Carmen Valero-Garcés
Universidad de Alcalá, FITISPos UAH
Multilingualism is a foundational part of the EU. Nevertheless, it is a ‘mutilated’ multilingualism as it is restricted by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (1998), which explicitly states that «regional or minority languages» refer to languages that are traditionally used in each territory of a State by the nationals of that State, and «[…] does not include […] the languages of migrants». And yet, it is currently impossible to speak of multilingualism in the EU without considering the lesser-used languages (also called ‘minority languages,’ ‘languages of migration,’ or ‘languages of lesser diffusion’ (LLD, from here onwards). 23 million people (5.1 %) of the 447.3 million people living in the EU on 1 January 2020 were non-EU citizens (Eurostat Statistics Explained 2021). Addressing the great variety of languages and cultures that are used in our cities requires rethinking current language policies and placing more emphasis on social justice and human rights (Monzó-Nebot & Wallace 2020). Incorporating translation and interpreting in LLD as an element of debate at the intersection between inclusion policies and language policies is a step forward. The EU DGT EMT network could be a starting point. The aim of my proposal is to present the results of research carried out by the PSIT Working Group of the EMT network (PSIT WG). The project’s main aim was, first, to ascertain which LLD the EMT MA students know, then, to analyse their language skills and how and where students use the LLD they knew to train them as future liaisons in LLD between institutions and users, instead of resorting to family or friends without training or quality guarantees (Foulquié-Rubio et al 2018, López 2021, Valero-Garcés 2021). The project was based on a mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology. Data were obtained through surveys and open-ended questions. Preliminary results indicate a considerable percentage of students with non-EU family backgrounds who know LLD, who could be trained in these languages as bridges of communication, thus guaranteeing the linguistic rights of those newly arrived who do not know the language of communication.
Bibliographic references
Eurostat Statistics Explained 2021 In: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Migration_and_migrant_population_statistics #Eurostat #StatisticsExplained
Foulquié-Rubio, Anna et al. (eds.) (2018). Panorama de la traducción y la interpretación en los servicios públicos españoles: una década de cambios, retos y oportunidades. Granada: Comares.
López, David (2021). Inmigración. Cuestión de justicia social. Una triste realidad. The Economy Journal, October, 25, 2021. <https://www.theeconomyjournal.com/texto-diario/mostrar/591609/inmigracion-cuestion-justicia-social-triste-realidad>.
Monzó-Nebot, Esther & Wallace, Melisa. (2020). New societies, new values, new demands. Mapping non-professional interpreting and translation, remapping translation and interpreting ethics. Translation and Interpreting Studies 15:1, 2020, pp. 1–14 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.00046.int.
Valero-Garcés, Carmen. (2021). A place for the human factor in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a way of introduction. FITISPos IJ, Vol8, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37536/FITISPos-IJ.2021.8.1.289
Keywords: language policies, inclusion policies, EMT network, translation and interpreting.