Planning for Tolerability: Promoting Positive Attitudes and Behaviours Towards the Maori Language Among Non-Maori New Zealanders

This thesis investigates the effectiveness of promoting positive attitudes and behaviours towards the Maori language among non-Maori New Zealanders as a contributing factor in Maori language regeneration. It begins by examining the theoretical rationale for focusing on the attitudes and behaviours of majority language speakers in minority language regeneration. Although the impact of majority language speakers on minority languages is clear, theoretical perspectives differ on whether majority language speakers should be a focus of language regeneration planning. Competing approaches are discussed,and a process model is introduced for 'planning for tolerability' - minority language planning targeting the attitudes and behaviours of majority language speakers. This model posits five essential components: recognising the problem; defining the target audience of majority language speakers; developing messages and desired behaviours; selecting policy techniques; and evaluating success. After reviewing existing research on the attitudes of non-Maori New Zealanders towards the Maori language and introducing the participants to the current research, the New Zealand government's approach to planning for the tolerability of the Maori language is examined. The Government has recognised the importance of non-Maori in Maori language regeneration since the beginning of the development of the Maori Language Strategy in the mid 1990s. The extent to which the Government considers non-Maori as an important audience for Maori language planning in practice, however, appears to fluctuate. Possible reasons for this are discussed. The main focus of Maori language policy towards non-Maori has been promotional campaigns. The discursive approach taken in a selection of these campaigns is analysed, showing that promotional materials aimed at non-Maori New Zealanders (including television ads, phrase booklets, and a website) transmit a wide range of messages about the Maori language, relating to both attitudes and 'desired behaviours'. Such messages are conveyed through a range of discursive techniques, using both a ' reason' and a 'tickle' approach. An analysis is also presented of data collected from eighty non-Maori New Zealanders at nine white-collar workplaces in Wellington, using questionnaires and interviews. The analysis centres on the attitudes of the participants towards the Maori language, their responses to current and recent promotional materials, and the role they see for themselves in supporting Maori language regeneration. Language policy approaches targeting majority language speakers in two international minority language situations, Wales and Catalonia, are then examined, and comparisons made to the New Zealand approach. The analysis concludes that the three approaches to planning for tolerability each exhibit some unique features, relating to all five components of planning for tolerability. Possible reasons for the distinct approaches are discussed. Finally, the results of the analysis of New Zealand government policy, the data collection process and the international comparisons are drawn together in order to consider the future of planning for tolerability in New Zealand

Cross-border workers and linguistic mobility

One of Luxembourg’s statistical peculiarities is that almost half of the workforce does not live in the country. Research has shown that Luxembourg residents appreciate the economic benefits that this cross-border phenomenon brings to the country, but when it comes to the linguistic and cultural impact of cross-border workers, they tend to demur. Here, cross-border workers are more likely to be framed as a threat to Luxembourg society, and to the Luxembourgish language in particular . The trope of the arrogant French bakery worker incapable of selling – or at least unwilling to sell – a croissant in Luxembourgish is no doubt familiar to all. But what is the linguistic reality of cross-border workers? What are their attitudes towards multilingualism in Luxembourg, and how do they cope with language diversity at work

Intercultural work environments in Luxembourg. Multilingualism and cultural diversity among cross-border workers at the work-place

Luxemburg zählt die meisten Grenzgänger in der EU. Sie pendeln täglich aus Deutschland, Frankreich oder Belgien in das dreisprachige Land ein, womit sich vielfältige sprachliche und kulturelle Konstellationen der Zusammenarbeit ergeben. Der Beitrag untersucht erstmals derart facettenreich, wie Mehrsprachigkeit und Interkulturalität von Grenzgängern in Luxemburg erlebt und bewältigt werden. Die vorgestellten Sprachpraktiken und Interkulturalitätsstrategien basieren auf Interviews, Interaktionsanalysen und Befragungen.The trilingual country of Luxembourg accounts for the highest percentage of cross-border workers in the European Union. These workers commute daily from France, Belgium and Germany to Luxembourg. Their presence in the national labour market results in in-creasing linguistic and cultural diversity at Luxembourgish workplaces. Drawing upon interview and interactional data, the present contribution is the first to investigate how crossborder workers in Luxembourg perceive and deal with multilingualism and interculturality, and presents a range of related linguistic and intercultural practices

Intercultural work environments in Luxembourg. Multilingualism and cultural diversity among cross-border workers at the workplace

The trilingual country of Luxembourg accounts for the highest percentage of cross-border workers in the European Union. These workers commute daily from France, Belgium and Germany to Luxembourg. Their presence in the national labour market results in increasing linguistic and cultural diversity at Luxembourgish workplaces. Drawing upon interview and interactional data, the present contribution is the first to investigate how cross-border workers in Luxembourg perceive and deal with multilingualism and interculturality, and presents a range of related linguistic and intercultural practices

Friend or foe? The discourse of the rise of English in Luxembourg

‘Gëtt hei geschwë méi Englesch wéi Franséich geschriwwen?’ (‘Will English soon be written here more than French?’) was the question asked by an article on Radio 100,7’s website last April. The article was about a conference on languages in literature in Luxembourg, and noted that English was taking on ‘ever greater importance’ in this field. True or not, this illustrates a trend that I call the discourse of the rise of English in Luxembourg. This discourse assumes a zero-sum game where one language can only prosper at the expense of another, and where English is given a privileged status alongside Luxembourg’s official languages: Luxembourgish, French and German. Like all such discourses, it represents a social construction rather than a ‘truth’ about language, and its promoters are seeking to advance certain social interests. From a discursive point of view, it is less important to determine whether the use of English is indeed rising in Luxembourg than it is to explore what people are trying to achieve with this discourse, that is, what interests they are seeking to advance by claiming that English is on the rise. There is no research to date that specifically focuses on discourses about English in Luxembourg, but such discourses do appear in research on sociolinguistic issues more generally in the country. This is the case with my own research and teaching at the University of Luxembourg, in areas including the language ideologies of cross-border workers, young people’s use of English, and language use on social media. My aim here is to consider how the discourse of the rise of English is constructed in these domains, how people respond to it, and what the potential social effects are

Language policies on social network sites

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