Drawing on theory from critical language policy literature, this article explores the impact of discourses on in-migration on Welsh language policy. By focussing on discursive debates surrounding the subject of in-migration, the article analyses how a range of actors produce and reproduce discourses on in-migration in Wales and how these discursive struggles impact on policy. It argues that, while certain actors have been able to construct a powerful discourse on in-migration through language debates, others have failed to make their voices heard and their views on the subject have been silenced. This unequal access to the production of discourse is not incidental; it is indicative of wider power structures at play within bilingual or multilingual language communities. Therefore, while the study focusses on Wales, the article highlights a theme that is relevant to all minoritized language groups, that of the interrelationship between policy, politics and power. It also stresses the importance of adopting an approach to language policy that takes into account both structure and agency alike, and confirms that language groups should not be conceptualised by number of speakers using categories such as 'dominant', 'subordinate', 'majority' and 'minority', but rather by issues of power and status.
This paper analyses the language-in-education policies implemented to integrate international immigrants into the Catalan language community in Vic, Catalonia. It focuses on the Catalan Government's 'Languages and Social Cohesion Plan' (LIC) plan, Vic city council's local education plans, which were adopted as part of LIC plan, and the EBE centre, a Catalan Government initiative that was opened in Vic as an educational welcome space for newly arrived immigrant families. Drawing upon empirical data gathered from semi-structured interviews and substantiated with analysis of policy documents, this paper advances three main claims. First, that immigrant families and community members in Vic have played a vital role in reinforcing the city's language-in-education policies. Second, that immigrant parents can contribute to their children's linguistic integration, even when they are not fluent in the minority language. Third, that the wider discourse of social cohesion in Catalonia has facilitated this greater participation amongst the immigrant family and community members. Together, these three claims present a counterargument to the growing belief in the literature on minority language revival and revitalisation that the family and the community no longer play a significant role in minority language maintenance.
Since the 1990s, Canada's francophone minority communities (FMCs) have become increasingly involved in francophone immigration governance, and this trend has coincided with the wider neoliberalization of immigration in Canada. This article analyzes the implications of the growing influence of a neoliberal immigration policy and the narrative of an ideal immigrant on Canada's FMCs by focussing on the francophone Acadian community in New Brunswick, Canada's only constitutionally bilingual province. Making use of three types of sources-semistructured interviews, debates in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, and official and archival documents-the article argues that francophone and Acadian organizations have adopted the federal, neoliberal perspective on immigration, placing greater emphasis on economic integration and the creation of a bilingual workforce. Changes in the type of immigrant selected and role of the community in the lives of francophone immigrants create new challenges for minority language communities that define and identify themselves through language use and belonging.
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