Project description
Neglected histories: the past, present and future of multilingualism
Multilingualism is a fact of our past, our present and our future. However, it has often been underrepresented or silenced in historical narratives. Although it has been a global norm throughout human history, the mechanisms that underpin multilingualism are still only partially understood. The EU-funded MULTILING-HIST project will produce a more complete explanation of how local multilingualism emerges and is maintained, why it erodes, and how it can re-emerge. Integrating historical and contemporary data, the team will explore multilingual hotspots from Central-Eastern Europe, Mesoamerica, South Africa and the Archipelago of Vanuatu. By combining historical and present data, qualitative and quantitative methods, mathematical modelling and GIS mapping, MULTILING-HIST will deliver informed predictions to improve existing language policies and educational strategies.
Objective
The proposal addresses the complex, multi-level dimensions of historical and contemporary multilingualism: (1) the presence of individual multilingualism in local and regional settings; (2) the characteristics and dynamics of such multilingual settings, in other words, societal multilingualism. The fundamental aim of the project is to reconstruct, explain and better understand the mechanisms and causality of the processes behind the emergence, continuity, reduction and loss (as well as possible re-emergence) of multilingualism in differing historical, geographical, social, political and cultural contexts. These goals address not only essential gaps in the state of knowledge, but also significant questions about the past and the present of human development. The project will embrace historical and contemporary multilingual milieux from four regions relevant for understanding the causal frameworks underlying multilingual trajectories: selected historical multilingual hotspots from Central-Eastern Europe, Mesoamerica, South Africa and the Archipelago of Vanuatu. They represent a diversity of pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial contexts, ensuring a meaningful comparison. The case studies also offer a novel possibility to study the ‘invisibility’ of multilingualism and uncover its neglected history(ies). The research will focus on a broad range of rural communities and a smaller amount of urban contexts, thus permitting comparative insights into urban multilingualism. A multidisciplinary approach will combine in novel ways historical and present data, qualitative and quantitative methods as well as mathematical modeling, data-driven mapping and GIS mapping. Its expected results will provide informed diagnoses and predictions with huge potential for improving existing language policies and educational strategies oriented toward the preservation of linguistic-cultural diversity and sustainable multilingualism.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2020-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
00-927 WARSZAWA
Poland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.