Literacy and linguistic diversity in a global perspective. An intercultural exchange with African countries

Council of Europe Publishing, 2007. - 106 p.This publication reflects the concerns and aims of the project Linguistic diversity and literacy in a global perspective (LDL). The project was carried out in the framework of the second medium-term programme of the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) with the support of the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, the Austrian Unesco Commission, PRAESA (Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa), AfricAvenir (Cameroon) and NACALCO (National Association of Cameroonian Language Committees). It brought together experts and practitioners in the field of linguistic diversity and literacy from European and African countries with a view to opening a dialogue, to taking a comparative perspective and defining possible areas of mutually enriching co-operation and exchange. Reflecting on other situations allows us to see ourselves and what we know in another light: in the course of the project the focus on Africa raised new questions on European and western perspectives. Moreover, examining the situation of speakers of non-dominant and immigrant languages in Europe revealed that the problems resulting from linguistic hegemony were at the source of processes of exclusion in both continents.