Minority languages and language policies in the Nordic countries - AFN201023

• Title: Minority languages and language policies in the Nordic countries
• Guaranteed by: Institute of Germanic Studies (21-UGS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Arts
• Actual: from 2023
• Semester: summer
• Points: 0
• E-Credits: 3
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:0/0, C [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (unknown)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: doc. Yrjö Lauranto, Ph.D.; Mgr. Lenka Fárová, Ph.D.

Annotation

Last update: Mgr. Lenka Fárová, Ph.D. (24.11.2023)

Multilingualism is a wide topic concerning all the Nordic societies – and, evidently, not only the Nordic ones – at
many levels. Usage of different languages is part of the everyday life, and, therefore, multilingualism has been
taken into account when designing language policies and their practical implementations. All this implies that
multilingualism and parallel usage of languages are also topics of linguistic research. In the Nordic countries
research on multilingual topics has been done for a long time. The field also involves other crucial matters:
language teaching, and language awareness at all the levels of the societies, among others.
In addition, one of the objectives of the course is to remind the participants that natural languages are not only
spoken, they are also signed. Furthermore, there have lately been awakenings regarding the statuses of the
national languages in the Nordic countries: how to endorse their usage in certain contexts (instead of English), for
example in certain academic fields. Offering a glimpse on the Nordic societies – Denmark, Finland, Norway and
Sweden included – from these points of view for the Czech students of Scandinavian and Finnish studies is
primordial in order for them to understand deeper how the Nordic societies work – sometimes well and,
sometimes, not so well.

Course completion requirements

Last update: Mgr. Lenka Fárová, Ph.D. (24.11.2023)

The main part of the course will be taught intensively within 2 days (25.-26.4.2024) and it consists of participation in the Minority languages and language policies in the Nordic countries symposium. In addition, the students will have meetings with the supervisors about the final work of the course before and after the symposium. The final work can be a video, a podcast, social media project or a poster about one or several topics of the symposium and it will be done in small groups. The students will also participate in the translation of the promotional material and the organization of the symposium.

Teaching methods

Last update: Mgr. Lenka Fárová, Ph.D. (24.11.2023)

The main part of the course will be taught intensively within 2 days (25.-26.4.2024) and it consists of participation in the Minority languages and language policies in the Nordic countries symposium.

Two other meetings will be held before and after the symposium.