EXAMINATION
OF THE COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN LANGUAGE POLICIES IN
FAVOUR OF MULTILINGUALISM AND POLITICAL WILL TO
PROMOTE LESSER USED LANGUAGES
The research task (Task 2.2) of the Ljubljana University within DYLAN’s Workpackage 2 is to “Examine the compatibility between language policies in favor of multilingualism and political will to promote lesser used languages”
In order to develop this task we have started making research on several language issues within the frame of both the Parliament of the European Union and the Council of the European Union. In the present working paper we present an example of the research undertaken during the last 6 months research period. Namely, the analysis and its results of the interview made to a Slovene Civil Servant developing some of her/his work within a working party of the Council of the European Union (SCS1). The analysis shows:
1. That according to SCS1 there is a usual absence of Slovene interpretation services in his working environment within the Council;
2. That according to SCS1 her/his linguistic practices are by her/his usual use of English;
3. Her/his agreement with the fact that the EU has several official and working languages.
4. Her/his feeling of the official status of Slovene as basically a matter of symbolism and of equality of rights,
5. Her/his defense of the possibility of using Slovene within the Council for functional reasons in some given working contexts.
6. Her/his defense of partially multilingual system for the Council of the EU.
Besides this example, the other research activities we have made so far are the following: Bibliographic research on Slovene scientific literature and media as well as participation in debates and similar activities dealing with linguistic issues of our interest; The analysis of an interview made to a Slovene Interpreter who works within the institutions of the European Union (Int1); The analysis of a cluster of seven interviews made to the Slovene members of the European parliament (MEP1-MEP7); The analysis of a cluster of two interviews to the two people in charge of the translation and interpretation affairs of the Slovene Government Office for European Affairs (SVEZ1 and SVEZ2); Bibliographic research on the terms “political will” and “lesser-used language”; The analysis of a cluster of two interviews to Slovene civil servants developing some of their work within some working parties of the Council of the European Union (SCS1 and SCS2); and, Resembling the answers that some Slovene civil servants developing some of their work within some of the working parties of the Council of the European Union (SCS3 - SCS25) have given to our questionnaire (at the present moment we are analyzing these answers).
The procedure we are following is that of making a first step, consisting in a case study based on the Slovene language, and then widening our research scope by targeting at the official languages of some other EU Member States. Hence, our following step is to make research on some other EU official languages, such as Finnish, Portuguese or Bulgarian, within the EU institutions, starting from the Council of the EU.
The research task (Task 2.2) of the Ljubljana University within DYLAN’s Workpackage 2 is to “Examine the compatibility between language policies in favor of multilingualism and political will to promote lesser used languages”
In order to develop this task we have started making research on several language issues within the frame of both the Parliament of the European Union and the Council of the European Union. In the present working paper we present an example of the research undertaken during the last 6 months research period. Namely, the analysis and its results of the interview made to a Slovene Civil Servant developing some of her/his work within a working party of the Council of the European Union (SCS1). The analysis shows:
1. That according to SCS1 there is a usual absence of Slovene interpretation services in his working environment within the Council;
2. That according to SCS1 her/his linguistic practices are by her/his usual use of English;
3. Her/his agreement with the fact that the EU has several official and working languages.
4. Her/his feeling of the official status of Slovene as basically a matter of symbolism and of equality of rights,
5. Her/his defense of the possibility of using Slovene within the Council for functional reasons in some given working contexts.
6. Her/his defense of partially multilingual system for the Council of the EU.
Besides this example, the other research activities we have made so far are the following: Bibliographic research on Slovene scientific literature and media as well as participation in debates and similar activities dealing with linguistic issues of our interest; The analysis of an interview made to a Slovene Interpreter who works within the institutions of the European Union (Int1); The analysis of a cluster of seven interviews made to the Slovene members of the European parliament (MEP1-MEP7); The analysis of a cluster of two interviews to the two people in charge of the translation and interpretation affairs of the Slovene Government Office for European Affairs (SVEZ1 and SVEZ2); Bibliographic research on the terms “political will” and “lesser-used language”; The analysis of a cluster of two interviews to Slovene civil servants developing some of their work within some working parties of the Council of the European Union (SCS1 and SCS2); and, Resembling the answers that some Slovene civil servants developing some of their work within some of the working parties of the Council of the European Union (SCS3 - SCS25) have given to our questionnaire (at the present moment we are analyzing these answers).
The procedure we are following is that of making a first step, consisting in a case study based on the Slovene language, and then widening our research scope by targeting at the official languages of some other EU Member States. Hence, our following step is to make research on some other EU official languages, such as Finnish, Portuguese or Bulgarian, within the EU institutions, starting from the Council of the EU.
Authors:
Marko Stabej
Jordi Magrinyà
Team coordinator:
Marko Stabej
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