Language and Digitalisation
Language and Digitalisation studies the impact of digitalisation on European linguistic capital. This work package will ask young participants in the six Case Studies to report and reflect on their AI and other digital interactions. A questionnaire asks young people their opinions about multilingual use of AI and about interactions involving minority languages in particular. Young people will report their interactions with AI and reflect on how these interactions affect their language use and attitudes. WP4 will establish whether young speakers believe AI plays a positive or negative role and whether they believe their agency is increased by technological advances. WP4 will provide policymakers and the tech sector with evidence-based information about young people’s attitudes to AI and endangered, regional, minority and migrant languages.
Beyond Languages
Beyond Languages investigates how young people make meaning in creative practice where non-linguistic communicative resources are observable. In Work Package 5 we will run a Creative Arts Lab, a space in which invited artists work in partnership with researchers as they engage with the potential of collaborative endeavour. We will commission two professional artists or artistic companies to respond creatively to the outcomes of the overall research project. The mode and genre of the commissioned artistic output is open. The commissioned projects will be presented to a range of audiences. We will observe and interview the commissioned artists to elicit their perspectives on the potential of collaborative work between artists and researchers.
Multisemiotic Turin
Multisemiotic Turin. In Turin we will analyse how the newer languages of Europe contribute to the strengthening of European linguistic and cultural heritage, and to a sense of community and belonging. Through linguistic ethnographic study we will provide evidence-based understandings of young people’s linguistic, semiotic, and multimodal resources in daily encounters. The research team will work in collaboration with GenerazionePonte, an association that works to promote intercultural dialogue and exchange, with a focus on young refugees and new Italian citizens. We will involve research participants as full and equal collaborators by fostering open, transparent and interactive relationships throughout the implementation of the research activity.
Migration, Belonging and Cohesion in Multilingual Berlin
Migration, Belonging and Cohesion in Multilingual Berlin. We will collect information on the role multilingualism can play for societal cohesion and democratic participation in Europe. We will listen particularly to migrant languages that are excluded from the educational system, and to migrant voices that are often excluded from voting rights. We will examine their potential by focusing on communication practices in everyday life and institutions, both on- and offline. We will particularly focus on the role multilingualism plays for young people’s belonging and, consequently, for overall societal cohesion and democratic participation. We will work in partnership with Yekmal, an autonomous migrant support organisation operating in several federal states of Germany.
Multimodal, Multilingual, and Digital Practices of Swiss Youth
Multimodal, Multilingual, and Digital Practices of Swiss Youth. In Switzerland we will focus on the multimodal, multilingual and digital linguistic practices of adolescents in social media, and at school and at home. We will investigate language policies, linguistic practices and the agentive role of young people in fostering multilingualism, in promoting Swiss German and in preserving endangered languages such as Romansh. We will collect evidence of young people’s digital practices, and analyse implications for their sense of belonging and linguistic identity. We will ask how young people use multilingual and multimodal resources in digital and physical spaces, and to what extent young people act as agents in fostering multilingualism, learning languages, and preserving cultural and language heritage.
Language Revitalisation in Santiago de Compostela
Language Revitalisation in Santiago de Compostela. This project examines spaces of language revitalisation in Santiago de Compostela. We will analyse the micro-dynamics of interconnected grassroots revitalisation efforts which revolve around the activities of urban-based new speakers’ efforts to live their lives through Galician. We will look at the role played by teachers, parents, children and language activists in these initiatives in creating and sustaining new communities of practice, and examine the role of the Galician language revitalisation movement. We will undertake a multi-sited ethnography of spaces where language revitalisation efforts are played out and examine how the dynamics of these spaces can inform macro-level policies linked to the Galician government.
Sports, Youth and Languages in Catalonia
Sports, Youth and Languages in Catalonia. In Barcelona we focus on youth sports. Extracurricular activities (sports, arts, scouting and leisure groups, popular culture groups) have potential to generate contexts that facilitate the use of Catalan. However, segregation and economic barriers to access organised sports and leisure activities can decrease the participation of youngsters from migrant families. We will examine who takes part in sports; the difficulties and facilitators to take part, especially for teenagers from migrant backgrounds; what are the linguistic practices and ideologies of young athletes, trainers and club managers; what is the role of digital tools and social media in youth sports. We will work in close partnership with Omnium Cultural, a non-governmental organisation which promotes Catalan language and culture.
The Kven Language and Youth in Norway
The Kven Language and Youth in Norway. During the last decade young people in Norway have shown a strong interest in reclaiming Kven language and culture. The Kven youth organisation, Kvääninuoret, uses digital arenas such as Instagram to teach and learn Kven language, share artistic work (visual art, poetry and snippets from theatre productions), explore different expressions of Kven identities and connect with other minority and Indigenous groups. We will investigate how the digital shift has provided an arena for youth to strengthen collective and individual identities, which in turn may bolster language learning. The data drawn on will be Instagram posts, and observations or self-reflection by participants when they create posts. We will work closely with Kvääninuoret from the outset of the project to ensure that the activities we undertake suit their needs.
MultiLX 