569
Migration and Linguistic Diversity
Language: English and French
Human societies have always been linguistically diverse despite the multiplicity of linguistic policies that have been developed towards linguistic homogeneization. Current globalizing processes and exchanges have contributed to such linguistic diversity in, at least, two ways. One contribution refers to the presence of foreign languages in the everyday contexts of Western societies; the second and most important contribution refers to how linguistic diversity has re-opened a debate on issues of cultural and linguistic identity.
In this Joint Session we are interested in papers that address the role of both the mother language of migrants and the vehicular language of the migratory context in different social fields: linguistic policies, everyday life, and cultural practices. We strongly encourage papers that tackle on questions such as: what is the place of the immigrants’ mother languages in the education system?; how does it contribute to school success and to lessen the stigma towards immigrants’ languages? And conversely, how and to what extent the learning of the vehicular language contributes to educational success and social integration? We also welcome papers that, similarly, address the benefits and constraints of using one’s mother tongue vs. the vehicular language as regards to the construction of social networks and the reconversion of social capital in other forms of capital. Finally, we are also interested in papers that address the relevance of one’s (and one’s parents) mother language in the construction of one’s identity and investigate the different scenarios in which linguistic identity is performed and played out.