Non-Standard and Minority Varieties as Community Languages in the UK: Towards a New Strategy for Language Maintenance

16–17 April 2019, University of Westminster

Community languages in diasporic settings reflect the diversity and, crucially, the power relations found in the countries of origin of their speakers. Standard and non-standard varieties and minority languages are originally transplanted by the first generation of migrants, they are later transmitted to subsequent generations and ultimately amalgamated with their speakers’ experiences of multilingualism. Linguistic diversity is thus placed in a new context where all languages (standard, non-standard, minority) lose symbolic capital and are jointly put under pressure from the majority language. In this new state of affairs, non-standard varieties and minority languages are further minoritised and disadvantaged, raising a range of social and linguistic issues (Parodi, 2008; Wiley, 2008; Çavuşoğlu, 2010; Creese & Blackledge, 2010; Leeman, 2012).

One context in which non-standard varieties and minority languages are often met with negative attitudes is in different types of community-based language initiatives such as complementary schools and heritage language classes. Community schools see it as their mission to instil into younger generations of community language speakers the dominant national and cultural identity of their (parents’) homelands (Çavuşoğlu, 2014; Lytra & Martin, 2010). This includes standard language ideologies, creating a conflict between the home and the school as the language used at home is devalued by the school and the language used at school is not felt to be part of the young speakers’ identities. Alarmingly, the conflict is not resolved by the adoption of the standard—as per the aim of community education—but by a break in intergenerational transmission, the abandonment of the community language by younger generations, and a preference for monolingualism in the majority language (Karatsareas, 2018).

Despite anecdotal evidence that there exist many similarities across different diasporic communities in terms of the relative positions of standard and non-standard varieties and/or home country majority and minority languages, to this date there has been no outlet for comparative examination of within-diaspora diversity and variation.

This symposium creates a forum of academic and non-academic experts and stakeholders who work with and speak different community languages in order to critically engage with the similarities and differences in the historical, social and linguistic contexts, the language ideologies, and the teaching, learning and inclusion practices of their respective communities. At the same time, participants will work towards formulating recommendations and concrete policy steps in order to

• better communicate the value of non-standard varieties and minority languages as community languages
• thoughtfully integrate them in the teaching and learning offered by community-based schools
• better include them in ongoing efforts centred on the pro- motion of multilingualism as a cognitive, social, educational and economic resource.

The ultimate goal will be to design a new strategy for the maintenance of the UK’s community languages.

The programme of the symposium is attached to this message.

The symposium is free to attend, but there is a limited number of places available. To book your free place, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/non-standard-and-minority-varieties-as-community-languages-in-the-uk-towards-a-new-strategy-for-tickets-57924957106

This symposium is organised by Petros Karatsareas (University of Westminster) and Birgül Yılmaz (University of Westminster). The symposium is supported by the flexible funding scheme of the Cross-Language Dynamics: Reshaping Community AHRC-Funded OWRI Programme. 

To download the programme click here.

Dr Petros Karatsareas,
Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics
Course Leader for MA English Language
Co-Director of Cyprus Centre @ Westminster
University of Westminster
School of Humanities
309 Regent Street
London W1B 2HW

http://westminster.academia.edu/PetrosKaratsareas  |  orcid.org/0000-0001-5339-4136  |  @pkaratsareas

Greek Cypriot London: Camden to Enfield on the 29 bus project with Athena Mandis

Being Human Festival website
BBC3 Free Thinking programme
Islington Gazette piece
CYBC (ΡΙΚ) coverage

New publications:
“The fragile future of the Cypriot Greek language in the UK”, British Academy Review
“Attitudes towards Cypriot Greek and Standard Modern Greek in London’s Greek Cypriot community”, International Journal of Bilingualism