Strategies and Analyses of Language and Communication in Multilingual and International Contexts


Book Description

Covering a variety of themes and subject areas related to language and communication in international and multilinguistic contexts, this book offers an insight into the latest research in applied linguistics and language acquisition. Aimed at both scholars and language practitioners, it presents empirical findings from researchers from more than 10 countries. Rather than limiting its focus to one language and context as a source of research, the collection reports and applies findings from various languages and communities.




The Many Faces of Multilingualism


Book Description

Multilingualism has become an increasingly common global phenomenon especially in the last two decades. Therefore, multilingual programmes have now been regarded as a cornerstone of education systems in many countries around the world. Learning multiple languages helps us plug into a globalised world and strengthen links with a multitude of speakers from a diversified reality we live in. Thanks to the researched cases described in the chapters, further developments aimed at fostering multilingual practices in the contemporary world will be enhanced. The chapters included in the present volume, provide an overview of current theory, research and practice in the field. They deal with such prominent research topics as multilingual education, language policies, language contact, identity of multilingual speakers, to name only a few. The selected chapters focus on the numerous and heterogeneous relations between languages. They also incorporate a series of contextualized studies with diverse research designs applied in different settings across the globe. This volume constitutes a pivotal reference source for the latest scholarly material on multilingualism from twelve different countries. It is a thought-provoking collection that provides a series of rich insights into the way multilingualism is practised in international contexts. It is ideally designed for academics, upper-level students, educators, professionals and practitioners seeking linguistic and pedagogical guidance on multilingualism.




The Usage-based Study of Language Learning and Multilingualism


Book Description

When humans learn languages, are they also learning how to create shared meaning? In The Usage-based Study of Language Learning and Multilingualism, a cadre of international experts say yes and offer cutting-edge research in usage-based linguistics to explore how language acquisition, in particular multilingual language acquisition, works. Each chapter presents an original study that supports the view that language learning is initiated through local and meaningful communication with others. Over an accumulated history of such usage, people gradually create more abstract, interactive schematic representations, or a mental grammar. This process of acquiring language is the same for infants and adults and across varied contexts, such as the family, the classroom, the laboratory, a hospital, or a public encounter. Employing diverse methodologies to study this process, the contributors here work with target languages, including Cantonese, English, French, French Sign Language, German, Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Spanish, and Swedish, and offer a much-needed exploration of this growing area of linguistic research.




Receptive Multilingualism


Book Description

Receptive multilingualism refers to the language constellation in which interlocutors use their respective mother tongue while speaking to each other. Since the mid-nineties receptive multilingualism is promoted by the European commission on par with other possibilities of increasing the mobility of the European citizens. Throughout the last ten years a marked increase in the research on this topic has been observable. This volume reveals new perspectives from different theoretical frameworks on linguistic analyses of receptive multilingualism in Europe. Case studies are presented from contemporary settings, along with analyses of historical examples, theoretical considerations and, finally, descriptions of didactical concepts established in order to transfer and disseminate receptive multilingual competence. The book contains results from research carried out at the Research Center on Multilingualism at the University of Hamburg as well as contributions by various international scholars working in the field of receptive multilingualism.




Language in International Business


Book Description

Tracing the treatment of language in international business as represented in the Journal of International Business Studies, this seminal collection critically explores the conceptualizations of language that have been adopted or ignored by international business scholars over the years and showcases nine articles that have played an important role in establishing and advancing the field. In today’s increasingly globalized context of business, significantly richer theories from interdisciplinary perspectives are needed to explain the complexity of the interplay between multiple facets of language and how they affect day-to-day operations. With insights from linguistics, psychology and organizational theory, Language in International Business provides an assessment of scholarly efforts to uncover the profound impact that language has on global business today and proposes some important ways in which this nascent field of language in international business may be further advanced. Chapter 9 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attributtion NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. The Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) is an official publication of the Academy of International Business and is the top-ranked journal in the field of international business. The goal of JIBS is to publish insightful, innovative and impactful research on international business. JIBS is multidisciplinary in scope and interdisciplinary in content and methodology. For more information, visit www.jibs.net. The Academy of International Business (AIB) is the leading association of scholars and specialists in the field of international business. A global community of scholars and researchers for the creation and dissemination of knowledge about international business and policy issues, the AIB transcends the boundaries of single academic disciplines and managerial functions to enhance business education and practice. For more information, visit aib.msu.edu




Understanding the Dynamics of Language and Multilingualism in Professional Contexts


Book Description

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.




Multilingualism and Applied Comparative Linguistics (Volume II)


Book Description

In February 2006 the first international conference on Multilingualism and Applied Comparative Linguistics (MACL) was held in Brussels, Belgium. The aim of the MACL conference was to bring together scholars from various branches of applied linguistics with a shared interest in cross-linguistic and cross-cultural communication. The conference thus fostered an exchange of knowledge and expertise among researchers from various disciplines, including educational linguistics, cultural linguistics, terminography, translation studies and studies of specialised languages. The present book is the second of two volumes containing a selection from the approximately 120 papers that were presented at that three-day event. The book comprises five chapters, reflecting different research perspectives on cross-linguistic and cross-cultural communication. The first chapter covers research articles on metaphors and planned languages. The second chapter comprises articles dealing with language attitudes, language proficiency and language practices in cross-linguistic and cross-cultural, communicative contexts. Chapter three features articles in the field of discourse-analysis research. In the fourth chapter research is presented that pertains to terminology and specialised languages. Finally, chapter five deals with translation studies.




Language-in-education Policies


Book Description

This book examines the ideological underpinnings of language-in-education policies that explicitly focus on adding a new language to the learners' existing repertoire. It examines policies for foreign languages, immigrant languages, indigenous languages and external language spread. Each of these contexts provides for different possible relationships between the language learner and the target language group and shows how in different polities different understandings influence how policy is designed. The book develops a theoretical account of language policies as discursive constructions of ideological positions and explicates how ideologies are developed through an examination of case studies from a range of countries. Each chapter in this book takes the form of a series of three in-depth case studies in which policies relating to a particular area of language-in-education policy are examined. Each case examines the language of policy texts from a critical perspective to deconstruct how intercultural relationships are projected.




Reconceptualizing Language Norms in Multilingual Contexts


Book Description

With cultural and linguistic diversity, migration, and constant change as defining features of contemporary societies, it is increasingly necessary to enhance our capabilities within multilingual environments. Reconceptualizing Language Norms in Multilingual Contexts offers a groundbreaking exploration of language practices and norms in the diverse and dynamic world we inhabit today. It challenges the traditional understanding of language norms as stable and stationary. Instead, it embraces multiculturalism and multilingualism as the norm rather than the exception. Drawing upon a wide range of methodological approaches, this book brings together a collection of position papers, critical reflections, and explorations by emerging and established voices in the field. It delves into how language norms emerge, evolve, and shape communication in both collective and individual contexts of diversity. By reconceptualizing language norms, this book sheds light on real and relevant language practices in multilingual and multicultural spaces, offering insights from the people who inhabit and navigate these contexts. While the content of this book revolves around everyday communication, its academic approaches and comprehensive exploration make it a valuable resource for graduate students, educators, and researchers in the fields of multilingualism and applied linguistics. By bridging the gap between language norms and multilingualism, this book seeks to advance our understanding of language practices in the increasingly interconnected and diverse world.




Handbook of Language and Communication: Diversity and Change


Book Description

In line with the overall perspective of the Handbook series, the focus of Vol.9 is on language-related problems arising in the context of linguistic diversity and change, and the contributions Applied Linguistics can offer for solutions. Part I, “Language minorities and inequality,” presents situations of language contact and linguistic diversity as world-wide phenomena. The focus is on indigenous and immigrant linguistic minorities, their (lack of) access to linguistic rights through language policies and the impact on their linguistic future .Part II “Language planning and language change,” focuses on the impact of colonialism, imperialism, globalisation and economics as factors that language policies and planning measures must account for in responding to problems deriving from language contact and linguistic diversity. Part III, “Language variation and change in institutional contexts,” examines language-related problems in selected institutional areas of communication (education, the law, religion, science, the Internet) which will often derive from socioeconomic, cultural and other non-linguistic asymmetries. Part IV, “The discourse of linguistic diversity and language change,” analyses linguistic diversity, language change and language reform as issues of public debates which are informed by different ideological positions, values and attitudes (e.g. with reference to sexism, racism, and political correctness).The volume also contains extensive reference sections and index material.