FW: From the Center for Multiple Languages and Literacies

[Harold F. Schiffman]

From: Baldwin, William J.
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 7:14 PM
To: TC Community
Subject: From the Center for Multiple Languages and Literacies



From: Kleifgen, JoAnne
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 6:03 PM
To: Baldwin, William J.
Subject: From the Center for Multiple Languages and Literacies



All are cordially invited to the first in our Saturday Series for the
fall semester. The theme this fall is "Linguistic Human Rights."

Our speaker is Professor Robert Phillipson of the Copenhagen Business
School, Denmark. He will speak this Saturday, October 1 at 11:00 am on
"Language Rights in a Neo-imperial World: English for Uniting or
Dividing?"

Sincerely,
Jo Anne Kleifgen and Ofelia Garcia
Center for Multiple Languages and Literacies
http://www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/cmll/cmll_files/welcome.htm





Center for MULTIPLE LANGUAGES and LITERACIES

Co-Sponsored by the International Linguistic Association

The Saturday Lecture Series on

Linguistic Human Rights

Professor

Robert Phillipson

Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

Language rights in a

neo-imperial world:

English for uniting or dividing?



Language policy is acquiring increasing importance in an age of

intensive political and cultural change due to globalisation and

European integration. The human rights system that has evolved

since 1945 is essentially concerned with speakers of oppressed

languages. But are the languages of continental Europe now

threatened by the advance of English in a range of key domains,

commerce, finance, research and higher education, the media,

and popular culture? Is there a human rights issue? The

requirement of competence in English for higher education and

for employment is leading some countries to aim at 'parallel

competence' in Danish/Swedish/... and English, which is seen as

preferable to diglossia. English is being marketed as a lingua

franca, in Europe and worldwide, but is it rather a corporatedriven

Frankenstein even threatening well-established

languages? The challenge for language policies is to promote

multilingual competencies with additive English and critically

aware citizens. How can language rights in the neo-imperial

world order address such issues?



Saturday, October 1, 2005, 11 am

Teachers College,

Columbia University

281 Grace Dodge Hall

http://www.tc.edu/centers/cmll




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