Sociolinguistic case study on the linguistic rights of Serbs in Croatia - Essay Example

SOCIOLINGUISTIC CASE STUDY ON THE LINGUISTIC RIGHTS OF SERBS IN CROATIA + Submitted SociolinguisticCase Study on the linguistic rights of Serbs in Croatia Introduction A minority language is spoken by a small population of people in a particular territory which is also referred to as linguistic minority (Tiersma and Solan 2012, 128). Different languages create a situation where a vast number of them are minority in that country (Varennes 1996, 78). However, some minority languages are simultaneously also official languages; an example is the Irish language in Ireland. A regional minority language is spoken in a given area of a sovereign state. The population of that region is numerically smaller to that of the states and their language is different from that used by the state. The diversity of languages in a particular state causes other people to be linguistically diverse, this is also known as multilingualism. It is the ability to speak in more than one language and to fully understand the communication patterns. Such occurrences have been enhanced by different factors such as; love for literature, geographical diversity and historical causes. Also, politics and psychological factors like seeking identity have contributed to linguistic diversity (International journal of the sociology of language 1974, 12). The homogeneity caused by languages influences genocide of other communities. This is the systematic destruction of a particular group of individuals based on their opinions or differences in either their religion race, or language. Croatia study The study is to review the situation of the ethnic minorities by exploring the history of the area, the developments of languages and the current issues facing minorities in Croatia. Croatian, Hungarian and Serbian are the commonly used languages by the people of Croatia (Hogan and Wolff 2003, 122). Serbian and Croatian were sufficiently similar to be identified as Serbo-Croatian. However, during the war outbreak in 1991, Croatian was identified as the main language. In the census conducted in 2001 the minority groups were Serbs, Bosniaks, Italians, Hungarians, Albanians, Roma, Slovenes and Czechs just to name a few whose percentage ranged between 0.2 and 4.5 percent. Historically, the communities gathered in the same region through migration and there was a continuous ethnic tension among the Serbian and Croatian groups mostly being political. (Varennes 1996, 78) Codification of the Croatian standard language involves a process which either includes or excludes linguistic forms. In order to distinguish the Croatian language from the formerly shared Serbo-Croatian language, some vocabulary associated with Serbs have been removed rather than words viewed as vernacular. Minority language rights for Serbs After the exclusion of the Serbo-Croatian language and declaration of the Croatian language to be used in teaching, a requirement was logically created under both domestic and international minority rights provision (Brown and Celia 2008, 45). Human rights advocates have criticized Croatia for not respecting the language rights of its Serbian minority by not providing special language provision, and therefore not addressing the Serbian people’s needs. Comparison between Serbians in Eastern Slavonia and Ordinary Serbians To develop the problem of equal rights of the ordinary ethnic Serbs, an interview was carried out between 1996 and 1998 with ethnic Serbian teachers and parents about schooling. The first group concerns the view of ethnic Serbs in the Eastern Slavonia during the transition under the UN supervision. Ethnic Serbs in the Eastern Slavonia are more cohesive collectively than other ethnic Serbs elsewhere in the Croatian country who are atomized politically or socially and their demands differed accordingly (Hogan and Wolff 2003, 122). The ethnic Serbs were still demanding a degree of autonomy during negotiations making then later interpreted by international human rights advocates as cultural and language rights. In the Croatian government, Serbian teachers had no equality to Croatian teachers given that the ministers would sometimes hire unqualified teachers to replace them. Croatian language was also recommended to Croatian teachers only while the Serbian language was yet to be integrated into schools. The teachers concerns were about equality before the law and not having special language rights given their enthusiasms of being identified as Serbian language designated teachers. Schools meant to conduct teaching in Serbian are situated in the Eastern Slavonia. However, such special treatment of separate language provisions for pupils hinders their acceptance into the Croatian society. It is noted that such recognition of native languages is a major barrier to the reintroduction of pupils in schools and the building up of ethnic coexistence. It is a human right for such pupils to decide how to relate with others in the society (Tiersma and Solan 2012, 128). One indicator whether the Serbian pupils in such schools feel as being part of the Croatian society is whether they decide to pursue higher levels of education and careers in Croatia or consider to study and get employment in Serbia. Ethnic Serbs outside the Eastern Slavonia expressed individualized responses to the issue of schooling. Individual teachers were unenthusiastic about being identified as ethnically Serbs by them being teachers of the Serbian language, its history and culture (Hogan and Wolff 2003, 122). Parents were not determined to take their children to such classes which may mark them as members of the enemy aggressor nation. According to them, this may be a major contributing factor in causing genocide of the minority communities. Therefore, ordinary Serbs were seeking to be treated as ordinary Croatian citizens and sometimes they would identify themselves as Croatians. They lack the enthusiasms to learn to learn Cyrillic script or Serbian history and culture compared to the Serbians in the Eastern Slavonia. Language recognition that the ethnic Serbs in Croatia are seeking, is driven by their practical needs of issues relating to equality. Some discrimination of the Serbian community is in relation to them being denied citizenship for lack of birth certificates written in Croatia. Serbian minority language rights will address the needs of ethnic Serbs in Croatia and assure them of their position in Croatian the society. (Gorter and Cenoz 2014, 76) Similar case Similarly, Turkey has a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. The lands are not only homeland to Turkish, Armenian and Kurdish; they are also homeland to Alevi, Yezidi and Suryani. The country has formulated different methodologies to help curb the language minority discrimination and enforce their rights. For example, they formulated a concept for citizenship that would favor all the minority individuals. When people get that sense of belonging, language becomes less important compared to their need to maintain patriotism to the country. (Foundation on inter-ethnic relations 1998, 25) Ethnic lines will in the process be reduced considerably. In addition, a new minority association was formed to help in the legal processes relating to the establishing of human and language rights. (Brown and Celia 2008, 45) Most of the recommendations were rejected by the Turkish government but the constitution gave a new ray of light to the rights of language minorities. In Turkey the Muslim society is discriminated in operations of the government offices, implying that equality is yet to be achieved in minority languages. Solving Croatian situation Several instruments have also been used in the Croatian Republic to solve the problem of language rights. In the constitution, the minority group should have a representative who will push for the right to form their association and establishing autonomous associations and institutions (Michael and Timofey 2012, 99). Parliamentary representation is also provided for in the constitution of Croatia. However, demographics have changed since the war and are threatening their representations, particularly of the Serbs. Their political representation is also important for democratic development although their small numbers are always influenced by the states’ policies. Another instrument to be used to help in maintaining the minority rights is the formulation of the Council of ethnic minorities. The council which has all the representatives of minorities presents a forum for dialogue and coordination between the minorities and representatives making it play a supplementary role. The body not only monitors implementation and promotion of the minority issues but also delivers its requests to government and other relevant governmental bodies. There is also a governmental office for ethnical minorities that performs a variety of duties including analyzing conventional rights of minority, promoting new policy implementations and monitoring the minority situation. Tackling the Sociolinguistic problem It is recommended by law for any minority group to request education in minority languages and scripts together with a curriculum that reflects minority culture, history and literature. Minority individuals and collectively retain the right to seek for education in the majority language and curriculum. The sociolinguistic issue on education for the Serbian people is promoted by the Erdut Agreement in 1995 (De Varennes and Fernand 2009, 25) The content of the curricula for minorities is stated by the Ministry of Education which also considered a proposal from the office of minorities.. The government through the ministry is also providing more funds to help in the integration of the different classes in schools and obtaining required textbooks. Besides the usual subjects, minority language schools have a broader curriculum for protecting their identity; culture, first language education, geography, history and literature. Members of that minority group will decide on the process and the contents of specific curricula. (Foundation on inter-ethnic relations 1998, 25) The main challenge however, is that classes will have a small number of pupils causing a discrimination, making it necessary for all stakeholder involved to ensure that there will be minimal effects to the pupils in the future. Separation of Roma education is also being dealt with in the Croatian Republic by continuously reviewing the problem and giving recommendations. There has been need to also involve Roma parents, children and Roma organizations in the process aimed at remedying these problems. Thus the education system must reflect the different cultures of minority. (International journal of the sociology of language 1974, 12) References   Brown-Blake, Celia. 2008. The right to linguistic non-discrimination and Creole language situations: The case of Jamaica. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 23(1):32-73. De Varennes, Fernand. 2009. Language rights standards in Europe: The impact of the Council of Europe’s human rights and treaty obligations. In Pertot, Priestly & Williams (eds.), 23-31. FOUNDATION ON INTER-ETHNIC RELATIONS (1998), The Oslo recommendations regarding the linguistic rights of national minorities & explanatory note. The Hague, Foundation on Inter-Ethnic Relations.\ GORTER, D., ZENOTZ, V., & CENOZ, J. (2014). Minority languages and multilingual education: bridging the local and the global. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7317-2. HOGAN-BRUN, G., & WOLFF, S. (2003). Minority languages in Europe: frameworks, status, prospects. Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan. (Hogan and Wolff 2003, 122)    Hornsby, Michael & Timofey Agarin. 2012. The end of minority languages? Europe’s regional languages in perspective. Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe 11 (1): 88-116. International journal of the sociology of language (1974) The Hague, Mouton. IVIĆ, P. (1995). The history of Serbian culture. Edgware, Porthill Publishers. TIERSMA, P. M., & SOLAN, L. (2012). The Oxford handbook of language and law. Oxford, Oxford University Press. VARENNES, F. D. (1996). Language, minorities and human rights. The Hague, M. Nijhoff. (Varennes 1996, 78) Read More