Home

UN's Annual International Mother Language Day being celebrated around the world

February 19, 2010 - 6:17am | by brianbeaton

International Mother Language Day

21 February

International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by UNESCO's General Conference in November 1999. The International Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.

On 16 May 2007, by resolution 61/266, the General Assembly proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages, to promote unity in diversity and international understanding, through multilingualism and multiculturalism.

Links to UN and UN System sites:

United Nations:

Unesco:


ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

The additional resources links on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not necessarily represent an endorsement by the United Nations.

American Association for Applied Linguistics

Central Institute of Indian Languages

European Network in Language and Speech

Ethnologue

Foundation for Endangered Languages

Language Technology World

Rosetta Project

Modern Language Association

SIL International

Technolangue

Terralingua

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Implementation of a language policy for the world based on multilingualism

The General Conference,

Recognizing the need to improve understanding and communication among peoples,

Also recognizing the great importance of safeguarding the linguistic and cultural heritage of humanity and extending the influence of each of the cultures and languages of which that heritage is composed,

Considering the current threat to linguistic diversity posed by the globalization of communication and the tendency to use a single language, at the risk of marginalizing the other major languages of the world, or even of causing the lesser-used languages, including regional languages, to disappear,

Also considering that educating young people throughout the world involves sensitizing them to dialogue between cultures, which engenders tolerance and mutual respect,

Further considering that substantial progress has been made in the last few decades by the language sciences, but that insufficient attention has been paid to the extraordinary ability of children to reproduce sounds at key periods of their development,

Noting that the ability of children to acquire phonetic and grammatical skills has been scientifically corroborated,

Considering that these skills enable young children to acquire competence at an early age in real communication, both passive and active, in at least two languages, whichever they may be,

Aware that democratic access to knowledge depends on a command of several languages and that provision of such access for all is a duty at a time when private language training, which is both expensive and elitist, is spreading in many countries,

Mindful of the resolutions adopted in support of bilingual education at its 18th and 19th sessions (1974 and 1976),

Taking into account the establishment by the Executive Board in October 1998 of the Advisory Committee for Linguistic Pluralism and Multilingual Education and the creation of the Languages Division in the Education Sector by the Director-General in 1998,

  1. Recommends that Member States:

(a) create the conditions for a social, intellectual and media environment of an international character which is conducive to linguistic pluralism;

(b) promote, through multilingual education, democratic access to knowledge for all citizens, whatever their mother tongue, and build linguistic pluralism; strategies to achieve these goals could include:

  1. the early acquisition (in kindergartens and nursery schools) of a second language in addition to the mother tongue, offering alternatives;
  2. further education in this second language at primary-school level based on its use as a medium of instruction, thus using two languages for the acquisition of knowledge throughout the school course up to university level;
  3. intensive and transdisciplinary learning of at least a third modern language in secondary school, so that when pupils leave school they have a working knowledge of three languages - which should represent the normal range of practical linguistic skills in the twenty-first century;
  4. an assessment of secondary-school leaving certificates with a view to promoting a grasp of modern languages from the point of view of communication and understanding;
  5. international exchanges of primary- and secondary-school teachers, offering them a legal framework for teaching their subjects in schools in other countries, using their own languages and thus enabling their pupils to acquire both knowledge and linguistic skills;
  6. due attention in education, vocational training and industry to the potential represented by regional languages, minority languages, where they exist, and migrants’ languages of origin;
  7. availability to teachers and education authorities of a computerized network, including a database, to facilitate exchanges of information and experience;
  8. the establishment of a national and/or regional committee to study and make proposals on linguistic pluralism in order to initiate the necessary dialogue between the representatives of all professions and all disciplines so that they can identify the main lines of a language education system which is adapted to each country but which also facilitates international communication, while preserving the rich and inalienable linguistic and cultural heritage of humanity;

(c) encourage the study of the languages of the major ancient and modern civilizations, with a view to safeguarding and promoting a literary education;

  1. Invites the Director-General to refer the matter to the Advisory Committee for Linguistic Pluralism and Multilingual Education.

37 Draft recommendation on the promotion and use of multilingualism and universal access to cyberspace 1

The General Conference,

Having examined the report submitted by the Director-General, in accordance with 29 C/Resolution 36, on the implementation of activities on the ethical, legal and societal aspects of cyberspace,

Taking note of the results of activities carried out by the Organization on the promotion and use of multilingualism and universal access to cyberspace, as reported in document 30 C/31,

Also taking note of the establishment by the Director-General of the Advisory Committee for Linguistic Pluralism and Multilingual Education, in accordance with 29 C/Resolution 38 (para. 2.B(b)),

Recognizing the importance of multilingualism for the promotion of universal access to information, particularly to information in the public domain,

Recognizing also the importance of multilingualism for the promotion of multiculturality on global information networks,

     

  1. Reiterates its conviction that UNESCO should play a leading international role in promoting access to information in the public domain, especially by encouraging multilingualism and cultural diversity on global information networks;
  2. Invites Member States, non-governmental organizations, the world intellectual community and the scientific institutions concerned to support and participate actively in the development of multilingualism and cultural diversity on the global information networks by facilitating free and universal access to information in the public domain;
  3. Invites Member States to approve, in this light, the proposed new strategy "Initiative B@bel" outlined in paragraph 14 of document 30 C/31;
  4. Invites the Director-General, after consultation with the Advisory Committee for Linguistic Pluralism and Multilingual Education, to submit for approval to the 159th session of the Executive Board a list of the first projects to be undertaken in this framework;
  5. Also invites the Director-General to undertake the following concrete actions to promote multilingualism and cultural diversity on global information networks:

(a) to strengthen activities to make cultural heritage in the public domain which is preserved in museums, libraries and archives freely accessible on the global information networks;

(b) to support the formulation of national and international policies and principles encouraging all Member States to promote the development and use of translation tools and terminology for better interoperability;

(c) to encourage the provision of resources for linguistic pluralism through global networks, in particular by reinforcing the UNESCO international observatory on the information society;

(d) to pursue further consultations with Member States and competent international governmental and non-governmental organizations for closer cooperation on language rights, respect for linguistic diversity and the expansion of multilingual electronic resources on the global information networks;

6. Further invites the Director-General to submit to it at its 31st session a report on the implementation of the actions outlined above and a draft recommendation on the promotion and use of multilingualism and universal access to cyberspace.

Tags: