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The World Language Centre Project
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages
Overview
1. On the importance of languages as the foundation of cultural heritage and communication
2. The Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages – its current operation
3. The World Language Centre – its future vision and its aims
4. Why the World Language Centre should be in Iceland
5. Functions within the World Language Centre
1. On the importance of languages as the foundation of cultural heritage and communication
Languages play a central role as the immaterial cultural heritage of mankind. The use of language is the central driving force behind the development of cultural communities and identities. Knowledge of different languages and cultures is the most important tool there is in order to establish contacts and communication across the world.
Many of the world’s languages have been lost, however, and many more are endangered, a fact which has been emphasized by respected researchers and other leading authorities on the international scene. There are numerous reasons for this state of affairs: the gobal economic and political development, demographic changes, and the fact that a few of the world’s languages have assumed a more prominent status than others.
Such a development constitutes a serious threat to the linguistic diversity in the world.
It is the vision of the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages to establish a
World Language Centre in order to raise awareness of this development and to fight against it. Moreover, the Institute seeks to contribute to an increased general knowledge of the significance of languages as an invaluable cultural heritage.
It should be emphasized that the World Language Centre has received the institutional and moral endorsement of Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO.
2. The Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages – its current operation
The Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages is a research institute within the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Iceland as a part of the Centre for Research in the Humanities. Since October 1, 2001, the Institute bears the name of Vigdís
Finnbogadóttir, former President of Iceland and the first and, thus far, only Goodwill

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Ambassador for languages at UNESCO. The principal motivation behind the naming of the Institute was to honour Vigdís Finnbogadóttir for her important contribution to languages – both her native Icelandic and other languages – throughout her carrier, as reflected in her choice of education, and her work in education, tourism, and as the
President of Iceland, to which office she was elected as the first female ever. The Institute was given its new name on the occasion of the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the University of Iceland, in 2001, coinciding with the European Year of
Languages.
All faculty members in foreign languages taught at the University of Iceland, including the classical languages, are members of the Institute. The Institute employs graduate students, post-doctoral researchers and other qualified researchers for specific tasks and initiates and sponsors research projects in relevant areas in accordance with its mission.
The Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute aims to promote research on cultural and linguistic knowledge and diversity in relation to foreign languages.
The Institute places great emphasis on an interdisciplinary and constrastive/comparative approach to the study of culture and language and its interrelations via communication.
The Institute pursues this aim with a sense of the important role that language plays in all areas of human life and of the contribution that a knowledge of more than one language can make to individuals and societies.
In a world of ever greater interaction – social, cultural, political and economic – the importance of multilingualism has never been clearer, whether for the individual seeking a job or a company breaking into new markets or a government pursuing its interests in the international community. But a language is more than just a means of communication; it is a gateway to another culture’s experience of the world. In learning a second or foreign language we gain an intimate knowledge of how other people view the world and in doing so we not only gain access to a new world of ideas but also a real perspective on our own cultural view of the world.
Just as the world’s many languages express the diversity of human experience and insight, so the mastery of these languages provides a means of drawing people of different backgrounds and perspectives together. The Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign
Languages celebrates the diversity that human languages represent and the means that they provide for cross-cultural understanding.
The work of the Institute falls into a number of interrelated areas. Among them are the following:
 Research on foreign languages, including acquisition studies, semiotics, translation, grammar and literature
 The development of second-language teaching materials which reflect the latest
 advances in teaching methodology
The enhancement of professional language skills, in particular translation

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 With respect to pedagogy, the Institute seeks to act as a source of information on the latest developments in second language teaching methodology for all levels of the education system. The Institute supports courses, seminars, lectures and conferences in this field, and seeks to establish relations with equivalent institutes abroad. This work is meant to enhance and support the University’s academic programmes in language pedagogy
3. The World Language Centre – its future vision and its aims
With the full support of the University of Iceland, the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute aims to expand its current status to participate even more actively than it does today in high-level research activity with international scholars and research institutions.
We have the vision to build upon the dedicated work of former president Vigdís
Finnbogadóttir as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for languages by working actively towards establishing a World Language Centre. The aim of this enterprise is to further the knowledge and understanding of the intrinsic value of languages for the immaterial cultural heritage of mankind.
The main goal of the World Language Centre will be to further linguistic and cultural diversity.
We are planning on establishing a research centre on languages and cultures with all the necessary facilities for research, communication and language teaching. Through this research centre the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute will contribute to the preservation and celebration of linguistic diversity, in cooperation with other institutions and researchers in an international setting, and in fact with all those who have an interest in languages. In the pursuit of this goal, the Institute seeks to advance further the pioneering work which former President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir has led as the first and only UNESCO Goodwill
Ambassador for Languages.
The principal aim of the World Language Centre is
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To raise awareness of the significance of language as a vital part of the immaterial cultural heritage of mankind, by contributing to the preservation of the linguistic and cultural diversity of the world

To create a venue for research on an international level in areas relating to linguistic and cultural diversity by establishing a comprehensive database on languages and cultures. This work will be materialized by the collection of new data and by making already existing databases available (distributive databases).
The first step will be to gather corpora that are relevant for research on the languages already taught at the University of Iceland

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To create a venue for reseach in sociolinguistics and the systematic collection of knowledge about the condition of the world’s languages
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To create a venue for communication on, and experience of, languages and linguistic matters by establishing an international research centre where various sources on languages and linguistic matters will be concentrated, such as corpora and other electronic data, academic books, journals, language-related computer programmes and film material
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To enable the general public to experience and learn about the languages and cultures of the world in a technologically sophisticated experience centre. With the aid of information and language technology, visitors to the centre will engage in a life experience of languages in their social and cultural context
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To establish an international forum for research and the dissemination of research in order to maintain a dialogue on linguistic and cultural matters
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To create optimal facilities for research and teaching in foreign languages, including contrastive cultural studies, linguistics, literary theory and translation studies
 To continue the pioneering work by former President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir as the first and only UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador of Languages
4. Why the World Language Centre should be in Iceland
Iceland has a unique position in terms of its geographic location, its culture and history.
The special situation of Iceland already is a foundation of the present function of the
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute and will be fundamental for the function of the World
Language Centre.
Straddling the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland is geographically in a neutral location between two continents, Europe and North America. Culturally a Nordic country, Iceland was settled by Norse Vikings who mainly came from Western Norway, but also from other parts of Scandinavia, often via the British Isles.
Iceland has a central position in the North Atlantic area, both culturally and politically. It has ties to Western Scandinavia, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and the British Isles.
Moreover, there are longstanding connections with European countries beyond
Scandinavia and with North America.

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Thus, Iceland can be viewed as a hub in the North Atlantic rather than an isolated outpost. This is as true today as it was in earlier times. Icelandic culture developed in interaction with foreign culture and learning.
Icelanders have always had a need for knowledge of languages, for trade, studies abroad, and travel. In the modern world, in which so much depends on the interaction with other languages and cultures, the need for cultural and linguistic literacy has never been greater.
Throughout the centuries Icelanders have sought higher education abroad, mainly in
Copenhagen, but also in many other countries. Already in mediaeval times going abroad was a natural thing for Icelanders, in particular for the purpose of education on the
European continent, for example, France or Germany.
Icelanders have always been keen travellers. On their voyages the Vikings travelled from
Scandinavia to Russia in the east and Constantinople in the south, and further via the
British Isles to the North Atlantic islands to Iceland and Greenland, before they finally reached “Vínland the Good” in North America. Around the year 1000, a woman named
Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir, who was born in Iceland, became first a settler in Greenland and then accompanied her second husband on a journey to Vínland, where she bore him a son. Later she went on a pilgrimage to Rome, and upon returning to Iceland she became a hermit in the northern part of the country, where she died in old age.
Another example of a much-travelled Icelander is Jón Indíafari who sailed to India in the
17th century. He was an observant linguist and wrote a glossary of the Tamil language.
He is reported to have spoken English and Portuguese and to have had some acquaintance with German, Russian and Hottentot. In addition, he had connections with Basques in
Iceland and may be the author of one of three 17th-century Basque-Icelandic vocabularies that have been preserved.
Today Iceland is a modern, vibrant, and cosmopolitan society, engaged with international culture and, just as it has always been, open to influence from all around the world. A small country in terms of numbers, it has everything to offer that a modern society does so that it can be regarded as a kind of a microcosmos.
Icelanders learn Nordic languages in order to maintain the historical and cultural connection with the Nordic countries which have been preserved since the settlement of
Iceland. The Nordic language society is an examplary model of intercommunication between closely related languages. Mainland Scandinavians can use Norwegian, Swedish and Danish for communication. Icelandic and Faroese are also mutually intelligible.
The awareness of the Icelandic language vis-à-vis other languages is documented in some of the earliest Icelandic writings.
The so-called First Grammatical Treatise (12th century) is an outstanding work in terms of its scientific precision and methodological rigour.
The First Grammarian was well aware that the difference between Icelandic and
English was unlike the difference between, for instance, Icelandic and Latin:

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Nú eptir þeirra [enskra manna] dæmum, alls vér erum einnar tungu, þó at greinzt hafi mjök önnur tveggja eða nakkvat báðar...
‘Now following the examples [of Englishmen], since we are of one language, although one of them has changed, or rather both to some extent.’
The view expressed here is that Icelandic and English were once “the same” but have now changed and are more different than before
The following quote from
Konungs skuggsjá
, an educational text from around 1250, attests to knowledge of foreign languages:
Ef þú vilt fullkominn vera í fróðleik þá nem þú allar tungur en týn þó eigi að heldur
þinni tungu.
‘If you want to become perfectly learned, you should learn all languages but still you should not lose your own language’
Today language education plays an important role in Iceland.
In primary schools it is obligatory to study two foreign languages and in many schools pupils have the option of choosing a third one. In senior high school all students are obliged to study three foreign languages; moreover, students who choose to have a special emphasis on languages study four or five foreign languages. Thus, language education plays an important role in our education system. There has always been great emphasis on good relations with the other
Nordic countries and learning one of the Scandinavian languages promotes successful cooperation as it enables communication with the rest of the Nordic countries. English is the first foreign language Icelandic students learn, followed by Danish (or Norwegian or
Swedish), which is obligatory both in primary school and senior high school. At the
University of Iceland thirteen foreign languages are offered for a university degree. This includes all the Nordic languages, which is rare, even in universities of comparable size in Scandinavia. It is the firm goal of the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Insitute to add more languages to those already taught.
The Old Icelandic native literature, the famous Sagas and Eddas, are an important widely acclaimed part of world literature. But in fact there was an unbroken written tradition from the earliest times (12th century) to the present. Icelandic culture has never existed in isolation. At all times Icelandic literature has been a reflection of what was happening elsewhere.
In addition, translation has been an important part of Icelandic literature, from the earliest period onwards, attesting to international influence in interaction with the native tradition.
Already in Old Icelandic there are works from Latin and French. Many of these translations are of a very high literary quality, involving some of the most elegant prose in Old Icelandic. This translation activity attests to a profound knowledge of foreign languages and of highly sophisticated translation techniques, whereby the foreign texts were integrated into the native literature.

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The Bible was translated into Icelandic in the 1550s. This was one of the earliest translations of the Bible in Scandinavia and is of a high literary quality. Along with the earlier translation activity, the Bible translation demonstrates the profound knowledge that Icelanders in earlier times had of foreign cultures and traditions.
In later periods the world classics were translated into Icelandic, a famous example being
Milton’s
Paradise Lost and Pope’s Essay on Man
, translated by the clergyman Jón frá
Bægisá (1744-1819). Such works have had great influence in giving Icelandic the shape it has today as a flexible language in which every thought in the world can be expressed (to paraphrase the poet Einar Benediktsson).
Due to increasing relations with other countries in all spheres of society, translation from other languages to Icelandic and vice versa has increased immensely.
Communcation via foreign languages has always played a role in Iceland. It it interesting to note that the oldest vocabularies preserved in Iceland are the Baque-Icelandic vocabularies, mentioned earlier, which date from the 17th century. These vocabularies attest to intensive contact between Icelanders and Basque whalers and fishermen who frequented Icelandic waters. The reason for their existence may be that communication with Basques was more difficult than with other foreigners.
So Icelandic culture evolves to a very significant degree around language. There is much awareness in Iceland of the Icelandic language and history.
It is remarkable that Iceland was under foreign rule (first Norway, and then Denmark) for nearly seven centuries, and still the language was preserved. There are fewer than twenty buildings that are more than 200 years old but Iceland has 1000 years of literary tradition.
This tradition has never existed in isolation but in interaction with the outside world.
Of vital importance for the cultivation of Icelandic was the influence of the Dane Rasmus
Rask. During his stay in Iceland in the beginning of the 19th century, Rask engaged in his investigation of Icelandic which started modern comparative and historical linguistics, and was also instrumental for raising the awareness of language among the Icelanders themselves.
Despite active relations with other countries and foreign influence throughout the centuries, Icelanders have managed to preserve their native language. The reason behind this are first and foremost the national literary heritage as well as an established tradition of a developed language policy.
There is a long tradition of countermovement, dating back at least to the eighteenth century, against the infiltration of the language by foreign words and expressions, and language purism has been practiced as an active language policy since the mid-nineteenth century. According to this policy, neologisms are created for new concepts (e.g., sími
‘telephone’, tölva
‘computer’) rather than adopting words from other languages.

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The active conservative literary tradition is likely to have been an important factor in the relative stability of Icelandic. Icelandic has changed less than other Scandinavian and
Europen languages in the past 1000 years. Moreover, despite a certain amount of geographically distributed language variation, which mainly affects pronunciation, there appear never to have been well-defined local dialects in Iceland with numerous distinctive characteristics. Nor are there strong contrasts between a standard and substandard register, at least compared to many other countries.
The tradition of active language policy protecting and cultivating Icelandic vis-à-vis an active interest in other languages and cultures is a guiding light for the vision of Icelandic as a role model for other European minority languages. The Vigdís Finnbogadóttir
Institute places great emphasis on the value of a positive view towards languages and that applies to the mother tongue as well as foreign languages as they serve as the basis for preserving the vital heritage of cultural and linguistic diversity on a world wide basis. The
Institute is convinced that the attitude towards languages serves as a vital component of cultural heritage and national identity. The Institute wishes to contribute towards research in the field of the general attitude towards languages and cultures and how that interrelates with national identity. Such research could be of immense importance for nations whose languages are under threat.
5. Functions within the World Language Centre
The World Language Centre aims to established and maintain strong ties with the best research in Iceland and internationally. On the one hand, it will seek the collaboration with other universities in Iceland, both the University of Iceland itself and other universities. On the other hand, collaboration with universities abroad is greatly encouraged. This goal is in line with an already esablished policy which is shown by the fact that in the past years there has been a huge increase in international collaboration in scientific projects, including the humanities.
The goal of the World Language Centre is in accordance with the explicit goal of the
University of Iceland to become one of the best universities in the world. It is our firm belief that the World Language Centre will be instrumental in achieving this goal.
A central research theme would be the world’s languages and cultures in an interactive perspective with Icelandic, with a particular emphasis on Icelandic as a role model for other minority languages.
An example of a research topic along these lines would be “Ecology of language and culture – the situation in the life and death of languages and cultures.” This would involve the mapping of the ecological system of Icelandic and other “minor” languages spoken in Scandinavia (Norwegian, Swedish dialects, Faroese, Sámi,
Greenlandic/Eskimo…) in comparison with other (minority) languages in other parts of the world.

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We envisage the following principal functions within the World Language Centre:
Language and cultural experience
A knowledge and research centre for the world’s languages will be established where data on languages and the cultures associated with them will be accessible for academics as well as the general public. The aim is to provide education on languages and culture and enable people to enjoy a live experience of the world’s languages. Both written and spoken language would be used. There will be great emphasis on usage of language technology, computers and artistic representation of the material.
Linguistic information
In the centre there will be access to linguistic information on languages of the world and their status. As an example there will be information on the spread of languages, their status (e.g. state language or minority/majority language, if it’s in danger of extinction etc.), origin, if the written language consists of signs or letters, their relation to other languages, history, attitudes towards the language, main literary achievements written in the respective languages etc. Moreover, it would be possible to access information on research on respective languages. In relation to the knowledge centre there would be a specialised library with material (books, journals, and electronic data) on the world’s languages. The library could amongst other things possess material on native languages of the main groups of immigrants in Iceland, minority languages in Europe and on languages which are most related to Icelandic.
Nexus of databases
A language centre would be established where databases with data on the world’s languages would be accessible. Instead of systematically collecting all the languages, a distributed database would be accessible electronically. To begin with, databases on the thirteen languages taught at the University of Iceland would be accessible. The next step would be the minority languages in Europe and then gradually other languages throughout the world would be added. By making this data accessible in one place a venue would be created for research and academic dialogue on languages and culture.
Vigdísarstofa
In the language centre there would be a special room dedicated to the work of Vigdís
Finnbogadóttir. There would be an exhibition on the life and work of Vigdís, especially her contribution towards the languages. The exhibition would be open to the public.