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We are all shocked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

We sympathize deeply with everyone affected by it.

Minority language network organisations such as the FUEN and CALRE

published statements on their websites.

The future of national and linguistic minorities in Europe

NPLD (Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity), FUEN (Federal Union of European Nationalities) and ELEN (European Language Equality Network) published their ideas for the future of European national and linguistic minorities on the website of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE). They ask the public to endorse or comment on their ideas on the CoFoE Platform to improve the situation for European minoritised languages, many of which face critical endangerment. The CoFoE is an initiative by the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission that offers the opportunity for European citizens to debate on Europe’s challenges and priorities. NPLD made a guide on how to register and find the contributions of the three network partners.

Recommendations from NPLD, FUEN and ELEN

New ECRML evaluation reports Norway and Poland

The Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages published new evaluation reports with recommendations for Norway (revitalise Kven, Lule Sámi and South Sámi, Romanes and Romani languages) and Poland (teaching German as a minority language).

Read more

 

Call for quota minority languages in audiovisual law

Plataforma per la Llengua and 5 partner institutes demand that the Catalan, Valencian, Basque, Galician and Balearic political parties force the Spanish government to increase the presence of minority languages ​​in a new audiovisual law, to guarantee a substantial presence of dubbing and subtitles.

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CUSC-UB report to promote the knowledge and use of Catalan

On 22nd February, a new report called 'Un marc sociolingüístic igualitari per a la llengua catalana' ('A sociolinguistic framework for the Catalan language') was presented at the headquarters of the Catalan government. This report falls within the 'Pacte Nacional per la Llengua' (National Pact for the Language), an initiative that aims at promoting the use and knowledge of Catalan in order to guarantee its role as an instrument of social cohesion. Three CUSC-UB researchers (Natxo Sorolla, Eva Pons and Avel·lí Flors-Mas) participated in the creation of this report, which describes the most prominent challenges that Catalan is currently facing, and suggests possible solutions to tackle them.

Call for nominations OSCE Max van der Stoel Award

The High Commissioner on National Minorities and the Government of the Netherlands organise the Max van der Stoel Award. The prize of €50,000 is presented to a person, group or institution for outstanding achievements in improving the position of national minorities [photo: OSCE].

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English does not get in the way at Dutch nurseries

Children who hear Dutch and English at day-care centres become better at English. English does not have a negative effect on their Dutch language development. This has been shown by research carried out by the University of Amsterdam. The Minister therefore wants to make multilingual childcare legally possible.

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Linguistic assertiveness

The Listen Project on how linguistic assertiveness helps minoritised languages

TESOL webinar

Family Language Policies

among Quebec-based Parents

Paper: 'Attitudes towards childhood multilingualism'

There is a new open access paper by Mercator researcher Ruth Kircher and her Canadian colleagues, about parents' attitudes towards childhood multilingualism.

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New journal on language revitalization & sustainability

Living Languages/ Lenguas Vivas/ Línguas Vivas is a new international, multilingual journal (open access), initiated by a team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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Minority language song competition 'Liet'

Liet International, the song festival for regional and minority languages, will take place on 13 May 2022 in Tønder/Tondern, the Danish capital of folk music.

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Paper: 'Bilingual Language Development in Infancy'

What can we do to support families who are raising their children bilingually? Find out in this new open access paper 'Bilingual Language Development in Infancy'.

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Hackathon — ICTs for Indigenous Languages

 

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and UNESCO, in collaboration with other stakeholders are co-organising the online hackathon 'The ICTs for Indigenous Languages Hackathon' and calls on creators and developers (teams or indivuduals) to ideate and create ICT solutions that contribute to the intergenerational transmission, preservation, revitalisation, and promotion of indigenous languages.

INTERESTING EVENTS

11-12 March 2022, online
Virtual conference: Youth Engagement in Minority and Regional Languages
Organised by University College Dublin


31 March-1 April 2022, Flensburg (Germany)
International conference: Multi-platform and Connecting Communities: Contemporary Challenges for Minority Language Media
Organised by Europa Universität Flensburg, European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) and the University of the Basque Country


1 april 2022, Leuven (Belgium)
Sociolinguistic Circle 2022 
Organised by the KU Leuven


9-10 June 2022, Groningen (Netherlands)
International Linguistics Conference TABU
* Call for Papers is open (deadline 7 March)
Organised by Center for Language and Cognition from the University of Groningen


16-17 June 2022, Budapest (Hungary)
Rules and incentives in language policy and planning: Economic, legal, and sociolinguistic approaches
Organised by research group 'Economics, Policy Analysis and Language' (REAL)


16-17 June 2022, Rēzeknes (Latvia)
International Academic Conference 'Regional Languages in Education: from Literature towards Literacy'
* Call for Papers is open (deadline extended: 13 March)
Organised by Rēzekne Academy of Technologies


20-24 June 2022, Leeuwarden (Netherlands)
Summer School on Cultural & Linguistic Diversity: Diversity Management for Social Justice
Organised by University of Groningen


22-24 June 2022, Granada (Spain)/ online
International Conference 'Future Challenges in Early Language Learning and Multilingual Education (ELLME2022)
Organised by Universidad de Granada


22-25 June 2022, online
17th International Conference of Language and Social Psychology (ICLASP17)
Organised by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University


27-29 June 2022, Warsaw (Poland)
World Congress of Modern Languages and the Annual Conference of the Polish Association of Modern Languages
Organised by the International Federation of Language Teacher Associations, the Polish Association of Modern Languages and the Faculty of Modern Languages, University of Warsaw


30 June - 1 July 2022, Oldenburg (Germany)
Small languages, big ideas (SLBI)

Organised by the Universities of Oldenburg and Groningen


13-16 July 2022, Ghent (Belgium)
Sociolinguistics Symposium 24 - Inside and beyond binaries
Organised by Ghent University


4-5 August 2022, Tromsø (Norway)
4th International Symposium on Bilingual and L2 Processing in Adults and Children
Organised by the University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway


8-12 August 2022, Koblenz (Germany)
39th International LAUD Symposium 'Multilingualism in Africa: Language contact, endangerment and cultural conceptualisation'
Organised by the University of Koblenz-Landau


25-27 August 2022, online
The Multidisciplinary Approaches in Language Policy and Planning Online Conference (LPP 2022) 

Hosted by the McGill University's Faculty of Education in Montréal (Canada)


13 September 2022, Girona (Spain)
III International Conference on Revitalisation of Indigenous and Minority Languages
* Call for Papers is open (Deadline extended: 15 March)
Organised by University of Girona and University of Perpignan Via Domitia


13-16 September 2022, Leeuwarden (Netherlands)
2nd Conference on Frisian Humanities
* Call for Papers is open (Deadline extended: 15 March)
Organised by Fryske Akademy, Mercator, NHLStenden, the University of Groningen, and RuG/Campus Fryslân


15-17 September 2022, Zagreb (Croatia)
12th International Conference on Third Language Acquisition and Multilingualism
Organised by University of Zagreb


6-7 October 2022, Joensuu (Finland)
International Conference on Multilingual Awareness and Multilingual Practices
* Call for Papers is open (Deadline 15 July)
Organised by University of Eastern Finland


17-21 July 2023, Lyon (France)
AILA 2023
* Call for Symposia and Papers is open
Organised by ENS de Lyon


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