Abstract
To the extent that every science has its banner and rallying cry, multilingualism would be that of sociolinguistics. In the face of a widespread societal dismissal, degradation, denial or abnormalization of multilingualism, sociolinguistics has since the 1960s been making the claim that multilingualism is a positive thing in societies. It represents the richness of cultural diversity in language and so enriches society, and it is beneficial for individuals too. These arguments have, to some extent, now penetrated political institutions, and the EU, for instance, now celebrates and champions multilingualism in the Union. There is no need to provide an emblematic string of references here: most of sociolinguistics has shared these assumptions and has, often with vigour and passion, broadcast them to whoever was likely to listen.
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© 2012 Jan Blommaert, Sirpa Leppänen and Massimiliano Spotti
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Blommaert, J., Leppänen, S., Spotti, M. (2012). Endangering Multilingualism. In: Blommaert, J., Leppänen, S., Pahta, P., Räisänen, T. (eds) Dangerous Multilingualism. Language and Globalization. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137283566_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137283566_1
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