Category Archives: Derechos lingüísticos

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El reconeixement legal de les llengües de signes i la protecció dels drets dels signants: el cas de la llengua de signes catalana (LSC)

Dr. Josep Quer

La llengua de signes catalana (LSC) és una de les dues llengües de signes reconegudes a l’Estat per llei (el 2010 a Catalunya amb una llei específica; el 2007 a l’Estat amb una llei global d’accessibilitat per a les persones sordes). Després de les expectatives generades entre els usuaris de la llengua i altres col·lectius vinculats a la Comunitat Sorda de Catalunya, és un moment oportú per fer balanç dels aspectes en què s’ha avançat i d’aquells altres en què no hi ha hagut progressos. En aquesta presentació s’identifiquen els drets que caldria garantir tant a la persona sorda individual com al col·lectiu d’usuaris, una distinció que sovint no s’emfasitza prou, perquè no s’entenen les especificitats de la sordesa i la llengua de signes. Les necessitats dels signants sords no es poden tractar simplement com les d’una minoria lingüística, perquè la llengua de signes n’és la primera llengua i l’accés a la llengua o llengües orals de l’entorn sovint és limitada. Això afecta, per exemple, els signants no només en la seva vida quotidiana sinó també sovint en l’exercici dels seus drets com a ciutadans. Al mateix temps, per a la gran majoria d’individus sords la llengua de signes no es troba en el seu entorn familiar immediat en néixer i durant els primers anys de vida, que són determinants per al desenvolupament de la capacitat del llenguatge. Abordarem els factors que condicionen aquest aspecte tan decisiu de les persones sordes en el seu desenvolupament lingüístic, cognitiu, social i emocional, i que en darrer terme tenen a veure amb decisions fonamentalment ideològiques de caire oralista (implícit o explícit) en els sectors de la sanitat i l’educació. Créixer amb la llengua de signes no aïlla les persones sordes de la majoria oient de la societat que fa servir les llengües orals, ni interfereix en l’aprenentatge d’aquestes llengües, sinó que, per contra, garanteix la base del desenvolupament lingüístic, un dret fonamental, independentment de quina sigui la llengua d’us preferent més enllà de la infantesa.

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Language rights and linguistic justice in international law: Lost in translation?

Dr. Jacqueline Mowbray

While there is no single ‘right to language’ in international law, a range of international legal provisions protect languages and their speakers. These includeminority rights, which protect the rights of minorities to ‘use their own language’; non-discrimination rights; rights to freedom of expression; rights to culture; and other rights, such as the right to a fair trial, which can be used incidentally to protect language interests in certain situations. This paper considers the extent to which these rights are capable of delivering linguistic justice, and the assumptions embedded in international law as to the role of translation and interpretation in that process. Drawing on insights from other disciplines, including particularly sociolinguistics and translation studies, I argue that the conceptualisation of both ‘linguistic justice’ and ‘translation’ within international law is deficient in certain key respects. In particular, in focusing on translation as a primary means of protecting language rights and addressing injustices associated with language use, international law conceals injustices which can result from the process of translation itself. As a result, the promise of language rights fails to translate into linguistic justice.

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El impacto de las políticas lingüísticas en la interpretación comunitaria en Austria

Vera Ahamer

El discurso político y mediático sobre la política austriaca de inmigración está dominado por la primacía del «alemán como clave de la integración». En este contexto, surge un campo de tensión entre dos polos: Por un lado, la exigencia de que los inmigrantes adquieran cuanto antes conocimientos de la lengua alemana y de los «valores austriacos» en el marco de cursos de idiomas estandarizados y lo demuestren en los exámenes estatales para poder «integrarse con éxito». Sin embargo, este conocimiento lingüístico y «orientado a los valores» es criticado por investigadores de la adquisición y la didáctica de lenguas ya que se trata más de un conocimiento orientado a los exámenes y subordinado a la «transmisión de valores» que de un apoyo a la consecución de objetivos comunicativos. Estos últimos ganan en importancia sobre todo en aquellos contextos que a su vez pueden subsumirse en los ámbitos de la interpretación comunitaria: las escuelas, los hospitales, en la burocracia cotidiana, etc.

El derecho a la interpretación se niega ahora en muchos de los ámbitos pertinentes con el argumento de que los inmigrantes deben aprender el idioma lo antes posible para no causar costes adicionales al Estado. Se les achaca los problemas derivados de la falta de conocimientos lingüísticos. En mi contribución, me gustaría examinar más de cerca la evolución actual de la política de traducción en el contexto austriaco con el trasfondo de las contradicciones señaladas: La adquisición del alemán, los exámenes de integración, la falta de profesionalización de la interpretación comunitaria, las escuelas con un habitus monolingüe: estas son las palabras clave en torno a las cuales se cerrará el círculo de mis observaciones.

Palabras clave: Austria, políticas lingüísticas, política de inmigración, derechos lingüísticos, interpretación comunitaria, adquisición de lenguas segundas.

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Interpretando al jaguar: Cosmovisiones conflictivas y los derechos lingüísticos-culturales de los/as waorani de la Amazonía ecuatoriana

Christina Korak

Con la codificación constitucional de los derechos de la naturaleza en 2008, Ecuador introdujo uno de los aparatos jurídicos más avanzados en el reconocimiento de los derechos lingüísticos y culturales. La constitución ecuatoriana incluye el concepto indígena sumak kawsay (con su traducción aproximada de “buen vivir”) en 99 artículos que garantizan, entre otros, el derecho al agua y a un medio ambiente ecológicamente equilibrado. Según el artículo 16 (sección 3, capítulo 2, título 2), los pueblos indígenas tienen derecho a una “comunicación libre, intercultural, incluyente, diversa y participativa, en todos los ámbitos de la interacción social […]en su propia lengua y con sus propios símbolos” (Constitución de La República Del Ecuador 2008, p. 30). Datos cualitativos del trabajo de campo en comunidades amazónicas revelan que estos marcos legales contrastan con la realidad lingüística-cultural de los/as indígenas amazónicos waorani. Cuando dimanan de órganos estatales, la traducción e interpretación entre el español y su lengua waoterero tienen un carácter meramente decorativo. Por ende, hablar español y auto-organizar la traducción e interpretación es clave para los/as waorani para influir en las decisiones de la sociedad mayoritaria sobre su territorio. Sin embargo, esto crea complejas tensiones en cuanto a sus derechos lingüísticos y culturales, ya que interpretan entre las cosmovisiones contrapuestas del estado ecuatoriano, las empresas petroleras, las instituciones religiosas, las ONG y sus comunidades. Además, suelen ser aquellos/as waorani con un elevado estatus cultural y buenos vínculos políticos los/as que sirven de intérpretes (véase también Korak, 2015). De esta forma, traducir e interpretar conlleva múltiples juegos de poder y da lugar a jerarquías internas en las comunidades. Este escenario se agrava aún más cuando se transmiten mensajes de los/as tagaeri-taromenane, familias waorani en aislamiento que resisten al contacto. Con el ejemplo etnográfico de la interpretación de una visión chamánica, ilustraré cómo se interpretan las amenazas a la supervivencia de los/as tagaeri-taromenane a través de la figura cultural del jaguar. Además de la importancia de aplicar políticas de traducción realistas que prevean el derecho a la traducción e interpretación, planteo la intrigante cuestión de si debería existir también el derecho a no ser traducidos/as.

Referencias
​Constitución de la República del Ecuador, (2008). Offical Registry N° 449. 20 October, 2008. https://www.asambleanacional.gob.ec/sites/default/files/documents/old/constitucion_de_bolsillo.pdf


Korak, C. (2015). Indigenous Multilingualism and Translation: The Creation of Intra- and Intersocial Hierarchies in the Communities of the Waorani People of Ecuador. Tusaaji: A Translation Review, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.25071/1925-5624.40317

Palabras clave: cosmovisión, un_translated, pueblos indígenas de la Amazonía, derechos culturales y lingüísticos, Waorani.

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Multilingualism and the role of translation and interpreting in Kosovo (1999-2021)

Arben Shala

Translation has been widely used as an intermedium to implement and promote linguistic policies in Kosovo throughout the period of international administration and the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in Kosovo (PISG) (1999–2008), as well as in the years after Kosovo’s declaration of independence (2008). The presentation discusses translation and interpreting activity in Kosovo in terms of the legal framework governing multilingualism in administration and legal proceedings, the difficulties and challenges inherent in implementing linguistic rights, and the impact of multilingualism on fostering trust in administration, particularly in the security sector.
Kosovo’s population, which was largely bilingual or even trilingual in the 1970s (Vickers, 1998, p. 171), is now almost monolingual; as a result, the language gap between Albanians, the Serbian minority, and other ethnic groups has continuously increased, while English has become the dominant ethnically neutral medium of communication. Thus, translation and interpreting contribute to the alleviation of ethnic tensions and the development of trust in local institutions. The latter encountered quality challenges, partly as a result of international organisations absorbing all skilled interpreters and translators, and partly due to a lack of translators and interpreters with experience in legal texts and terminology. Following the reduction in size and revision of the mandates of the missions (UNMIK and EULEX), the local government and judiciary institutions have steadily increased their language staffing.
The analysis of documents revealed that despite repeated funding and staffing constraints, recommendations made by experts from international and independent organisations and institutions (OSCE, IOM, OIK, etc.) have been appropriately addressed or have been or are currently being implemented at the local and central levels. Substantial efforts, however, are required to implement multilingualism, particularly in monoethnic municipalities (with either an Albanian or Serbian majority), to improve the quality of translations and to increase the number of translators and interpreters.

Keywords: multilingualism, linguistic rights, translation quality, trust, neutral language.

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Linguistic injustice despite language rights. Raising awareness on language barriers for vulnerable groups in legal settings in Belgium: minors as a case

Katalin Balogh and Heidi Salaets

The right to an interpreter is part and parcel of the roadmap for strengthening procedural rights of suspected or accused persons in criminal proceedings. Directive 2010/64/EU on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings has sought to lay down common minimal rules on this fair trial right. Arguably, the directive could be seen as a push towards the institutionalisation of interpreting and the professionalisation of interpreters in criminal proceedings.

Assuming that vulnerability means a suspect’s or accused’s difficulty in understanding or following the content or the meaning of the proceedings, the interpreter could be seen as the gateway to facilitate such understanding.

Moreover, the 2012/29/EU establishes minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, even more so if the victim is a child.

In our presentation, we wish to outline our research on foreign language  (FL) speaking minors. Next to FL-speaking minors involved in criminal proceedings (as victims or suspects), the cases presented will also consider FL-speaking (non-accompanied) minors involved in asylum procedures in Belgium.

We will critically reflect on the (lack of) underlying assumptions and definitions as to what that role of the interpreter is, in particular in light of the vulnerability of FL-speaking minors. We will elucidate and build our reflections on the basis of empirical research that sought to clarify the perspectives of the different actors involved in interpreter-mediated interaction in the legal sphere. What is new is that we will specifically consider the minors’ viewpoints: through interviews with vulnerable minors, we will illustrate their view on the interpreter’s role and competences. By listening to the minors’ voices, we definitely respond to their need to the right to participation, as described in article 12 of the CRC (Child Rights Convention) of the UN.

Keywords: criminal proceedings, legal interpreting, minors, vulnerability, code of ethics, role and competences, fair trial.

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Action research into developing language solutions to improve multilingual communication during the registration of persons seeking international protection in Belgium

Kerremans, Koen; Cox, Antoon; De Wilde, July; El Hahaoui, Karima; Guaus, Aline; Maryns, Katrijn

When persons seeking international protection arrive in Belgium, they need to register their application at the Arrival Centre of  Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers in Brussels. The registration process involves, amongst others, a medical screening and social intake. This registration is a challenge in a context where multilingualism, intercultural diversity, and time pressure are the rule rather than the exception. For instance, applicants sometimes receive a vaccine without being properly informed and have to undress (for the chest scan) without knowing what is going to happen. This is a violation of the Belgian patient rights.

This paper discusses the results and experiences of the AMICA project on multilingual needs and practices in the context of the Belgian reception of applicants. Particular attention is paid to the linguistic and communicative needs of people with vulnerable linguistic profiles (i.e. low literate people as well as people only speaking languages for which it is difficult to find language support in the Belgian context, such as Somali or Pashto).

In the scope of this paper, our focus will be on the setting of the Arrival Centre. We present a research-action framework aimed at developing language solutions to better inform applicants during the intake flow. These solutions involve a series of multilingual information videos pertaining to different steps in the intake flow as well as a web application, featuring audio-recorded questions and answers in several languages, to assist service providers during social intakes. Both types of language solutions (available in more than 10 languages) have been developed based on ethnographic observations and interviews with stakeholders.

The project allows us to study how applicants and service providers experience the intake flow. It also allows us to involve the (busy) staff of the centre, who saw the language solutions as relevant to their work.

Keywords: language solutions, linguistic rights, language app, multilingual information videos, Belgian asylum reception.

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Iniciatives davant un problema estructural en l’administració de justícia de les Illes Balears

Maria Ballester Cardell

En el 5è informe del comitè d’experts sobre els compromisos adquirits per l’Estat espanyol en relació a la Carta Europea per a les Llengües Regionals o Minoritàries, i en relació a les Illes Balears, es proposa la modificació de la Llei Orgànica del Poder Judicial per a garantir l’ús del català en els processos judicials quan ho sol·liciti una de les parts, així com utilitzar el català en relació a l’Administració General de l’Estat.

Encara ara l’àmbit judicial es manté com un entorn dissuasiu per a l’ús de la llengua catalana, que es troba en una situació especialment precària. Hi ha una enorme distància entre l’ús social del català i l’ús de la llengua pròpia en l’administració de justícia. Si en l’àmbit judicial l’administració no s’adreça als ciutadans en la llengua pròpia del territori no és realista pensar en l’avanç de l’ús del català en aquest entorn, en el qual, a més, el ciutadà es pot sentir més desprotegit i vulnerable. Tot i que la llei obliga que l’administració s’adapti per salvaguardar els drets d’opció lingüística dels ciutadans, finalment és la societat la que s’ha d’adequar a l’administració de justícia. La qual cosa fa perdurar una situació precària i un xoc entre els drets dels ciutadans (formalment reconeguts) i la realitat pràctica, en què l’ús del català en l’esfera judicial és pràcticament testimonial.

En la presentació de Memòria anual de 2020 del Tribunal Superior de Justícia de les Illes Balears, el President del Tribunal Superior de Justícia anuncia una línia d’actuació d’impuls del català amb l’objectiu de superar l’endarreriment de la implantació de llengua catalana en l’administració de justícia. Es tracta d’un pla que es pretén amplificar la informació sobre els drets lingüístics en l’àmbit de l’administració de justícia, com ara emprar cartells informatius en els edificis judicials, mitjançant els quals es recordi als ciutadans que es poden dirigir als jutges o magistrats en llengua catalana; posar a disposició dels membres de la carrera judicial diccionaris lèxics de traducció de la terminologia jurídica; i disposar en la Gerència Territorial del Ministeri de Justícia d’uns programes de traducció automatitzada perquè es puguin fer les traduccions que s’hagin de menester. El president del Tribunal Superior de Justícia expressa la seva voluntat d’implicar també a altres entitats o institucions, com Direcció General de Política Lingüística, la Universitat de les Illes Balears i els Col·legis d’Advocats i de Procuradors de les Illes Balears.

Paraules clau: administració de Justícia, drets lingüístics.

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Language as a means of inclusion in educational and institutional settings

Panel Chair: Maria Margherita Mattioda

In today’s globalised and interconnected world, managing linguistic and cultural diversity becomes increasingly complex and raises new questions and challenges at the political, economic, and sociocultural levels. Reflection on the so-called linguaspheres (Grin 2018), i.e., constellations of countries or populations sharing the same language, highlights the need for international cooperation at the above-mentioned levels to preserve sociolinguistic diversity. Such cooperation efforts have led, and continue to lead, to the development of transformative paradigms focused on social cohesion and the recognition of fundamental linguistic rights (Archibald 2009).

Language is one of the means through which inclusive policies are articulated (Gazzola 2016). However, the role of language is often underestimated. While its importance is acknowledged when it comes to gender and racial discrimination, other less evident aspects also require attention. Awareness of all the factors potentially affecting diversity is integral to policy planning and the development of inclusive strategies.

Several questions arise in this context. Which language(s) is/are best suited to promote effective communication in specific settings? What are the relationships among languages in multilingual contexts? What are the effects of language choices on social relations? How does the choice of language at institutional level, whether deliberate or imposed, affect citizen engagement and active participation? What technical means can promote, maintain and sustain inclusion?

The panel will focus on how language policies can be designed based on inclusive strategies, among which is that of active citizenry. The promotion of inclusive policies is the goal of various current European projects, some of which described in the panel, aimed at developing tools for inclusion from both educational and institutional perspectives.

Although the principle of linguistic diversity is promoted by the European Union and many international organisations (e.g., UNESCO, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, OIF), its application is often problematic, due to the practical need of using only a few, widely shared languages for international communication, thus creating a paradox whereby inclusion is achieved through exclusive practices.

No easy solution exists. However, acknowledging the variety of contexts, situations, practices, communicative and educational needs is a first step to identifying possible tools and strategies to favour inclusive policies based on the value of multilingualism (Humbley J., Raus R., Silletti A., Zollo S. forthcoming; Gaboriaux C., Raus R, Robert C., Vicari S. forthcoming)

In this regard, the panel will include four presentations on existing projects, three of which funded by the European Union, aiming at promoting inclusive language policies and related best practices. Following are some of the issues that will be discussed.

  1. How can citizen engagement and inclusiveness be promoted through integrative language planning? (James Archibald – University of Turin)
  2. How can inclusive, multilingual language education be integrated in university programmes and syllabi? (Elisa Corino, Sandra Garbarino – UNITA)
  3. How can artificial intelligence education contribute to the development of metalinguistic awareness of inclusive language use in educational contexts? (Alessandra Molino, Ilaria Cennamo, Lucia Cinato, Marita Mattioda – University of Turin)
  4. How can the widespread use of artificial intelligence tools affect multilingual communication choices in institutional settings? (Rachele Raus, University of Bologna; Tania Cerquitelli, Politecnico of Turin)
References

Archibald, J. & Chiss, J.L. (2007). La langue et l’intégration des immigrants. Sociolinguistique, politiques linguistiques, didactique. Paris: L’Harmattan.

Archibald, J. & Galligani, S. (2009). La langue, l’immigration et la cohésion sociale. In Archibald, J. & Galligani, S. dirs. (2009). Langue(s) et immigration(s) : société, école, travail, 9-15. Paris : L’Harmattan.

Busekist, A. von. (2018). The ethics of language policies. New York : Routledge.
Freeman, R.E. (2010). Strategic management: a stakeholder approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gaboriaux, C., Raus, R., Robert, C., Vicari, S. (eds) (forthcoming). Le multilinguisme dans les organisations internationales. Mots. Les langages du politique, 128/2022.

Garnier, B., Blanchet, Ph. (2020), Diversité linguistique et formation citoyenne, ELA. Etudes de linguistique appliquée, 197, 2020/1.

Gazzola, M., Wickstrom, B. (2016). The economics of Language Policy. Cambridge : MIT Press.
Grin, F. dir. (2019). Les « linguasphères » dans la gouvernance mondiale de la diversité. Neuchâtel : Délégation suisseà la langue française.

Humbley, J., Raus, R., Silletti, A., Zollo, D. (eds) (forthcoming), Multilinguisme et variétés linguistiques en Europe àl’aune de l’intelligence artificielle. De Europa, Special Issue 2022. http://www.deeuropa.unito.it.

Keywords: language, inclusion, multilingualism, education.

Fostering citizen engagement through integrative language planning

The UNITA project on Intercomprehension: inclusive multilingualism in educational settings

Promoting multilingualism and inclusiveness in educational settings in the age of AI

Artificial Intelligence at the service of inclusive language policies: the case of the E- MIMIC Project

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The contribution of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages to the construction of language public policies

Victor Guset

Associate Professor of Public Law at the University of Rouen

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is an international treaty whose exclusive purpose is the protection and promotion of the linguistic diversity present on the European continent. The need to promote linguistic diversity is explained by the vulnerable situation of regional or minority languages. Several factors explain this vulnerability. On the one hand, some States, such as France, had adopted a policy aimed at the eradication of minority languages on their territories. On the other hand, even in the absence of such a ‘repressive’ policy (Moutouh, 1999: 223), social and economic factors may well have rendered these languages vulnerable (Kymlicka & Patten, 2007: 38).

These different factors are taken into account by the Charter. In order to protect and promote regional or minority languages, the Charter requires the State to establish a language public policy in their favour. The Charter is therefore the framework of national language policies. This influence of the Charter has two consequences. Firstly, through this policy, a State party to the Treaty must direct the linguistic behaviour of individuals in favour of the practice of regional languages. In doing so, it takes the form of a “Propulsive State” (Morand, 1999) that not only legally authorises the use of these languages but also “propels” their use. If the Charter requires such a propulsive State intervention, this intervention is necessarily flexible. It adapts to the characteristics of these languages as well as to the States’ specificities (Guset, 2017).

Secondly, the deployment and success of these public policies required by the Charter presuppose that States recognise the linguistic diversity present on their territories. The identification of languages benefiting from language public policies amounts to an indirect recognition of culturally ‘situated’ (May, 2016: 30) individuals, which is a feature of the ‘multiculturalist’ thought movement (Taylor, 2019).

Guset V. (2017), L’interprétation de la Charte européenne des langues régionales ou minoritaires, Thèse dactylographiée, Université de Bordeaux.

Kymlicka W., Patten A. (2007), « Introduction. Language Rights and Political Theory : Context, Issues and Approaches », in Kymlicka W., Patten A. (dir.) (2007), Language Rights and Political Theory, Oxford, OUP, 2007, 1-51.

May P. (2016), Philosophies du multiculturalisme, Paris, Presses de Sciences Po.

Moutouh H. (1999), « Vers un statut des langues régionales en droit français ? », in Guillorel H., Koubi G. (dir.) (1999), Langues et droit – Langues du droit, droit des langues, Bruxelles, Bruylant, 221-249.

Morand C-A. (1999), Le droit néo-moderne des politiques publiques, Paris, L.G.D.J.Taylor C. (2019), Multiculturalisme. Différence et démocratie, Paris, Flammarion.

Keywords: European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, language public policies, regional or minority languages, language rights