Mehmedbegovic, D;
(2017)
Engaging with linguistic diversity in global cities: Arguing for ‘language hierarchy free’ policy and practice in education.
Open Linguistics
, 3
(1)
doi.org/10.1515/opli-2017-0027.
Preview |
Text
Mehmedbegovic_engaging_with_linguistic_diversity.pdf Download (255kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Educators working in diverse contexts and looking to promote learning languages, as well as maintaining home languages, often encounter resistance and negativity directed towards a wide range of languages resulting in language loss at the individual level and language death at a societal level, while a small number of languages are regarded as high status languages, in demand to study and speak. This paper has two aims: firstly to identify processes which result in these different attitudes to languages, which will be termed: language hierarchies and secondly: to suggest an innovative way of creating conditions for development of ‘hierarchy free education policy and practice’ in order to exemplify these processes the author’s previous research conducted in London and Cardiff is used. Hierarchy free policy and practice is promoted as a necessary condition for sustainability of endangered languages. The second part of this paper introduces a new concept of: ‘Healthy Linguistic Diet’ and makes a proposal based on this concept for a new approach to policy and practice in education which would eradicate language hierarchies. This section presents latest research evidence which supports the argument that all stakeholders in education and wider society would benefit from a shift in attitudes and approach to bilingualism and learning other languages. The benefits at the individual and societal level are so significant that acting on this evidence is not only an educational, but also a health and moral imperative too. In the conclusion recommendations are made in terms of how this new strategy could be developed and implemented.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Engaging with linguistic diversity in global cities: Arguing for ‘language hierarchy free’ policy and practice in education |
| Location: | Germany |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | doi.org/10.1515/opli-2017-0027 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/doi.org/10.1515/opli-2017-0027 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2017 Dina Mehmedbegovic, Natividad Hernández-Muñoz, published by De Gruyter Open. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial, No-Derivs 3.0 License. |
| Keywords: | Language hierarchy, linguistic diet, bilingualism, multilingualism, plurilingualism |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1542257 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
