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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 1434

Part of Session 172: Urban Language Conflict (Other abstracts in this session)

Covert language diversity in municipal institutions and the influence of EU language policy

Authors: Kruse, Jan
Submitted by: Kruse, Jan (Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany)

The communication needs of a city are more colorful than the number of official languages might suggest. Cities in countries with only one or a few official languages include also minority, migration languages and regional languages. City representatives also communicate with other foreign cities (e.g. twin towns) and with international organizations (e.g. EU institutions). This multilingual setting might imply a covert multilingualism within municipal institutions, which in turn may have certain effects on external communication. Policy makers in the field of ‘Language and City’ are influenced by both, the multilingual city and the EU institutions.

EU or national language policy is always implemented by regions and cities. The “Committee of the Regions” is an important EU assembly that gives the regional level a voice in EU policy development. The committee itself has two ‘procedural languages’, English and French. From this perspective, the language diversity of a European city is not only a phenomenon of urban milieus but also of the representation and the use of languages in the municipal institutions. Although there is only one official language, there is more than one procedural language.

What are the unofficial procedural (working) languages of a European city administration? A politolinguistic approach to this question can be conducted by two ways of communication, a top-down and a bottom-up direction, comprising two perspectives of urban languages policy. To discover possible discrepancies between policy and politics my contribution will reflect institutional reality in the City of Cologne.

I will shed light on the acknowledgment of the relevance of this politolinguistic field in urban politics as well as in science.