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 Periodical article |
 Leiden University catalogue |
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| Title: | Language Diversity, Policy, and Practice in Eritrea |
| Authors: | Hailemariam, Chefena Kroon, Sjaak Walters, Joel |
| Year: | 2003 |
| Periodical: | Journal of Eritrean Studies (Asmara) |
| Volume: | 2 |
| Issue: | 1-2 |
| Period: | May-December |
| Pages: | 77-89 |
| Language: | English |
| Notes: | biblio. refs. |
| Geographic terms: | Eritrea Northeast Africa |
| Subjects: | language policy multilingualism sociolinguistics Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Politics and Government language Language and languages |
| Abstract: | This paper outlines the conceptual and theoretical framework the authors used to investigate language diversity, policy and practice in multilingual, postindependence Eritrea. It presents a critical view of language, the manner in which it influences the way language is studied and the manner in which it shapes the understanding of language policy. Language policy and practice need to be studied at different levels of analysis because language plays multiple roles in different aspects of life, such as in State building and education, as a marker of cultural identity, and a resource for personal development and upward social mobility. The authors' empirical research in Eritrea draws substantially from the discipline of contemporary sociolinguistics. The Eritrean case is an example of a sub-Saharan, multilingual African State's language policy that cut off its colonial legacy. Although no single ideological foundation underlies the policy, it stresses the multilingual reality of the country and derives from a fundamental belief in linguistic pluralism. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract] |