INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY is celebrated on the 21st of February each year to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism.

Let’s celebrate it with the wise words from Miyako Island, Okinawa Prefecture, that pay tribute to community bonds, as narrated in the video Hisamitsu Album (*Fujita-Round & Hattori, 2019).

AGATA NU UTUZZA YUZZA TSUKAFU NU TUNAZU
Cherish your close neighbors over your relatives far away.

The video documents traditional customs and language practices on Miyako Islands, including HAARI Festival for the Sea Gods, SHISHIMAI Lion Dance, UGAKI sumo wrestling, HOUGEN FUDA language tags, and more.

 

*Hisamatsu Album was created as part of the research of a sociolinguist and also a board member of Linguapax Asia, Dr. Sachiyo Fujita-Round with her collaborator video artist, Katsuyuki Hattori.

Their youtube page is as follows: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtsbu9qQ7GUiB558D4z4Brg

 


“Linguistic Diversity, What for?” is on-line and available for free to anybody with an Internet connection all over the world.

This course offers a wide panorama of the most important issues and debates related to linguistic diversity. It aims to broaden students’ horizons about linguistic diversity, multilingualism and revitalization, understanding their implications in areas ranging from personal introspection to education, politics, social relations, arts and the digital world.

Most of all, we hope to create a platform for sharing and discussing, in order to enrich all participants’ knowledge, open their perspectives and encourage them to safeguard and promote linguistic diversity.





World Languages in Multilingual Society

Common Values and Challenges for Teaching and Learning

International Christian University (ICU), Tokyo, Japan, https://www.icu.ac.jp/en/

Advance Notice and Call for Papers

Date: Saturday, June 13th, 2020 Time: 8:30AM – 6:30 PM

Description: Tokyo hosts the 2020 Olympics – an event with a message of world peace and friendship through sport. Multilingual people from around the world, sharing various languages, will come to Japan. What common values do we share? What challenges do we face as teachers and learners of Spanish or Korean in Japan, Chinese in Australia, Korean in Malaysia? Why do we teach and learn other languages? How can we raise the awareness, among all stakeholders, about the multilingual society we all share.

Goal: Linguapax Asia ’20 brings together the shared concern of teachers and learners of different languages of the world. Linguapax Asia 20 focuses on what teachers and learners of many different languages share about their experience. Linguapax Asia invites proposals for (a) individual papers and (b) poster sessions in all areas of research in Teaching and Learning languages, Bilingualism, Multilingualism, Language policy, Deaf Sign language, Heritage language, Endangered language, Migration, Family language maintenance. There will be a panel on Multilingualism and a round table on Community Languages in Japan: Japanese Sign Language, Japanese, English and other languages interpretation provided.

Attendance Fee: No Charge

Venue: International Christian University (ICU), Tokyo, Japan

About Linguapax: Linguapax Asia works in partnership with Linguapax International, a nongovernmental organization located in Barcelona, Spain. The Asian associate of Linguapax International, Linguapax Asia carries out the objectives of both Linguapax International and UNESCO’s Linguapax Project with a special focus on Asia and the Pacific Rim. For further information visit our website at https://www.linguapax-asia.org.

The organizers: The event is organized by Linguapax Asia.

Abstract submission: Please send your proposal for a paper or poster session to Dr. Daniel Quintero Garcia, Program Director at quintero@icu.ac.jp by the deadline, January 17th (Friday), 2020. We welcome original and previously unpublished papers. The language of the conference is English. Papers are assigned 30 minutes plus Q&A. (15 minutes for ‘young scholars’). Abstracts should be sent in English by email attachment (300-350 words, excluding title and references, in Times New Roman, 12 pt.) and include the following: name and affiliation of the author, e-mail address of the first author/convener, title of the paper, abstract. Notifications of acceptance will be sent before March 6 2020. Since the number of presentation slots is limited, selection is competitive.



DECLARATION ‘Bilingualism Now!’
Linguapax Asia 2018

Bilingualism means an understanding of language freedom.
Bilingualism means the choices we make, today and tomorrow,about the languages we can use in society.
Language diversity works. It works for society.

  • Bilingualism enriches our personal experience, restores justice and fosters career and livelihood.
  • Bilingualism supports people. An understanding of bilingual people – speakers and signers – is essential for the proper
    organization of how language works in society.
  • Bilingualism and bilingual people, adults and children, must be protected by the politics of government and law, by power and
    resources.
  • Bilingualism is part of the moral order, of personal identity, the life course, the politics of life.

Linguapax is committed to building a gateway to the recognition of bilingualism and the life of all bilingual people.