TOOLKIT MEETS MERCATOR:

A EUROPEAN RESEARCH AGENDA

László Marácz

University of Amsterdam

l.k.maracz@uva.nl

TOOLKIT EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM

• A Toolkit for Transnational Communication

• Website: www.toolkit-online.eu

EUROPEAN MULTILINGUALISM

• A Toolkit for Transnational Communication in Europe:

• Dealing with Linguistic Diversity

• European Multilingualism

• Globalisation, Europeanization, Transnational Phenomena

• Superdiversity

LANGUAGE CHOICE

• Language Choice

• Which Language to Choose is not Always Easy

• Inequality and Limited Access

• Toolkit: Help in Managing Linguistic Diversity

• Communicative Repertoire: Modes, Languages and Settings

COMMUNICATIVE RESOURCES

• Communicative Resources in Times of Globalization: Fragmentation, Hybridity, Fluidity

• Languaging, Languages• Immigrant Languages, Turkish, Iranian

Germanic (German, Danish, Dutch, English),, Russian, , Romance Languages (Spanish, Sardinian, Occitan, French), Basque, Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, Russian

• Social Media, Database of Communication Patterns and Associated Languages Choices

MANAGING LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY

• Linguistic Diversity is Reality• European Language Policy versus

National Language Policy• Laissez-faire versus Norms• Communicative Efficiency• Economy Principle• Democracy Principle • Successful Communication

CONFLICTING NORMS AND COMMON GROUND

• Contesting Norms• Conflict between Groups• Language as a Symbol of Conflict• Hybridity as a Resolution of Conflict • Common Ground• All Communication is Intercultural

Communication• Norms of Language Choice in Particular

Situation Types

MODES

• Four Communicative Strategies

• English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)

• Regional Languages of Communication

• Receptive Multilingualism

• Codeswitching

English as a Lingua Franca

• Most Widely Used Strategy

• Problem 1: Access

• Problem 2: Lack of Neutrality

• Solution: Minimize Normativity (Do Not Require Native-Like Competence).

Regional Languages

• Various European Regions have Local Languages for Communication

• Often Historical Dimension

• Often Traditional Ways of Regional Communication

• Typology

Receptive Multilingualism

• Each Speaks his Own Language; the Other Understands

• Common Across Borders

• Development of Metalinguistic Competence

• Looking for Signs of Misunderstanding

• Training to Use Strategies that Ease Communication

CODESWITCHING

• Use of Both Languages at the Same Time, in the Same Conversation, Sometimes in the Same Sentence

• Typical of Informal Domains• Follows Natural Path of Communication in

Bilingual Settings• Could well be used in More Formal Domains• Development of Metalinguistic Competence

and Communicative Strategies

ELF RELF LaRa CS

1. SLN low high high low

2. SHE Low high high low

3. NfI RSI RSI LEI NSI

4. USS F and I MF MI I

5. TS Global Regional

Local Local

6. L:EL Fast Slow Medium Fast

7. CP NOT I High High Rest

SETTINGS• Empirical Work Needs to be Done

• To Check the Four Modes in Different Language and Communicative Settings

• Institutions (Administrative, Supranational, etc.), Multilingual Cities, Virtual Spaces, Borderlands, Companies, Media

• School Setting, Classroom Interaction, Schoolyard, Youth Language (Mercator)