States, Identities and Languages of Global Communication
In this seminar we will address the proposed topics considering that language is both a means of discourse and communication as well as an ideological tool and a tool of power. It is most commonly assumed that a national language is the language most spoken by a people in their homeland and naturally adopted as an integral part of the culture and national identity of the people in question, but is this requirement sufficient for nation building?
This seminar will address the problems faced by multilingual states in which cultural minorities speak languages other than the "national language." In this regard, the seminar will critically examine identification by language and its political consequences, also focusing in particular on the concept of world languages of global communication.
Language policy; language and power; minority languages
At the end of the course unit the learner is expected to be able to:
- Explain the nature, relevance of the links between language and power and the economic dimension of global languages;
- Critically analyze the various plans of intervention (in national and international contexts), their role in the construction of strategies and estimate social consequences of language policies in the context of global communication languages, linguistic imperialism, the importance of the presence of languages in International Organizations;
- Discuss the importance of the maintenance and development of minority and less spoken languages for the cultural, social and economic development of their speakers.
1. Language and power in International Organizations;
2. Economic dimension of global languages;
3. Glotophagy, linguistic imperialism and languages in contact;
4. Image and attractiveness of global languages;
5. Minority languages.
Coupland, Nikolas (Ed.) (2013). The Handbook of Language and Globalization. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Kraus, Peter A., & Grin, François (Eds.) (2018). The Politics of Multilingualism. Europeanisation, globalization and linguistic governance. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Maurais, Jacques, & Morris Michael A. (Eds.) (2003). Languages in a Globalising World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Phillipson, Robert (1992). Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Phillipson, Robert, (2003). English-Only Europe? Challenging Language Policy. Londond/New York: Routledge.
Swaan, Abram de (2001). Words of the World. Cambridge: Polity Press.
E-learning
The assessment includes several written academic works, as well as regular and relevant participation in the forums throughout the semester.