Predicting language diversity with complex network

Evolution and propagation of the world's languages is a complex phenomenon, driven, to a large extent, by social interactions. Multilingual society can be seen as a system of interacting agents, where the interaction leads to a modification of the language spoken by the individuals. Two people can reach the state of full linguistic compatibility due to the positive interactions, like transfer of loanwords. But, on the other hand, if they speak entirely different languages, they will separate from each other. These simple observations make the network science the most suitable framework to describe and analyze dynamics of language change. Although many mechanisms have been explained, we lack a qualitative description of the scaling behavior for different sizes of a population. Here we address the issue of the language diversity in societies of different sizes, and we show that local interactions are crucial to capture characteristics of the empirical data. We propose a model of social interactions, extending the idea from, that explains the growth of the language diversity with the size of a population of country or society. We argue that high clustering and network disintegration are the most important characteristics of models properly describing empirical data. Furthermore, we cancel the contradiction between previous models and the Solomon Islands case. Our results demonstrate the importance of the topology of the network, and the rewiring mechanism in the process of language change

Eliminating social inequality by reinforcing standard language ideology? Language policy for Dutch in Flemish schools

Flanders, the northern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, is facing a growing intra- and interlingual diversity. On the intralingual level, Tussentaal ('in-between-language') emerged as a cluster of intermediate varieties between the Flemish dialects and Standard Dutch, gradually becoming the colloquial language. At the same time, Flanders counts a growing number of immigrants and languages. This paper analyses the way Flemish language-in-education policy deals with these (perceived) problems of substandardisation and multilingualism, in order to create equal opportunities for all pupils, regardless of their native language or social background. Both the policy and the measures it proposes are strongly influenced by different, yet intertwined ideologies of standardisation and monolingualism. By propagating Standard Dutch as the only acceptable language (variety) and denying all forms of language diversity, Flemish language-in-education policy not only fails to create equal opportunities, but reinforces ideologies that maintain inequality. Instead, language policy should be open towards language diversity, taking the role of teachers in forming and implementing policies into consideration

Language Diversity and Leadership Effectiveness

This article addresses whether language diversity is relevant in leadership effectiveness. The research employed mixed methodology in a two-phase study examining language diversity and leadership effectiveness in the U.S. labor market using the language-as-resource (LAR) conceptual framework (Ruiz, 1984). The first phase analyzed 2010 General Social Survey data using proxy variables describing the relationship between languages other than English (LOTE) and occupational achievement. The second phase explored the role of LOTE in the leadership function with a focus group discussion. Insight about language diversity and leadership effectiveness was captured, with five themes emerging from the focus group discussion. This research is timely, given shifting U.S. demographics, and encourages organizations to hire leaders with LOTE skills, as well as to promote LOTE study

Language Diversity in the Workplace

In March of 2005, the manager of a Dunkin\u27 Donuts in Yonkers, NewYork, stirred some local controversy when he posted a sign inviting customersto complain if they heard employees behind the counter speaking alanguage other than English. A day later, the manager removed the sign,responding to vociferous complaints that it amounted to discrimination.While the mini-drama was not itself an unusual event-English-only ruleshave become increasingly common in the American workplace-the episodedid not follow the predictable script. The manager, who acted on hisown, was himself a native Spanish speaker-an immigrant from Ecuador.He claimed he had posted the sign in response to customer complaintsabout employees behind the counter acting disrespectfully by speakingSpanish in the presence of customers. But the outcry that prompted themanager to remove the sign came not from the employees whose speechhad been curtailed, nor from groups representing their interests, but fromthe very clientele the manager thought he had been serving. The people ofthe neighborhood immediately denounced the policy as discriminatory,coming to the defense of the Latino, Egyptian, and Filipino employees.And while Dunkin\u27 Brands, Inc. requires employees who interact with thepublic to be fluent in English, the company immediately issued a statementdistancing itself from the manager\u27s action, emphasizing that having employeesthat speak the languages of the local neighborhood ... can be a keyelement in creating a hospitable environment. The company took no disciplinaryaction against the manager, and the episode ended looking likenothing more than a big misunderstanding

Getting creative in the languages classroom

The following principles are central to the work of ‘Linguistic Creativity in Language Learning’, a research strand of Creative Multilingualism: We create language every day. Language diversity facilitates creative diversity. Linguistic diversity nurtures diverse expression of feelings, thoughts and identities, and diverse ways of knowing and seeing the world. In this chapter we outline how they might be considered in relation to classroom language learning. One of the authors of this chapter..

Language diversity in a migration context

Peacemakers Project - Peace Dialogue Campus Network: Fostering Positive Attitudes between Migrants and Youth in Hosting Societies (2018-2020).Migrants never travel alone. Migrant people and migrant languages are journey companions. Migrants meet new countries, different people, new cultures, new languages. We do not all speak English. Languages in contact and intercultural communication active learning should be part of linguistic and social integration policies.Project consortium led by Koç University. Partners: Universidade Aberta, University of Bologna, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Gaziantep University, Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin. Peacemakers 2017-1-TR01-KA203-046676 supported by Erasmus+ Key Action 2, European Union project (2018-2020).N/

Discovering Identity with World Language

This article argues that teaching different foreign languages in schools opens the educational, mental, and universal benefits of language diversity and that the elimination of language diversity from schools hinders the development of students\u27 identity, destroys curiosity, and delinks students from their heritages