Mercator Network Newsletter 125

The Mercator newsletter informs you about the news of the five Mercator Network partners:

Newsletter focusing on multilingual regions dealing with regional or minority languages, but also immigrant languages and smaller state languages, with emphasis on language needs arising from migration and globalization. Submit your subscription request, comments or suggestions to: Johanneke Buning (Fryske Akademy).

Symposium by Mercator European Research Centre: “The effects of migration on the position of minority languages”

By: Jorrit Huizinga

On 11 november 2016, the Mercator Research Centre in Ljouwert/Leeuwarden will host a symposium on the effects of migration on the position of minority languages. The relation between immigration, migrant languages and regional and minority languages is a theme that has become more and more important in recent years. Especially in light of the ongoing refugee crisis, it has become a hot topic, not least for those concerned with minority language education.

At the symposium, six speakers, each an expert of multilingualism and surrounding issues, will give their own (international) perspective on the problem at hand. After this, time will be made for the participants to discuss – possibly in groups – how the experts’ views can be ‘translated’ to the situation in Fryslân. The full programme of the symposium can be found here.

The symposium is organised in consultation with other Frisian organisations. It is open to all, and participation and lunch are free. Online registration is obligatory via this online form (please register before 4 November 2016).

Date and time: Friday 11 November 2016 | 10.15-17.00
Location: Fryske Akademy, Leeuwarden (NL)

Final LangOER Conference: “Open Education: promoting diversity for European Languages”

By: Marit Bijlsma

Brussels, 26/27 September 2016, coinciding with the European Day of languages

"It is important to maintain regional and minority languages for a pluralistic, equitable, open and inclusive knowledge society", says Marku Markkula, President of the Committee of the Regions and key-note speaker at the conference.

The conference was an initiative of the European funded network LangOER, and was co-organised with the Educational Repositories Network – EdReNe. The event brought together experts in open education and digital content repositories, educational researchers and a variety of policy makers concerned with language learning and teaching, pedagogical use of ICT, and social integration and inclusion.

Key-note speakers were, amongst others: the president of the European Committee of the Regions “Marku Markkula” and “Konstantin Scheller” of the Directorate General of Education and Culture. A summary of Markkula’s speech:

We need to stress the importance of cultural diversity, through languages. That means, foster the pluralistic, equitable, open and inclusive knowledge society in which open education provides an important tool. Open education has the potential to improve access to education across all languages, and hence we can gain strength of Europe’s language diversity. Therefore, we need to raise awareness across all languages about the added value of open educational resources and open education tools.

All presentations and the livestreams of the conference are available on the Facebook Page of European Schoolnet.

Yedda Palemeq of the Indigenous Language Research and Development Center, Taiwan visits Mercator Research Centre

September 21 - Interested in the work of the Fryske Akademy and Mercator Research Centre, Yedda Palemeq of the Indigenous Language Research and Development Center, visited Ljouwert, the Netherlands, from Tapei Taiwan.

At the Fryske Akademy she met with Mercator Collegue Cor van der Meer and dr Alex Riemersma, and discussed, amongst other things, Frisian Tri-lingual education, the legal position of regional and minority languages, and the activities of Mercator Research Centre.

The Indigenous Language Research and Development Center (ILRDC) in Taipei Taiwan was established in June 2014. The mission of the ILRDC is to ensure the preservation and revitalization of indigenous languages in Taiwan through research and recommendation. At the moment, the ILRDC is working on research projects on, amongst other things, examination of indigenous language proficiency, language teaching and learning methods, and language revitalization policy.

10th International Conference on Multilingualism and Third Language Acquisition

By: Mirjam Günther

From 1 to 3 September the 10th International Conference on Multilingualism and Third Language Acquisition organised by International Organisation of Multilingualism (IAM) took place at the University of Vienna. The programme was very varied and presentations included topics on multilingual language use, multilingualism in the classroom, cross-linguistic influences, language politics and language acquisition and learning.

Several big names from the field held a keynote presentation: Suresh Canagarajah, Suzanne Flynn, Ulrike Jessner and Susanne Reiterer. There were also two Frisian colleagues presenting. Cor van der Meer from the Mercator Research Centre presented on “English in Fryslân” in a symposium on “English in Europe”, together with colleagues from the University of the Basque Country Durk Gorter, Jasone Cenoz, Maria Pilar Safont and Elizabet Arocena. Mirjam Günther from the Fryske Akademy / University of Groningen talked about part of her PhD-study in a presentation called “Does balanced bilingualism influence third language acquisition”.

Besides the interesting presentations, there was also time to enjoy Vienna due to an excellent social programme which included a historic tramcar tour and a dinner at the “Mayer am Pfarrplatz”, a former residence of Ludwig van Beethoven. All in all it was a very fruitful conference with plenty of chance to network with researchers from all over the world that work on trilingualism. The next conference will be held in two years’ time. Keep an eye on the IAM website for more information!

Grand opening of the new Fryske Akademy buildings

On, Friday September 9th, Princess H.K.H. Laurentien of the Netherlands officially opened the newly renovated accommodation of the Fryske Akademy, the acedemic institute that hosts Mercator Research Centre.

During the grand opening, 120 guests were welcomed in the courtyard of the Fryske Akademy, and attended presentations by the managing director of the Fryske Akademy, Hanno Brand, KNAW-president José van Dijck, Deputy of Culture Sietske Poepjes, and finally Princess Laurentien.

The renovated accomodation of the Fryske Akademy, established in 1938 as research institute for the Frisian language and culture, includes the monumental 18th century "Coulonhuis", built by the Huguenot Anthony Coulon.

Catalonia to hold independence referendum in September 2017, whether Spanish government agrees or not

September 28 - While addressing the Catalan parliament, Catalan president Carles Puigdemont stated that a referendum for Catalan independece will be held, with or without agreement of the Spanish government.

Puigdemont says that agreement with the Spanish government is preferrable, and the "ideal democratic validation", but if no agreement is reached, the Catalan government intends to unilaterally hold the referendum in the second half of September 2017.

Puigdemont regretted that the Spanish government has so far refused the referendum, and recalled that the demand for a referendum is shared by sixty percent of Catalan voters. The Catalan president also said he is willing to negotiate "the question, the date, the quorums and the moratoria" of the referendum with the Spanish government.

According to the president, the referendum will be "the last step before proclaiming independence,".

Source: Nationalia

Seminar: "Language documentation, Teaching materials and Didactics”; an opportunity for small and endangered languages?

CIDLES, SOAS, and Mercator Research Centre are working together to organize this seminar, which will take place in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands on 8 and 9 December. The seminar will address the growing need for up-to-date teaching materials and methods for small and endangered languages. How can these methods make use of new developments in technology and benefit from the latest insights in didactics?

This newsletter will keep you informed about developments concerning the seminar.

Mercator Research Centre publishes a new Regional Dossier: Manx Gaelic in the Isle of Man

The Dossier describes the history and demographics of the Manx language, and discusses, in-depth, language education and legislation.

The Regional Dossier Manx Gaelic in the Isle of Man, was compiled by iona McArdle, Education Officer for Manx National Heritage until 2012, and Robert Teare, Department of Education and Children’s Manx Language Officer in the Ilse of Man.

Download the dossier here: Manx Gaelic in the Isle of Man

Mercator's Regional Dossier Series focusses on education of minority languages in Europe. All Dossiers are freely downloadable from the Mercator Research Centre website.

Expert in the Spotlight October/November 2016 Maaike Verrips, Anna de Graaf en Fleur Verbiest of De Taalstudio

Maaike Verrips, Anna de Graaf and Fleur Verbiest form an ever expanding interactive platform for everyone dealing with multilingual children, The platform is called Meertalig.nl.

Read more...

Language policy in Abkhazia: promoting Abkhazian or forgetting Georgian?, Analysis by Sandra Veloy Mateu about the language situation in Abkhazia.

Use the technology or lose your language?: Position paper by the Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity (NPLD) and the European Federation of National Institutions for Language (EFNIL), calling the European Union to reaffirm its commitment to linguistic diversity.

First sign-language only tv-ad, part of a campaign to promote diversity during the Rio Paralympic Games.

Family language policy and school language choice: pathways to bilingualism and multilingualism in a Canadian context, article in the International Journal of Multilingualism.

OER world map, interactive map that shows the availability of Open Educational Resources.

Scholarships at Bangor University.

"Occitania" it is, France accepts “Occitania” as final name for Midi-Pyrénées and Languedoc-Roussillon region merger.

7-8 October 2016, Belgrado (RS): Early and Beginners' Foreign Language Learning in Primary Formal Education, conference organized by the University of Belgrade, the Association for the Serbian/French Cultural Cooperation, and the Association for Foreign Languages and Literatures of Serbia

21-23 October 2016, Durham (UK): Education and Migration: Language Foregrounded, hosted by Durham University.

20-24 October 2016, Tbilisi (GE): International Conference on Endangered Languages, organized by the Giorgi Akhvlediani Society for the History of Linguistics and Ivané Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

11 November 2016, Leeuwarden (NL): The influence of migration on the position of minority languages, Symposium.

25-26 November 2016, Murmansk (RU): Documentation, Standardization and Teaching of Endangered Languages in Northern Eurasia, symposium organized by the Foundation for Endangered Languages. Call deadline: July 31

29 November - 3 December 2016, Udine (IT): SUNS EUROPE, European Festival of Performing Arts in European Minority Languages.

2 December 2016, London (Unitedk): Information Structure and Discourse in the minority languages of the Russian Federation, , call deadline 2 May 2016

2-5 December 2016, London (Unitedk): Information Structure and Discourse in the minority languages of the Russian Federation, , call deadline 2 May 2016

14–15 December 2016, El Jadida (MA): Cultures and Languages in Contact, call deadline 14 September 2016

14 - 16 December 2016, Teramo (IT): Evaluating language policies. Which objectives, criteria, indicators?, International conference.

30 January - 20 February 2017, Bolanzo (IT): Winter School on Federalism and Governance, call deadline 23 October 2016.

23 - 24 March 2017, Paris (FR): Tandem Language and Intercultural Learning in Higher Education Settings, International conference.

19 - 21 April 2017, Barcelona and Vic (ES): First International Conference on Revitalization of Indigenous and Minoritized Languages, International conference.

27 - 28 April 2017, Ulyanovsk (RU): Language Education in the Globalized World, International conference.

3 - 5 May 2017, Bologna (IT): Learning and Assessment: Making the Connections, Call deadline 15 October 2016.

4 - 7 May 2017, Lausanne (CH): Approaches to Migration, Language, and Identity, International conference.

6 - 7 May 2017, Poznan (PL): Workshop on Multilingual Language Acquisition, Processing and Use, Call deadline 1 December 2016.

11 - 13 May 2017, Braga (PT): International Conference on Multilingualism and Multilingual Education, Call for papers: deadline 15 February 2017.