Exploring The Dynamics Of Multilingualism

This book addresses the meanings and implications of multilingualism and its uses in a context of rapid changes, in Europe and around the world. All types of organisations, including the political institutions of the European Union, universities and private-sector companies must rise to the many challenges posed by operating in a multilingual environment. This requires them, in particular, to make the best use of speakers’ very diverse linguistic repertoires. The contributions in this volume, which stem from the DYLAN research project financed by the European Commission as part of its Sixth Framework Programme, examine at close range how these repertoires develop, how they change and how actors adapt skilfully the use of their repertoires to different objectives and conditions. These different strategies are also examined in terms of their capacity to ensure efficient and fair communication in a multilingual Europe. Careful observation of actors’ multilingual practices reveals finely tuned communicational strategies drawing on a wide range of different languages, including national languages, minority languages and lingue franche. Understanding these practices, their meaning and their implications, helps to show in what way and under what conditions they are not merely a response to a problem, but an asset for political institutions, universities and business.

This volume offers an ontogenetic perspective on research on L3, multilingualism and multiple languages acquisition and a conceptually updated picture of multilingualism studies and third/multiple language acquisition studies. The contributions by prominent scholars of multilingualism present state-of-the-art accounts of the significant aspects in this field. This unique collection of articles adopts a broad-spectrum and synthesized view on the topic. The volume, largely theoretical and classificatory, features main theories, prominent researchers and important research trends. The articles also contain factual and historical material from previous and current decades of research and offer practical information on research resources. For lecturers, students, educators, researchers, and social workers operating in multilingual contexts, "The Exploration of Multilingualism "is manifestly relevant.

This book provides readers with the latest research on the dynamics of language and language diversity in professional contexts. Bringing together novel findings from a range of disciplines, it challenges practitioners and management scholars to question the conventional understanding of language as words with stable meanings, an assumption which treats language as a tool that can be managed by language policies that ‘standardize’ language. Each of the contributions is designed to recognize the strides that have been made in the past two decades in research on language and languages in organizational settings while addressing remaining blind spots and emerging issues. Particular attention is given to multilingualism, sociolinguistic approaches to language in the workplace, migration challenges, critical perspectives on the power of language use and the management of organizations as dialogical, discursive spaces.

This book explores the development of multilingual policy in education in Nepal in sociopolitical and historical contexts and examines the frameworks of language use in schools. It investigates the dynamics and factors that influence the process of construction and appropriation of the policy of multilingualism in education. The book surveys the language situation in schools and discusses how it is impacted by local language positions, societal power relations, ideological and identity contestations, and the attitude, language behaviour and resistance of key actors. It highlights the role of pedagogy, linguistics and politics that govern the policy of multilingual education. The author assesses the prospects of a multilingual approach to learning via teacher preparation, curriculum and learning material development, coordination of actors and institutions, and resources available in schools. The book presents Nepal’s linguistic background while discussing how multilingualism in education recognises local languages to improve the quality of learning in classrooms in ethnolinguistic communities. Evaluating the use of local languages in classrooms, it explores monolingual, multilingual and language maintenance frameworks of multilingualism in education. This book will be of interest to teachers, students, and researchers of education and educational studies, linguistics, sociology of education, school education, language studies, sociolinguistics, language policy and planning, public administration, ethnolinguistics, and sociology of language. It will also be useful to educationists, policymakers, linguists, sociolinguists and those working in related areas.

This book contributes to current issues in TLA and multilingualism research. It discusses multilingual learning and development from a Dynamic Systems Theory perspective. The author argues that trilingual education does not harm or confuse young learners but that the teaching of three languages from an early age carries positive implications for children's linguistic, metalinguistic, and crosslinguistic awareness.

This collection brings together cutting-edge research and theoretical discussions on the linguistic, cultural, and political forces that shape multilingual Colombia, highlighting the country’s unique sociolinguistic landscape and offering new insights into multilingualism in the Global South. The volume outlines the changing dynamics of multilingualism in Colombia, where Spanish, Spanish-based and English-based Creoles, the linguistic and cultural heritages of Indigenous communities and migrant groups, and the prevalence of English in language education policy intersect. The chapters explore the implications of policy making on language policy discourse and especially on language teacher education for those working on the margins in urban and rural areas. They also explore existing understandings of interculturality and the work of academics and local communities in minority language revitalization efforts. Problematizing essentialized views of language and culture and raising awareness around the complex relationship between language, identity, and interculturality in the Global South, this book will be of interest to scholars in multilingualism, sociolinguistics, language education, teacher education, and applied linguistics.

The model presented in this volume draws together various strands of research - second language acquisition theory, bilingualism research, dynamic systems theory - to develop a novel approach to this challenging subject. Its main focus lies on the psycholinguistic dynamics of multilingualism, the processes of change in time affecting two or more language systems.

This book is a synthesis of important topics in studying multilingualism: dynamic multilingualism, translanguaging, language policy, bilingual education, and bilingualism and cognition. The author as an immigrant herself integrated personal and dramatic experiences around most of the topics to show how they influence the lives of immigrants around the globe. The author’s aim is to reach the readers in a personal way. The issue of translanguaging and social justice is crucial for the book. The studies on bilingualism and cognition give amazing results on how bilingual children profit from increased metalinguistic awareness, abstract thinking, creativity, working memory, attention control, to name just a few. Bilingualism is shown to be a real gift for human understanding. The original feature of this book is the integration of excerpts of the interviews the author conducted with the experts in the field of bilingualism: Ellen Bialystok, Jim Cummins, Ofelia Garcí a, Christine He lot, Nancy Hornberger, and Catherine Snow. For each topic their opinions are combined with future directions in the research on bilingualism that can certainly inspire other researchers in the field. Finally, this book is called Drama of Multilingualism: Literature Review and Liberation, and it is exactly that, informing and affecting those who want to embark on this dramatic journey of exploring multilingualism.