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.
- How can citizen engagement and inclusiveness be promoted through integrative language planning? (James Archibald – University of Turin)
- How can inclusive, multilingual language education be integrated in university programmes and syllabi? (Elisa Corino, Sandra Garbarino – UNITA)
- 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)
- 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