MULTILUX

Multilingualism and the Voices of Young People in Luxembourg (MULTILUX)

Project Team: Dr Kristine Horner (PI) and Dr John Bellamy (CI)

Summary

This project aims to gauge young people’s viewpoints on the ways that different languages are used in Luxembourg, with a focus on the interface between language policies at the level of the state and everyday linguistic practices in Luxembourg. Of particular significance is the increasing use of English, as well as other languages, in relation to long-standing and institutionally anchored patterns of Luxembourgish-German-French trilingualism. This project is informed by research on the sociolinguistics of globalisation and it brings together two areas of linguistics that do not have an extensive tradition of being merged: interactional sociolinguistics and language policy. Ethnographic fieldwork entails focus group discussions with 18-30 year old participants, with a particular emphasis on the roles of different languages used in education as well as social and professional life. As a highly multilingual country, Luxembourg constitutes an optimal site to examine linguistic practices and policies, as well as the valorisation and stigmatisation of multilingual repertoires at a time of major change in Europe.

Publications

Horner, K. and J. Bellamy. Forthcoming, 2016. 'Beyond the micro-macro interface in language and identity research.' In: Preece, S. (ed.). The Routledge Handbook of Language and Identity (Routledge Handbooks in Applied Linguistics). Abingdon: Routledge.

Presentations

Horner, K. and J. Bellamy. January 2016. ‘Voices “from below” on trilingual policies and multilingual practices in contemporary Luxembourg.’ Forum for Germanic Language Studies (FGLS12). Aston University, England.

Horner, K. and J. Bellamy. October 2015. ‘Discourses on multilingualism, migration and endangerment: Luxembourgish in globalizing context.’ Two WUN Projects – One Workshop: Multilingualism & Mobility and Understanding Globalisation. University of Cape Town, South Africa.