awareness and print-related skills in English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Heritage language maintenance is affected by many different factors. Particularly for families in subtractive bilingual environments, it is crucial to have a well-defined family language policy (FLP). Even with an established FLP, major disruptions and changes, as well as smaller shifts in families’ lives, can significantly affect children’s multilingual development and threaten heritage language maintenance. These shifts can be sudden or gradual. This study focuses on the importance of bringing the need for a FLP into multilingual families’ awareness and explores the challenges of sustaining it. More specifically, this study uses two parents’ reflections regarding their own families’ language policies to gain a better understanding of the challenges and to make recommendations to other families. It is guided by the following questions: To what extent are parents aware of their family’s multilingual habits and policies? How can parents support their children’s heritage language development in the face of significant disruptions or even subtle life changes? Two linguists raising multilingual children in different contexts agreed to become accountability partners to gain a better understanding of their own dynamic situations and support each other to become more intentional in their family multilingual development. Data were collected over a six-month period. Findings suggest that intentionality increased due to the accountability partnership. Furthermore, this study challenged several of the researchers’ assumptions, particularly regarding the amount of heritage language spoken, how transitions affect the family, what it takes for linguistic changes to occur, and the ease of tracking one’s own family’s linguistic habits. This study suggests that having a FLP is not sufficient, but that it requires periodic updating, and changes need to be implemented to match the evolving plan.

Assessing vocabulary knowledge is an important part of establishing language proficiency in bilingual children. The crosslinguistic lexical tasks (CLTs) provide a framework for testing vocabulary development in three-to-six year-olds using a standard procedure and comparable items for multiple languages. This study describes the development of the Irish CLTs to test receptive and expressive vocabulary for nouns and verbs. The test was then used in a pilot study to measure the vocabulary development in both Irish and English of 41 bilingual children attending Irish-immersion education in an Irish-speaking region of Ireland. The results showed that, as expected, children found lexical comprehension to be easier than production, and nouns easier than verbs. As a group, those from Irish dominant homes performed similarly on both the Irish and English versions of the CLTs, but those from bilingual and English-dominant homes performed significantly better on the English version. The amount of home-language exposure to Irish and English showed advantages on production tasks in each language. However, all groups performed relatively poorly on the production and comprehension of Irish verbs. We explore the findings in relation to the importance of language exposure in a minority language context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to explain the migration decisions of minority language speakers by investigating motivating factors. Viewed through a language planning lens, the study pushes the parameters of some of the discipline's more recent agency concepts within the context of migration. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 60 Welsh speakers aged 18–40 who have stayed, left, or returned to the Welsh language 'heartlands' to create a typology representing the diversity in speakers' priorities when deliberating migration decisions. The data shows that the Welsh language is a significant consideration in the migration decisions of some typology groups, however most groups prioritised other factors. It was found that, in some cases, employment was a means of sustaining speakers within the linguistic community or attracting them back, offering much-needed evidence to support key tenets of the Welsh Government's current language strategy. Furthermore, given the likelihood of minority language speakers' decision to stay, leave or return to a language 'stronghold' to increase or limit opportunities to use the language, we argue that migration is an important context for probing the use of agency by minority language speakers at a micro level. Consequently, we contend that migration should receive greater attention from language planning scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work on linguistic landscapes at schools (schoolscapes) has highlighted the complex dialogic relationship between the semiotics of public signage in educational spaces and policies seeking to enforce dominant ideologies. In this paper, we discuss the results of research conducted in the Deep South of Thailand, a minority region in which the predominant language, ethnicity and religion are different from the rest of the nation, and which has over the last century been exposed to significant assimilatory pressure. Drawing on an analysis of language use in two Islamic schools in the region, as well as interviews and focus groups with administrators, teachers and students, we focus on the temporality of meanings – how schoolscapes are anchored in narratives of the past, present and future. Historical memories evoked by particular elements of the schoolscapes are discussed, particularly in light of the efforts of the local population to resist assimilatory policies. We also discuss the aspirations of our participants for the future, observing that, while recent language policy in Thailand has focussed primarily on promoting Thai and English, our participants saw a much more varied plurilingualism as relevant to their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research utilises an apparent-time approach to interrogate changes in the linguistic landscape of Xichang City, the capital of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in China, over the past two decades. By examining a variety of public signage installed in different periods, this study found that both official and private signs have shifted from monolingualism to bilingualism or multilingualism. The official signs afforded space for the Yi script in addition to Chinese. By contrast, the proliferation of bilingual or multilingual signs on private stores occurred at the expense of Yi. The diachronic variation of private signage is indicative of the decline of the Yi language and reflects uneven power relations that favour Chinese and English. This study contributes to the methodological approach to linguistic landscape research by using signs of chain stores as evidence to reflect a multilayered and historically mediated diachronic change. It also showcases that the apparent-time approach serves as an effective way to trace changes in linguistic landscapes over time, which are not discernible through a synchronic approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To have a better understanding of the sociolinguistic surroundings of Japanese Brazilians as return migrants in Japan, this study investigates language use in their communities from a perspective of linguistic landscape (LL), paying particular attention to their ethnic identity as to how they are viewed by the host society, including language policies, and how they view themselves in Japan. Although it has been said in the literature that they are 'socially invisible', the results revealed a certain level of social interactions with the host society that are materialised as LL items, including ideologically charged signs representing social inclusion as community members. In terms of ethnic identity, the observed signs, such as those installed by the host society reflecting the language policies in response to cultural differences and those installed by Japanese Brazilians representing active manifestation and construction of identity, encapsulate the discussion in the literature regarding the shift in ethnic identity from the previously maintained Japaneseness to Brazilianness through their transnational experiences and practices. In addition, such ethnic identity expressed by Japanese Brazilians is emphasised in its further use for ethnic commodification by the host society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies suggest that bilinguals demonstrate smaller vocabularies than monolinguals, and that bilinguals' breadth of vocabulary knowledge – both expressive and receptive – is linked to input frequencies in each language [e.g. Hoff, E., S. Welsh, S. Place, and K. Ribot. 2014. "Properties of Dual Language Input That Shape Bilingual Development and Properties of Environments That Shape Dual Language Input." In Input and Experience in Bilingual Development, edited by T. Grüter, and J. Paradis, Vol. 13, 119–140. Amserdam: John Benjamins]. However, relatively little is known about the quality of bilinguals' knowledge of the words they do know (e.g. their understanding of how words relate to each other semantically) and how input frequencies influence that knowledge. Using the Cognitive Abilities Tasks – 4 (CAT-4), this study explored the potential links between three types of input sources – home language exposure, self-reported rates of language use in general, and language use with friends – and bilinguals' performance on two types of vocabulary tests in both Welsh and English: verbal analogy and verbal categorisation. Results revealed similar performance across-the-board in relation to their knowledge of English vocabulary, regardless of their exposure to and use of Welsh and/or English in general and with friends, but their knowledge of the links between words in Welsh was related to home language exposure and rates of language use. The implications and application of these results in practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Oriental Studies (Al-Farabi Kazakh National University) / Kazahskij Nacional'nyj Universitet Imeni Al'-Farabi Vestnik Seriâ Vostokovedeniâ is the property of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This contribution will examine the relationship between linguistic practices and the development of the indigenous Misak community in Colombia. Based on qualitative data from two field surveys conducted in the Guambfa resguardo, Cauca department, in 2021 and 2022, our approach includes semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and workshops in the indigenous language (TERPLO) with students at various levels. Our theoretical framework will be grounded in the principles of Giovanni Agresti's Social Development Linguistics, which emphasizes on-the-ground intervention in collaboration with language speakers to improve the quality of life for marginalized populations. By analyzing the Misak case, we will identify the crucial role of minority languages in the intergenerational transmission of ancestral knowledge and community practices, thereby promoting sustainable development and territorial reappropriation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This research investigates the heritage language (HL) as a core value of first-generation Yorùbá English bilingual immigrants in the United States and explicates HL maintenance practices among them. Methodology: It uses observation and semi-structured interviews with first-generation Yorùbá–English bilingual immigrants residing in New York, Texas and Maryland. Data and analysis: Transcripts from the interviews and field notes from the observation were analysed and coded using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) and some features of the Interlinear Morpheme Glossing (IMG) rules which are conventions useful for transliterations and translations. Findings: The heritage language is the distinctive identity of first-generation Yorùbá–English bilingual immigrants in the United States. Hence, they adopt maintenance strategies similar to those of other immigrants identified in previous studies (home language, language of familiarity, language as code and language for admonition) and devise ingenious strategies to ensure maintenance including language for setting intergroup boundaries, language for maintaining connectedness and language for naming realities. Originality: Previous studies have examined HL maintenance among Asian, Hispanic and European immigrants who have HLs with high numeric strength, but this study examines immigrants of African descent and an HL with low numeric strength. It also presents unobserved HL maintenance strategies which are peculiar to first-generation Yorùbá–English bilingual immigrants in the United States. Implications: Despite English monism, immigrants/ethnic minorities can go beyond common HL maintenance strategies and create unique ones that will ensure the continued use of their languages. The ability to do this advances a positive ethnic identity, guarantees an improved lifespan for HLs in host communities and reduces instances of identity crisis among immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is based on a case study of Slovene speakers in north-western Italy and their attitudes towards language use and policy. Although the legal protection and support for the development of minority, regional, and non-dominant languages in Europe have made a remarkable progress, minority language communities still face many serious challenges. On the one hand, the level of their respective legal protection is often not efficient enough. On the other hand, legal protection provides only formal conditions for language maintenance, which has nothing to do with motivation, proficiency, or improvement. Today, most minority speakers in Europe are allowed and encouraged to use their home language in the public; but the question is whether they are motivated to do so. By studying the speakers of Slovene in Italy, my aim is to point at importance of colloquial local and non-local (koiné) varieties in maintaining minority language and bilingualism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite an increasing interest in pronunciation instruction in English as a majority language or international lingua franca, less is known about pronunciation learning in non-English minority languages, especially among child learners. Bilingual education programs provide a unique context to address this research gap, as they involve immersive education in minority languages. Teachers in these programs thus are insightful informants. The current study focuses on the context of a Mandarin-English bilingual program in Canada and addresses two research questions: What factors do teachers believe influence students’ Mandarin pronunciation learning? What are teachers’ strategies and needs when teaching Mandarin pronunciation? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve Chinese teachers with diverse language backgrounds. The teachers discussed multifaceted factors that influenced bilingual students’ pronunciation learning, including speech targets, individual factors, and language environments at school and in society. Teachers shared a wide array of pronunciation teaching techniques, although they expressed concerns related to policies and resources. This study demonstrates the complexity of teaching the pronunciation of a minority language, whose speech system is distinctly different from English, in a bilingual classroom setting. It shares teaching strategies among bilingual teachers and identifies future directions for policymaking and research.

This study tested whether Punjabi-English bilinguals feel a stronger rapport with another bilingual stranger when communicating in L1 Punjabi or their dominant L2 English. Some previous studies have shown greater emotional reactions to a dominant language. We predicted that participants would feel more comfortable speaking their dominant language. Participants completed an origami task via Zoom with a confederate while communicating in English and Punjabi trials. The task was done in both languages and the order of languages was randomly assigned. Surprisingly, participants rated the Punjabi interactions more comfortable than the English interactions. Rapport was not correlated with proficiency in either language. One possible interpretation of these results is that communicating in the L1 elicits feelings of belongingness to a community, resulting in greater feelings of comfort. Future studies can test whether these results generalise to real-life interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yiddish-Hebrew speakers residing in Israel are primarily Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox Jews, living in relatively closed communities, characterized by their large number of children, low parental formal education, and low family income. Religious literacy and schooling are highly respected. We tested the impact of these demographic factors on children's vocabulary size and language dominance. Data was collected for 34 bilingual children aged 2–4, in Yiddish, the Minority Language (MiL-Yiddish), and in Hebrew, the Majority Language (MaL-Hebrew). Demographic and language use information was gathered using a multicultural questionnaire, completed by the mothers. Significantly larger vocabulary sizes were observed across the group for Yiddish, and significant correlations were found between vocabulary measures and exposure variables. Vocabulary size in the MiL-Yiddish increased with family size. This unbalanced bilingualism may be explained by the strong Yiddish-based identity of this population and the support of MiL-Yiddish by these closed communities and particularly by their schools. The positive effect of family size on Yiddish may stem from the number of children attending these Yiddish-speaking schools. The unexpected role of family size and the dominance of MiL-Yiddish among these bilinguals undermines the definition of Yiddish as the MiL, calling for a different paradigm of in-group and out-group languages.

In the following article, an attempt is made to define basic approaches for a future successful design of German minority teaching in Poland. On the one hand, reference is made to the thirty-year history and current situation of teaching in Poland and, on the other hand, to the already researched fields of activity of German minority teaching in Eastern Europe. Linguistic as well as cultural and methodological aspects are explored. The contribution should be understood as a scientific suggestion to redefine the term minority language in a didactic context.

The article analyses graphic and orthographic variability, as well as issues concerning the standardization process, in an unwritten Pamir language – Shughnani. The source data include a corpus of published and archival Shughnani texts of the 19th–21st centuries and their translation into Russian, as well as dictionaries, and field materials resulting from the author’s field research. We systematise linguistic data by applying an in-depth comparative method, in particular, comparative analysis of culturally marked units, as well as component analysis. There exist no state-institutional structures for regulating social speech activity, and thus no ability to solve theoretical and practical issues in terms of public policy through measures taken in the field of speech culture and language. This situation incentivizes the creation of a written tradition with a unified normative writing system, the compilation of Shughnani-Tajik-Russian, etc. dictionaries reflecting key national vocabulary, and the publication of normative grammars. It also encourages the creation of prose literature, and on this basis, the development of a literary standard. These measures serve to improve the sociolinguistic status of the language and ensure its preservation.

Despite the vibrancy and potential Welsh-language Theatre-in-Education (TIE) has thus far received very little scholarly attention. This article aims to address that gap in research by focusing on Welsh TIE's role in engaging teenagers with and through the Welsh language. The first part of this article outlines the socio-political, linguistic and educational context out of which TIE grew. The second part demonstrates how Welsh-language TIE responds to the Welsh context and has found ways of carving out spaces for teenagers to engage in the Welsh language beyond the classroom, providing a potential model for other minority language contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Succeeding in bringing a culture of consent involves the mobilization of all partners. In New Brunswick, a group of professors brought together for the first time in this Canadian province, people from the community, schools, and post-secondary sectors to discuss, reflect and reimagine education. This is how in 2015, from the perspective of shared leadership, the Forum francophone sur l'apprentissage (Francophone conference on education and learning) was created. In 2022, the fourth edition of the Forum aimed to define the notion of consent to reduce violence in all its forms. Hence, this Forum was the event that led to the first Consent and Healthy Relationships Summit in 2023. This article will shed light on how the power of human mobilization and shared leadership can advance a culture of consent. Through documentary analysis of artifacts collected during these events, the authors identify the ingredients that led to their success. Although these events took place in small communities, these results are similar to those of Routhieaux (2015). Shared leadership actions lead to partnerships to address complex societal issues like consent and healthy relationships; these impacts can inspire others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the complications experienced by Switzerland and Spain in administering the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML). The Charter is a vital legislative instrument for defending the varied languages across Europe. The paper digs into the problems encountered, including concerns with ratification, sociolinguistic obstacles, resource limits, and linguistic variety. The research highlights the need to maintain language rights while encouraging multilingualism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Filologija is the property of Croatian Academy of Sciences & Arts (HAZU) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Spanish Journal of Comparative Education / Revista Española de Educación Comparada is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we delve into the dynamics of the Irish-language public sphere, with a primary emphasis on the media landscape. In our analysis, we contend that the prevailing public sphere in Ireland predominantly functions in the English language, thereby subordinating the Irish-language public sphere. By scrutinising the challenges inherent in conceptualising an Irish-language public sphere vis-à-vis Irish speakers, we underscore the absence of a cohesive public of Irish speakers. Consequently, the Irish-language public sphere finds itself grappling with inherent fragility. The waning usage and proficiency in the Irish language exhibit a symbiotic relationship with the frailty of the Irish-language public sphere, consequently limiting the input of the Irish-language public sphere into the political sphere. In the predicted increase in employment opportunities for Irish speakers, there exists the potential for improvement in Irish-language fluency and usage, fostering a more consolidated Irish-language public sphere that could manifest more prominently. Our examination is grounded in the history of Irish broadcasting and theories of nations and nationalism. Central to our inquiry are the contrary forces of ratings (commercial motive) and revival (nationalist motive). Given the limited and dispersed number of the Irish speakers, we underscore the pivotal role of media in sustaining an Irish-language public sphere. As we navigate these dimensions, our study unravels the interplay between language, media, and societal frameworks that shape the contours of the Irish-language public sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the failed attempt of the Republic of Azerbaijan to introduce an additional Latin-based alphabet for the Lezgian language, which has been using the Cyrillic script since the late 30s of the 20th century to the present day. It provides a brief history of Lezgian script from ancient times to the present day, analyzes the current state and condition of Lezgian being spoken on the territory corresponding to its historical base – the Republic of Dagestan (Russia) and the Republic of Azerbaijan – and establishes its status as a minority and vulnerable language. With reference to the Latin-based alphabet of Lezgian which was in use from 1928 to 1938 and apparently has been offered as such in the Republic of Azerbaijan, linguistic disadvantages of the possible transition of Lezgian alphabet to the Latin script are revealed. The example of Lezgian suggests that an attempt by the state to provide a language which is recognized as a minority and, to some extent, even minorized language in it with an extra alphabet, as well as the lack of it at all, can be regarded as a real threat to the very existence of the language. The author concludes that despite the fact that there are a few other examples of biscriptalism represented by majority and official languages, to the development and existence of which the simultaneous use of another script in another country poses no threat, in case of Lezgian the biscriptalism could have a destructive impact on its development and cause social risks such as the loss of ethnic and cultural identity of Lezgian speakers, the division of the Lezgi people into two separate groups totally devoid of ethnic consciousness and their subsequent irreversible assimilation.

The following paper explores the funerary epigraphy of contemporary Galician rural societies to contextualise it within social, historical, and linguistic dynamics. This hypothesis suggests an apparently contradictory record, with diverse primary sources offering apparently conflicting versions of the same process: while funerary memorials show an absolute predominance of Castilian as the vehicular language, sociolinguistic and historical studies suggest an absolute predominance of Galician. Considering these contextual discordances, different questions arise: how are these ambiguous contexts generated? Is it a methodological problem or are they real representations of ambivalent social dynamics? How can we identify them and in what kind of social processes? Accordingly, this work develops a twofold approach: firstly, an analytical methodology that collects relevant data from epigraphic evidence is provided, aiming to expose the funerary record and identify possible contextual ambiguities in relation to other available sources. All analytical procedures will be described, and the results obtained will be presented. Moreover, a broad historical and sociolinguistic perspective is presented, with the aim of contextualising what dynamics define and explain this apparently contradictory phenomenon. Secondly, a discussion about the problems of these discordances, their relationship with the discourses of power, and their analysis from the material register has been considered. Different theoretical and methodological approaches are explored to study these ambiguous records, considering their role in different power relations. The main objective is to reflect on how we approach ambiguous records in order to provide terminological tools to understand material and social contexts entangled in power dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significance of the mother tongue, and particularly mother tongue education, is widely acknowledged across the world. This study aims to investigate mother tongue attitudes of students, teachers, parents, and community members in Manipur. A self-report survey was used to collect data from 463 participants, and an exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between demographic characteristics and attitudes towards mother tongue education. The findings were used to better comprehend the affective, behavioural, and cognitive (ABC) model. The overall findings of the study shows that participants had a favourable attitude towards mother language education, however the majority believe that it is not promoted at the policy level. This study suggests that, given the favourable attitude towards the mother tongue, there is an urgent need to recognise and promote mother tongue education at the policy level-developing multilingual education programmes-to increase educational quality and explore the barriers to its success and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attitudes are learned and one's personal experience and social environment play a role in shaping them. Teachers in particular exert a significant impact on the formation of students' language attitudes. This study targets prospective teachers. It is a replication of a survey whose data collection took place 18 years ago in the Basque Autonomous Community. It explores future teachers' perceived competence, habits of language use and attitudes towards Basque, Spanish and English. The sample consisted of 576 participants. Data collection was carried out by means of the same questionnaire and following the same procedure employed in the original study. Data were analysed using inferential statistics; significant results, with medium and large effect sizes were obtained. Results indicate that Basque is mainly linked with the education domain, whereas Spanish is dominant in leisure time. Attitudes are highly positive for all three languages, as considered from both a monolingual and a multilingual perspective. While participants expressed the most favourable attitudes towards Basque, the most noticeable improvements were detected for English. With this study, we wish to contribute to the discussion about multilingualism within a multilingual education system, where a minority language co-exists with a national majority language and a global lingua franca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we apply a folk linguistic listening task to examine how the Tver' Karelians in Russia recognise a sample of their own dialect and a sample of Border Karelian (spoken in Finland), both recorded about 60 years ago. Tver' Karelian and Border Karelian have a shared origin in Proto-Karelian but have been diverging from each other since the seventeenth century; the former has had strong influence from Russian and the latter from Finnish. The study investigates the Tver' Karelians' awareness of and observations about the Karelian language and shows that they easily recognise their own dialect, whereas the Border Karelian sample is harder to recognise and describe. However, the respondents observed and described lexical and phonetic features of this sample, and two thirds of them located the sample in the republic of Karelia or in Finland, mostly based on the 'accent' of the speaker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we have analyzed the debates surrounding naming the language of the Brazilian nation, in the context of the National Constituent Assembly of 1946. Despite being drafted by political leaders with distinct trajectories, mindsets and strategies, the speeches on the language displayed common traits, grounded on the promotion of the nationalization of the Brazilian Portuguese and, at the same time, on the legitimation of European Portuguese as a civilization language. We assessed that, in the context of redemocratization and nationalist renewal of Brazilian politics, the conservation of the Portuguese cultural and linguistic heritage became desirable, whether for the support of the monolingual ideal, or for the depreciation of the so-called popular variations, of people of color, relegated to the condition of "half-language of the masses", "redneck patois", "corrupted language" etc. By retrieving this discussion, we hope to expose some sociopolitical ideas built on principles of social and linguistic differentiations, which contributed to maintaining the racist ideologies and practices in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses the functioning of the State language in the public authorities and local selfgovernment bodies of Ukraine, pays attention to the ensuring by the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, local and appellate courts of the rights of a person who does not know the State language or speaks sign language, considers the implementation of functions by civil servants to ensure fundamental human rights and freedoms, and also examines the issue of observance of the fundamental language rights of national minorities in Ukraine, in particular in the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, for review. A comparative analysis of the functioning of state languages in European countries was also carried out. The author examines the use of the state language when submitting appeals, emphasising that from now on, the Law of Ukraine «On Administrative Procedure» is the legal act regulating the language of citizens' appeals, according to which a person may submit the necessary documents for the proceedings in the state or another language, but in this case, the person is obliged to translate the appeal into Ukrainian. Cases of conflicts between the old and new legislation in the field of filing appeals are identified. The author analyses the regulatory and legal ways to ensure the implementation of functions in such public spheres as education, science, culture, sports, labour relations, television and radio broadcasting, print media, book publishing and distribution, advertising, healthcare, office work, and document management. The author focuses on the legal framework of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in terms of protection of the rights of national and ethnic minorities. The author examines the issues of language policy in different countries, in particular in Spain, Switzerland and France, and in the context of protection of the rights of national and ethnic minorities, and concludes that the trend in most European countries is to try to balance the protection of minority rights and preserve linguistic diversity in the context of each country. The author emphasises that the State language plays a crucial role in the formation of the nation and the functioning of the State, primarily through its communicative, identification, ethnic and other functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study expands the eye-tracking-while reading research toward less studied languages of different typological classes (polysynthetic Adyghe vs. synthetic Russian) that use a Cyrillic script. In the corpus reading data from the two languages, we confirmed the widely studied effects of word frequency and word length on eye movements in Adyghe-Russian bilingual individuals for both languages. We also confirmed morphological effects in Adyghe reading (part-ofspeech class and the number of lexical affixes) that were previously shown in some morphologically-rich languages. Importantly, we demonstrated that bilinguals' reading in Adyghe does differ quantitatively (the effect of language on reading times) and qualitatively (different effects of landing and previous/upcoming words on the eye movements within a current word) from their reading in Russian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the developments of the actual problems of modern linguistics related to the study of the phenomenon of bilingualism and transcultural practices in the domestic linguistics of the 21st century. A historiographical review has shown that productive ideas in this direction originated in the works by L. V. Shcherba and B. A. Larin, but did not receive wide applied dissemination at that time. The authors of the article consider new trends in the field of modern theory and practice of language contacts and bilingualism, show how the study and interpretation of transcultural literature affects the formation of new ideas and the substantiation of hypotheses. Scientists pay attention to the importance of studying minority languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation for establishing markers of language contacts, as well as analyzing the speech practices of migrants. In characterizing the ideas of modern linguists emphasis is placed on the fact of mediation in intercultural communication and the specifics of translingual processes in the post-Soviet space. It is pointed out the need to develop issues of survival of small languages and create conditions for their successful functioning (contact bilingualism of the Republic of Khakasia, bilingualism in Kazakh families, diglossia of Slavic countries, features of interethnic communication of the peoples of Russia and the problem of their linguistic identity). The strategies of modern language policy are evaluated – new vectors of movement and development of peoples in the context of the development of the cultural space of another language, sociolinguistic prerequisites for the convergence and separation of minority languages, etc. The practical significance of the article lies in the use of modern methodology of bilingualism to solve urgent problems of language construction. The presented materials and assessments will contribute to the promotion of fresh ideas for the preservation of indigenous languages, show original approaches to the analysis of cultural identity, pay attention scientists to the timeliness of studying transcultural literary texts and hypotheses in the field of language contacts for the formation of national archetypes and new socio-cultural codes within the framework of a whole polyethnic space of the Russian Federation.

The cultural and linguistic diversity that characterises our current society has led to different ways of considering languages and their status in their respective communities of use. Nowadays, not only the dominant language prevails, but other languages that characterise any social group are also increasingly taken into account, and there are studies on how they can influence the learning of the set of languages that a person uses in his or her context, and even in the teaching and learning process in general. Among these languages that represent the identity of that individual, we can find those of heritage. This paper represents the first bibliometric study on heritage and minority languages, and their connection with learning. The study period spans from the first paper published in 1989 until today, using SciMAT, software developed for longitudinal scientific mapping analysis, so this research contributes to reduce the existing gap in the scientific literature, and offers a starting point for the study of this topic. As much as 1341 research publications from the Web of Science dealing with this issue were processed and analysed. Following a bibliometric analysis, as well as the thematic and conceptual evolution of these publications, the results show a growing scientific interest in the topic from 2018, with the USA being the country with the highest production. Research was mainly carried out at universities, and the predominant research areas are Linguistics, Education and Psychology. Finally, the main topics of interest for the scientific community are bilingualism and multilingualism, followed by maintenance of heritage languages and their speakers.