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Multilingualism: A Very Short Introduction [#525]
Multilingualism: A Very Short Introduction [#525]

Multilingualism: A Very Short Introduction [#525]

Author: 
John C. Maher
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  • Explains the role of language and multilingualism in our increasingly multicultural community
  • Highlights the role of languages in the global movement of people for travel, work, and migration
  • Discusses the role of language in identity, and how this can play a part in issues of nationalism or regional rights
  • Considers the reasons why languages thrive or decline

 
The languages of the world can be seen and heard in cities and towns, forests and isolated settlements, as well as on the internet and in international organizations like the UN or the EU. How did the world acquire so many languages? Why can't we all speak one language, like English or Esperanto? And what makes a person bilingual? Multilingualism, language diversity in society, is a perfect expression of human plurality. About 6,500-7,000 languages are spoken, written and signed, throughout the linguistic landscape of the world, by people who communicate in more than one language (at work, or in the family or community). Many origin myths, like Babel, called it a 'punishment' but multilingualism makes us who we are and plays a large part of our sense of belonging. Languages are instruments for interacting with the cultural environment and their ecology is complex. They can die (Tasmanian), or decline then revive (Manx and Hawaiian), reconstitute from older forms (modern Hebrew), gain new status (Catalan and Maori) or become autonomous national languages (Croatian). Languages can even play a supportive and symbolic role as some territories pursue autonomy or nationhood, such as in the cases of Catalonia and Scotland.

In this Very Short Introduction John C. Maher shows how multilingualism offers cultural diversity, complex identities, and alternative ways of doing and knowing to hybrid identities. Increasing multilingualism is drastically changing our view of the value of language, and our notion of the part language plays in national and cultural identities. At the same time multilingualism can lead to social and political conflict, unequal power relations, issues of multiculturalism, and discussions over 'national' or 'official' languages, with struggles over language rights of local and indigenous communities. Considering multilingualism in the context of globalization, Maher also looks at the fate of many endangered languages as they disappear from the world. 

Index: 

1: A multilingual world
2: The Causes of Multilingualism
3: Bilingualism: one mind many languages
4: Multiculturalism, Myth and Controversies
5: Multilingual People: footballers and opera singers
6: Politics, Language and the State
7: Lingua Franca and Constructed Languages
8: Identity and Culture
9: Education and Language Awareness
References
Further Reading
Index

About the author: 

John C. Maher is Professor of Linguistics at the International Christian University, Tokyo. He was Lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Edinburgh, British Council lecturer in the Philippines, and Senior Academic Member at St. Antony's College, Oxford University. He is the author of English as an International Language of Medical Communication (University of Michigan Press, 1992), co-editor of Multilingual Japan (Multilingual Matters, 1995), with Kyoko Yashiro, and co-author of Introducing Chomsky (ICON, 2005), with Judy Groves. He is Editor of Educational Studies and Program Director of Linguapax Asia.

Product details

ISBN : 9780198724995

Author: 
John C. Maher
Pages
168 Pages
Format
Paperback
Size
111 x 174 mm
Pub date
May 2017
Series
Very Short Introductions
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Multilingualism: A Very Short Introduction [#525]

Multilingualism: A Very Short Introduction [#525]

Multilingualism: A Very Short Introduction [#525]