European Multilingualism

Rosita Rindler Schjerve is a full professor of Romance Linguistics at the Department of Romance Studies of Vienna University. Her research focus is on multilingualism, code-switching, language shift, language policies and Europeanisation. She was a partner in various EU-funded projects and author and editor of numerous books and contributions to international journals and handbooks.Eva Vetter is a professor at the Center for Research into Language Teaching and Learning at the University of Vienna. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics and is the author of various publications focusing on specific aspects of multilingualism, e.g. minority languages in France, language awareness of teachers, and teaching and learning languages in multilingual contexts. Her research interests also include discourse analysis and language policy.

This book is much more than a synthesis of the research findings of a network of scholars. In unprecedented clarity and detail, it lays bare the ideas, debates and contradictions underpinning multilingualism as a strategic aim of the European project and as a scientific enterprise. It offers a meticulously argued critique of language policy regimes in Europe and advocates an ambitious and rigorously conceptualized framework for integrating a wide range of disciplinary perspectives in the advancement of a comprehensive research agenda. European Multilingualism is therefore both a brilliant analysis of current challenges and a challenge to future research.

• Introduction1. European Multilingualism – Political Scope1.1. Multilingualism and the Diversity Debate1.2. European Multilingualism – Towards a Cross-Cutting Policy Framework2. European Multilingualism as a Scientific Field of Research2.1. Multilingualism – A Multi-Disciplinary Field of Research3. The LINEE Project3.1. Theoretical Dimension3.2. LINEE Keyconcepts3.3. Methodological Issues3.4. Lines of Tension Emerging from LINEE4. European Multilingualism Beyond LINEE4.1. Re-Conceptualizing European Multilingualism4.2. Towards an Integrative View of European Multilingualism5. Conclusion