Language policies and practices across the Baltic: processes, challenges and prospects

We examine actions taken in the three Baltic states to (re-)establish their national languages in de facto multilingual surroundings. The implementation processes and initial impact of language ideology and language regulation on the language practices and socio-political participation of Soviet-period immigrants and their descendants living in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are described. In presenting a comparative cross-Baltic overview of language practices we discuss the national differences in connection with citizenship and political participation, population distribution and labour market surroundings. Our empirical data are draw from sociological surveys, population statistics and labour market segregation analyses. We focus on the interaction between regulations, language practices and social structural surroundings asking: How has the national language establishment shaped labour market practices, citizenship and education expectations? And vice versa: What could be the effect of the social surroundings on the formation of the language practices? We conclude that despite their different structural provisions, Estonia and Lithuania face somewhat similar future challenges in terms of creating a culturally more integrated education system. The minority agents when confronted with existing policy requirements have fewer possibilities to produce their own (alternative) solutions since ethnicity or language-driven social marginalization is perceived more as a problem here. In Latvia, the minority representatives seem to have sufficient resources in the private sphere to "slow down” existing state level language requirements, which enables them to create suitable surroundings for the ongoing maintenance of the Latvian-Russian multilingual environmen

Language, diversity and integration in the enlarged European Union: challenges and opportunities from East to West

The conference on ‘Language, Diversity and Integration in the Enlarged EU: Challenges and Opportunities’ focused on ways in which language ideologies, policies and practices impact on the consolidation of society post EU enlargement. Considering the interplay between language, diversity and integration, the following were areas of particular concern in the range of papers presented: language issues in relation to ethnicity, citizenship, class, gender; language ideologies and public discourse; language policy, language rights and language practices; multilingualism and crosscultural communication; language and education.This publication is the result of the conference “Language, diversity and integration in the Enlarged EU: challenges and opportunities” sponsored by The Ministry of Education and Science of The Republic of Lithuani

Ar perkeliami Vakarų Europos daugiakalbystės modeliai į Vidurio/Rytų Europos kontekstą?

The study of multilingualism is becoming ever more urgent as the ongoing rise in the rate of migration into and across Europe increasingly adds to existing levels of language diversity and contact in Europe. Critically examining the diverging sociolinguistic settings in Western and Central/Eastern Europe, this paper discusses issues pertaining to the transferability of models of multilingualism. It argues that language management practices need to involve critical analyses of language in society that take into account the historic conditions of language (ideological) contexts.Dėl spartėjančios migracijos į Europą ir jos viduje vis didėja jau ir taip šiame kontinente esanti didelė kalbų ir kultūrų įvairovė, daugėja kalbų kontaktų, todėl daugiakalbystės tyrinėjimai tampa vis būtinesni. Šiame straipsnyje kritiškai analizuojant besiskiriančią sociolingvistinę situaciją Vakarų ir Vidurio/Rytų Europoje svarstomi klausimai, susiję su galimybe perkelti daugiakalbystės modelius iš Vakarų šalių į Vidurio ar Rytų Europos kontekstą. Straipsnyje nagrinėjamas Šveicarijos daugiakalbystės modelis, kuris dažnai traktuojamas kaip sektinas lingvistinės ir kultūrinės įvairovės palaikymo daugiakultūrėje šalyje pavyzdys. Analizuojamos Šveicarijos modelio stipriosios ir silpnosios pusės, diskutuojama, ar toks modelis gali būti perkeltas į kitą aplinką. Straipsnyje teigiama, kad kalbos vadybos praktika turi būti paremta kritine kalbos visuomenėje analize, atsižvelgiant į kalbinio konteksto istorines aplinkybes