MINELRES: UNESCO MOST Journal on Multicultural Societies and Multilingual Internet project

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: Matthias Koenig <koenigm@mailer.uni-marburg.de>


This e-mail is to inform you about the publication of a new thematic
issue of the Journal and a forthcoming thematic issue related to current
UNESCO project.

# MOST Journal on Multicultural Societies Vol 4, No 2: "Protecting
Endangered Languages"

# UNESCO MOST/B@bel project "The Multilingual Internet: Fact or
Fiction?"

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# MOST Journal on Multicultural Societies  Vol 4, No 2: "Protecting
Endangered Minority Languages: Socio-Linguistic Perspectives" (Guest
Editor: Eda Derhemi)

The present issue of UNESCO�s MOST Journal on Multicultural Societies
takes up a previously established thematic thread by addressing
questions of linguistic diversity and language policy. Here, the focus
is on problems of endangered minority languages and their protection
through public policy-making. Whereas previous issues have investigated
the legal framework of language policies at international, regional, and
national level (see Vol. 3, No. 1 and Vol. 3, No. 2), the current issue,
edited by Eda Derhemi, approaches the topic from a sociolinguistic
perspective. It attempts to analyse the causes, circumstances and
results of language endangerment as well as the social conditions and
effects of political intervention in favour of the survival of
endangered minority languages.

# Editorial by Matthias Koenig
# Thematic Introduction by Eda Derhemi (Guest-Editor)
# "Colonisation, Globalisation, and the Future of Languages in the
Twenty-first Century" by Salikoko Mufwene
# "The Impact of Language Policy on Endangered Languages" by Suzanne
Romaine
# "Minority Matters: Issues in Minority Languages in India" by
Rajeshwari Pandharipande
# "Uchumataqu: Research in Progress on the Bolivian Altiplano" by Pieter
Muysken
# "The Endangered Arbresh Language and the Importance of Standardised
Writing for its Survival: The Case of Piana degli Albanesi, Sicily" by
Eda Derhemi
# "Endangered Minority Languages: Prospects for Sociolinguistic
Research" by Joshua Fishman

The thematic isse is available at
http://www.unesco.org/most/vl4n2edi.htm

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UNESCO/B@bel project: "The multilingual Internet: fact or fiction?"

A forthcoming special thematic issue of the Journal will focus on the
debate surrounding the Internet and multilingualism. The Internet has
been criticised on one count for promoting and installing the English
language as lingua franca, and praised on another for the opportunities
it has created across the world in access to communication and
affordable publication in languages besides English. Should the Internet
be regarded primarily as a conduit of linguistic dominance, bearing in
mind the powerful influence of the United States in the field of
information technology in the 1970s and 1980s? Is this unfairly
detrimental of the web's capabilities, and of how it is used? Can
accusations of linguistic elitism be justified?

The journal will include discussion of relevant theoretical debates and
an evaluation of current policies promoting multilingualism on the
Internet.
Furthermore, it will report on new research and discussions, such as:

# Language on the web in relation to North-South issues; a report by a
team from the University of Sokoine, Tanzania, that will discuss the
Internet's linguistic elitism and its connection with access to
education and resources, keeping in mind that only a tiny percentage of
Internet use takes place in Africa and the Middle East.
# 'Trans-national contact': the use of major lingua francas on the
Internet, including measures to promote the use of French, Arabic,
Russian, Spanish and Chinese.
# Use of the Internet to support less widely spoken languages and to
create virtual communities amongst small linguistic groups.
# Use of the Internet in a multilingual nation: a report from Indonesia
focusing on how the internet is used in a state where the national
common language is Bahasa Indonesian.

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===================================================
Contact:

Editor-in-Chief:
Matthias Koenig
Institute for Sociology
Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy
University of Marburg
GERMANY
Tel: +49 6421 28-26629
Fax: +49 6421 28-28978
E-mail: koenigm@mailer.uni-marburg.de

Director of publication:
Paul de Guchteneire
UNESCO MOST Clearing House
FRANCE
Tel: +33 1 45683850
Fax: +33 1 45685724
e-mail: p.deguchteneire@unesco.org