After Babel. Language Policies in Europe
Full course description
The course aims to give students a general introduction into the field of language policy, with a special regard to Europe, its countries and regions and the Institutions of the European Union. Students will thus familiarise with all kinds of language issues in Europe and the EU. They will explore some history of the European language policies and learn about general conceptions of language planning, language use, language learning and multilingualism. The course focuses on various topics: multilingual codes of conduct, national language policies, regional minority languages, language & migration, language & gender, language & identity, language & business, language & media, language imperialism. Students will write a personal blog around course topics and will receive training in blog skills. Please note that this is an elective course and available places are limited.
Course objectives
Following the course, students will gain insight into:
• Current issues and recent history of language policy in Europe and European countries;
• The role of language issues in other European policy domains;
• Codes of conduct in multilingual environments;
• Concepts and arguments generally used in sociolinguistics, language policy and language planning;
• The manifold relation between language and identity.
Recommended reading
Baker, C. (2005). The care and education of young bilinguals. An introduction for professionals. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Trudgill, P. (2000). Sociolinguistics. An introduction to language and society. (4th ed.). London: Penguin Books.
Wright, S. (2005). Language policy and language planning. From nationalism to globalization. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.