Sprachenpolitik Und Sprachkultur

摘要

Contributions to this volume are based on presentations given at a German symposium in 2005. The main topics addressed here are language policy in the EU, and the role of languages of international communication (e.g. Esperanto and English). There is an introduction, seven essays on specific topics, and supplementary material. In his introductory essay, Jurgen Scharnhorst discusses the main categories into which the volume's topics fall: linguistic situation, language culture and language policy. With regard to the last, the author affirms the importance of differentiating between two meanings of the term language policy, which can be rendered in German as both Sprachenpolitik and Sprachpulilik. The former denotes the relation between different (state) languages, while the latter relates to the politics of language planning within a particular language. Next, Gerhard Stickel provides an informative overview of EU languages, including data on the number of speakers of each. He then concentrates on the European Federation of National Institutions for Language (EFNIL), which, while not opposing the international role of English, was established to preserve and develop European language diversity. It recommends that Europeans receive an intensive education in their own standard variety while also acquiring oral and written skills in two other European languages. The article poses the challenging question of how one's own language and cultural identity - and loyalty to both -can be reconciled with internationalised communication. One chapter topic that deserves more attention is the reflection of European language diversity in the practical work of EU institutions. Stickel also summarises the results of empirical investigations of views (in both old and new EU countries) of the foreign languages considered the most useful.