SOCIOLINGUISTICS PERSPECTIVES ON THE
EUROPEAN MULTICULTURAL LANDSCAPE
Daphné L. Romy-Masliah, PhD
Ecole Jean-Piaget & Université de Sidi
Bel-Abbès
ORIGINS…
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POINT OF VIEW: MACRO AND VARIATIONAL
SOCIOLINGUISTICS
Macro:
Sociolinguistics merits out attention just insofar as it
signals an effort to change the practice of linguistics
and other disciplines, because their present practice
perpetuates a fragmented , incomplete understanding of
humanity. Sociolinguisics, so conceived, is an attempt to
rethink received categories and assumptions as to the
bases of linguistic work, and as to the place of language
in human life.” Hymes, D. (1974).
 Variational “(…)an approach to the study of language
that is called "sociolinguistics, " a scientific study based
on the recording and measurement of (…) that is
mapping changes in the English language through all
of North America, for both mainstream and minority
communities
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MULTIPLE LANDSCAPES
New debate
 Old concept
 Political implications
 Cultural debate
 Linguistic
representations
 Social landscapes
 Cosmopolitanism
 Multiculturalism
 Diversity
 Plurality
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LANDSCAPES: SOME LITERATURE
LINGUISTIC
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CULTURAL
Emerging field of study and a new
interest of applied linguists focusing
on the use of written texts such as
billboards, posters, street and traffic
signs, shop and product names,
advertisements, posters, electronic
flat-panel displays, etc.
Existing research on linguistic of
languages, contestation of space,
mapping diversity, linguistic models,
language awareness, language
ecology, economic analyses, language
policy and management, among
others.
‘linguistic pollution’. The absence or
the presence of certain languages,
and thus their speakers, can be
meaningful.
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http://www.aau.edu.et/ll4/
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Certain sites reflect specific techniques of land
use that guarantee and sustain biological
diversity. Others, associated in the minds of
the communities with powerful beliefs and
artistic and traditional customs, embody
an exceptional spiritual relationship of
people with nature.
To reveal and sustain the great diversity of
the interactions between humans and their
environment, to protect living traditional
cultures and preserve the traces of those
which have disappeared, these sites, called
cultural landscapes, have been inscribed on
the World Heritage List.
Cultural landscapes (…)testify to the creative
genius, social development and the
imaginative and spiritual vitality of humanity.
They are part of our collective identity.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/culturallandscape/
MULTICULTURALISM IN EUROPE: THE DIVERSITY
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THE ADVERSITY
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The notion of Nation-States
Economic dispair
The lack of education
The lack of memory
In France: « "Les ravages
du multicuturalisme",
"l'islamisation de l‘Europe"
et son renoncement à
"l'affirmation de ses racines
chrétiennes".
Shock in Norway following
the Utoeya killing by
Anders Breivik
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LE MASSACRE DES INNOCENTS …WORLDWIDE
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COSMOPOLITANISM
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THE NEW AND THE OLD….
rise of globalism for the social sciences.
 ‘normative’ or ‘philosophical’ cosmopolitanism
 growing interdependence and interconnection of
IALL 2010, Norco Presentation 9/7/12
, S.Africa
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social actors across national boundaries
 the rise of a global public arena resulting from the reactions to the unintended
side effects (risks) of modernization;
 Interdependence Day, L.A., 8-10 September 2012
ULRICH BECK
Beck, U. (2004). "Cosmopolitical Realism: On the Distinction between
Cosmopolitanism in Philosophy and the Social Sciences." Global Networks
4(2): 109-225
Beck, U. (2006.). Qu’est-ce que le cosmopolitisme ? Paris, Aubier.
IALL 2010, Bloemfontein, S.Africa
A cosmopolitan perspective allows us to go beyond International Relations
and to analyse a multitude of interconnections not only between states
but also between actors on other levels; third, a denationalized social
science can research into the global inequalities that are hidden by the
traditional focus on national inequality and its legitimation; finally,
everyday or banal cosmopolitanism on the level of cultural consumption
and media representation leads to a growing awareness of the relativity
of one's own social position and culture in the global arena.
WHAT WE SEE AND WHAT IT MEANS…
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WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE GOING TO HARVEST?
IALL 2010, Bloemfontein, S.Africa
THINK BEFORE TEARING DOWN THE ESSENCE OF
OUR CULTURAL IDENTITY
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WHERE IS THIS LEADING US TO?
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LANGSCAPES
is the “true” web of life:
 the interlinked diversity of nature
 and culture.
 We call it “biocultural diversity”
 —the multi-faceted expression
 of the beauty and potential of life
 Diversity in both nature and culture confers
vitality and resilience to this planet, our home,
for present and future generations.
 http://www.terralingua.org
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 This
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Allievi, S. ( 2003). Multiculturalism in Europe. Muslims in Europe Post 9/11:
Understanding and Responding to the Islamic World, St Antony's College, Oxford.
Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach.
Philadelphia,, University of Pennsylvania Press.
Labov (1997). Testimony on "Ebonics" given January 23rd before the Subcommittee on
Labor, Health and Human Services and Education of the Senate Appropriations
Committee. Washington, Senate.
Romaine, S. (1994). Language in Society: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford,
Oxford University Press.
Spolsky, B. (1999). Sociolinguistics. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Trudgill, P. (1974). Sociolinguistics: An introduction to Language and Society. London,
Penguin Books.
Wardhaugh, R. (1986). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford, Basil Blackwell.
Wiley, T. G. (1996). Language Planning and Policy. Sociolinguistics and Lnaguage
Teaching. S. L. McKay and N. H. Hornberger. New York, Cambridge University Press:
103-147.
Williams, G. (1992). Sociolinguistics: A Sociological Critique. London, , Routledge.
Wright, S. (1994). "The Contribution of Sociolinguistics." Current Issues in Language and
Society 1(1-6).
WEBSITES:
Cosmopolitanism.wordpress.com
http://europeanmulticulturallandscapes.blogspot.com/