Mother Tongue Matters: Minority Language Rights and Their Implementation in the Republic of Serbia.

摘要

Minority languages are an important element of the European identity and an essential part of the European Union's commitment to preserving linguistic diversity and promoting multilingualism. As such, they are presented with additional rights and protections by the governments of European states and by the European Union. Mirroring the European laws, national minorities in the Republic of Serbia have been awarded a wide-ranging language rights. The protection of minorities' mother tongues, their official use, and the use in education and media, as well as public opinion on their implementation are examined through two case studies of national minorities in the Republic of Serbia: The Slovak and the Vlach national minorities. Through the analysis of these two case studies it is shown that the EU's focus on linguistic diversity, fervent promotion of multilingualism, and more and more inclusive policies are encouraging the development and use of minority languages, but only of those that are standardized. Minorities whose languages are not standardized are in a far worse position than minority populations who already possess a standard language, thus forcing them to standardize their languages in order to benefit from the promised legal protection.