Linguistic Assertiveness for Minority Language Speakers

In order to maintain a minority language it is crucial that speakers are able to use it as frequently and freely as possible. However, in many situations minority language speakers have been observed to adopt self-censoring attitudes where they avoid using their own language and switch to the majority language. This happens even when their counterpart is perfectly able to understand the minority language and when it is officially recognized and widely used in the local area.Assertiveness is the quality of being self-assured and confident without being aggressive. It is a learnable skill and mode of communication. When applied to languages it refers to training people to express themselves in their own language while feeling calm and self-assured, and acts to help an individual who may be uncertain if their counterparts are speakers of the same language.The purpose of the LISTEN project is to train speakers of a minority language (be it historically rooted in a territory, or brought recently by effect of migration) to act on their behavior and modify it by adopting strategies of linguistic assertiveness. The main output of the project will be a format for Linguistic Assertiveness Workshops that can be adapted and localized to different languages and socio-linguistic micro-and macro-contexts. The project will explore the cases of four languages (Welsh, Irish, Frisian and Hungarian) and different categories of speakers (educators, civil servants, youth, and migrants).Additional teaching materials that will be provided are: a MOOC on language assertiveness, webinars, a handbook, and audiovisual and textual material that will be released on an open license.The format will be illustrated and put into operation by conducting two series of workshops that will be held in Wales, Ireland, Friesland and Romania. Because the workshops will be held in different language communities they will be able to gather a wide variety of needs, situations, and linguistic prejudices.The LISTEN Consortium is composed of the University of Valencia (Spain, LISTEN coordinator), the University of Cluj-Napoca in Romania, a research department in computational linguistics (CNR-ILC, Italy), and NGOs working for the protection and promotion of Europe's regional minority and endangered languages (ELEN, France, Afuk, the Netherlands, Conradh na Gaelige, Ireland, IAITH, Wales, UK).In the short term LISTEN will have an impact on its target groups who will learn behavioral strategies that can positively impact on their linguistic habits. They will be trained to apply these strategies to all aspect of their public and private life no matter how stressful and discouraging the environment is.It is important to note how the skills acquired through LISTEN, by instructors on the one side and by speakers on the other, can be applicable to any language in any situation where a language is minoritised. The LISTEN methodology has the potential to be applicable not only to lesser-used languages, but also to more widely used ones, and can be used whenever a situation of friction arises and a person or a group of people feels the need to maintain his/her language when confronted with unfavourable external factors.At the societal level LISTEN provides an invaluable instrument to understand linguistic prejudices and to take concrete actions that can help deal with them so as to contribute to a more tolerant and inclusive society.