Language and Human Rights: An introductory lecture to HU901 by Prof. Peter L Patrick (University of Essex)

Topic: This week we examine the importance of language issues to human rights. We introduce a comparative sociolinguistic perspective, consider alternative efforts to theorise LHR (Linguistic Human Rights), and tour some general LHR resources. We also examine several key areas in brief: inter-ethnic conflict over language at the national level (case study: the English-Only movement in the USA); connections between language and national origin, in the international context of refugee status determination; and language endangerment and death among indigenous peoples.

Primary online source:

Peter L Patrick, webpage on Linguistic Human Rights: A sociolinguistic introduction, http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~patrickp/lhr/linguistichumanrights.htm.

Primary readings:

Blommaert, Jan. 2001. The Asmara Declaration as a sociolinguistic problem: Notes on scholarship and linguistic rights. Journal of Sociolinguistics 5/1: 131-142. [P 1.J538]

de Varennes, Fernand. 2001. A Guide to the Rights of Minorities and Language (2001), http://www.eumap.org/library/static/libr0/l/6/se56p2w.pdf [new item]

Kontra, Miklós, Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Robert Phillipson & Tibor Várady. 1999. Conceptualizing and implementing Linguistic Human Rights. In Kontra, Skutnabb-Kangas, Phillipson & Varady, eds., Language: A right and a resource. Budapest: Central European University Press, pp 1-21. [P 138.L2]

Linguistic Society of America. 1995. Committee on Social & Political Concerns: Statement on Language Rights. http://www.lsadc.org/resolutions/index.php?aaa=lgright.htm

Patrick, Peter L. 2004. 10 Sociolinguistic axioms. http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~patrickp/Courses/10slxaxioms.htm

Paulston, Christina Bratt. 1997. Language policies and language rights. Annual Review of Anthropology 26: 73-85. [GN 1.B5]

Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove, & Robert Phillipson. 1994. Linguistic Human Rights, past and present. In Skutnabb-Kangas, Phillipson & Rannut, eds., Linguistic Human Rights: Overcoming linguistic discrimination. The Hague: Mouton, pp 71-110. [P 138.L5]

Phillipson, Robert, Mart Rannut, & Tove Skutnabb-Kangas. 1994. Introduction. In Skutnabb-Kangas, Phillipson & Rannut, eds., Linguistic Human Rights: Overcoming linguistic discrimination. The Hague: Mouton, pp 1-22. [P 138.L5]

TerraLingua. N.d. Frequently asked questions about linguistic diversity, language endangerment and preservation, linguistic human rights, etc. http://www.terralingua.org/FAQs.html.

Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights. (1998). Barcelona: follow-up committee for U.D.L.R. http://www.linguistic-declaration.org/index-gb.htm

Case Studies:

Arends, Jacques & Eades, Diana (eds). 2004. Language Analysis and Determination of Nationality. Thematic issue of International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law: Forensic Linguistics, Vol. 11 no. 2, pp. 179-266.

Crawford, James. 1998. Anatomy of the English-Only movement. In Douglas Kibbee, ed., Language legislation and linguistic rights. Philadelphia: Benjamins, 96-122. [P 138.L2]

Del Valle, Sandra. 2003. Language rights and the law in the United States. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. [new item]

Eades, Diana. 2005. Applied linguistics and language analysis in asylum seeker cases. Applied Linguistics 26(4): 503-526.

Herriman, Michael & Burnaby, Barbara, eds. 1996. Language policies in English-dominant countries: Six case studies. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. [P 138.L2]

Language and National Origin Group. 2004. Guidelines for the use of Language Analysis in relation to questions of national origin in refugee cases. http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~patrickp/language-origin-refugees.pdf

MacGregor-Mendoza, Patricia. 1998. The criminalization of Spanish in the United States. In Douglas Kibbee, ed. 1998 Language legislation and linguistic rights. Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp 55-67. [P 138.L2]

Romaine, Suzanne. 2002. The impact of language policy on endangered languages. International Journal on Multicultural Societies 4(2). www.unesco.org/most/vl4n2romaine.pdf

Secondary readings:

Baker, Philip & Eversley, John, eds. (2000). Multilingual capital: The languages of London's schoolchildren and their relevance to economic, social and educational policies. London: Battlebridge Publications. [P 138.M8]

Branson, Jan, & Don Miller. 1998. Nationalism and the linguistic rights of Deaf communities: Linguistic imperialism and the recognition and development of sign languages. Journal of Sociolinguistics 2(1): 3-34. [P 1.J538]

Hamel, Rainer Enrique. 1994. Linguistic Rights for Amerindian peoples in Latin America. In Tove Skutnabb-Kangas and Robert Phillipson, eds. Linguistic Human Rights: Overcoming linguistic discrimination. The Hague: Mouton, pp. 289-303. [P 138.L5]

Kontra, Miklós, Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Robert Phillipson & Tibor Várady, eds. 1999. Language: A right and a resource. Approaching Linguistic Human Rights. Budapest: Central European University Press. [P 138.L2]

Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove. In progress. Multilingualism and Linguistic human rights bibliography. Terralingua: http://www.terralingua.org/Bibliographies/ToveBibA_C.html

[Sections: (A-C) (D-F) (G-I) (J-L) (M-O) (P-R) (S-T) (U-Z) – insert letters in hyperlink, e.g.: ...ToveBibD_F.html, etc.

Entries in Catalan, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish and other languages.]

Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove, & Robert Phillipson, eds., with Mart Rannut. 1994 Linguistic Human Rights: Overcoming linguistic discrimination. The Hague: Mouton. [P 138.L5]

U.N.E.S.C.O. (1953). The Use of the Vernacular Languages in Education. Monographs on Fundamental Education VIII. Paris: U.N.E.S.C.O.

de Varennes, Fernand. 1996. Language, Minorities and Human Rights. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. [JC 571.V2]

Featured events (open to all):

Wed 30 April 2008

6^th Annual Lecture on Language and Human Rights at Essex

Prof. Fernand de Varennes: topic tba

Lecture details posted at http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~patrickp/lhr/lhrlectures.htm#Lec6th

Reference: A Guide to the Rights of Minorities and Language (2001), http://www.eumap.org/library/static/libr0/l/6/se56p2w.pdf

Essay Question:

What are the most important linguistic human rights that immigrants to the UK should have? (Assume that standard English is not their dominant language.) Describe an area in which there are difficulties with language rights, and several steps that might help resolve them, e.g.

o education in multilingual British communities,

§ See Philip Baker & John Eversley, eds., 2000. Multilingual Capital: The languages of London’s schoolchildren (P 138.M8)

o or the use of language analysis to determine the status of refugees claiming asylum

§ See the “Guidelines for the use of language analysis in relation to questions of national origin in refugee cases”, available from Prof. Patrick’s webpage on this topic: http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~patrickp/lhr/lhrasylum.htm, plus any other readings recommended there that you find relevant.

Please feel free to draw on your own or your family’s language history, and any experiences of immigration, if they are relevant.

Linguistic Human Rights homepage - Peter L Patrick homepage

Last revised 03 March 2008