Detail Rearticulating the Case for Minority Language Rights   Oleh:  May, Stephen Jenis: Article from Journal Dalam koleksi: Current Issues in Language Planning vol. 4 no. 2 (2003), page 95-125. Topik: language rights; linguistic ecology; minority languages Fulltext: Vol. 4, No. 2, 2003, 95-125.pdf (202.72KB) Isi artikel While advocacy of minority language rights (MLR) has become well established in sociolinguistics, language policy and planning and the wider human rights literature, it has also come under increased criticism in recent times for a number of key limitations. In this paper, I address directly three current key criticisms of the MLR movement. The first is a perceived tendency towards essentialism in articulations of language rights. The second is the apparent utopianism and artificiality of ‘reversing language shift’ in the face of wider social and political ‘realities’. And the third is that the individual mobility of minority-language speakers is far better served by shifting to a majority language. While acknowledging the perspicacity of some of these arguments, I aim to rearticulate a defence of minority language rights that effectively addresses these key concerns. This requires, however, a sociohistorical/sociopolitical rather than a biological/ecological analysis of MLR. In addition, I will argue that a sociohistorical/sociopolitical defence of MLR can problematise the positions often adopted by minority language rights’ critics themselves, particularly those who defend majoritarian forms of linguistic essentialism and those who sever the instrumental/identity aspects of language. Implications for language policy and planning will also be discussed. Opini Anda Klik untuk menuliskan opini Anda tentang koleksi ini! Kembali

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