International Research Group on Contested Languages

Description

The aim of the International Research Group on Contested Languages is to harness interdisciplinary expertise to research, advise on and explore the issues surrounding contested languages, particularly their maintenance, development and recognition.

Contested languages are languages which are sufficiently linguistically different from the main language of the country where they are spoken to be categorised as separate languages, but have not gained official language status, often being classified as “dialects” or “patois”. Most contested languages are also endangered languages, and as such they are listed in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Atlas of the World's Languages in danger, published in 2010.

Some contested languages count millions of speakers- yet these speakers do not have access to education, services or media in the language - this may be because of a variety of historical, political or economic reasons.

The Group's mission statement is:

• To identify research, practice, and scholarship on contested languages
• To network and foster collaborative ways of sharing insights and research on contested languages
• To create a web-presence for research on contested languages, thus aiding in networking with other researchers and in the development of grant applications
• To act as a resource for individual projects on contested languages (for example, a colleague working on international relations might need advice on European legislations on regional/minority language protection)
• To interact with policy-makers, industry and public services at European and international levels.
• To develop collaborative research projects and surveys
• To generate research students and income

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

Contact details

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University affiliation(s)

Bangor University
Bangor