Like other European national languages, Italian is rapidly losing prestige in favor of English, both in national and international scientific communication. Clear signs of this declining status can be noted in particular in national and international scientific literature (research papers, editorials, etc.) in terms of language policy and usage. This paper will discuss: i) the growing impact of written texts and active biliteracy in science; ii) the meaning and the general implications of the changing language policies of Italian scientific journals; iii) diglossia in scientific communication. This particular type of diglossia has already been mentioned by many researchers and it will be compared here to the classical and the broader meaning of the notion of diglossia. Such a comparison aims to understand whether it is appropriate to apply the label of “diglossia” also to this specific type of functional compartmentalization of codes. The crucial role of biliteracy will be examined within the Italian context, which will also be compared to the Swedish one. This study concludes that, despite significant differences in the progress rate of their status loss, national languages such as Italian (and the languages of other European scientific communities) seem to witness major language displacements in favor of English in science, higher education and other élite domains.

The declining status of Italian as a language of scientific communication and the issue of diglossia in scientific communities / Calaresu, Emilia Maria. - In: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE. - ISSN 0165-2516. - STAMPA. - 210:(2011), pp. 93-108. [10.1515/IJSL.2011.032]

The declining status of Italian as a language of scientific communication and the issue of diglossia in scientific communities

CALARESU, Emilia Maria
2011

Abstract

Like other European national languages, Italian is rapidly losing prestige in favor of English, both in national and international scientific communication. Clear signs of this declining status can be noted in particular in national and international scientific literature (research papers, editorials, etc.) in terms of language policy and usage. This paper will discuss: i) the growing impact of written texts and active biliteracy in science; ii) the meaning and the general implications of the changing language policies of Italian scientific journals; iii) diglossia in scientific communication. This particular type of diglossia has already been mentioned by many researchers and it will be compared here to the classical and the broader meaning of the notion of diglossia. Such a comparison aims to understand whether it is appropriate to apply the label of “diglossia” also to this specific type of functional compartmentalization of codes. The crucial role of biliteracy will be examined within the Italian context, which will also be compared to the Swedish one. This study concludes that, despite significant differences in the progress rate of their status loss, national languages such as Italian (and the languages of other European scientific communities) seem to witness major language displacements in favor of English in science, higher education and other élite domains.
2011
210
93
108
The declining status of Italian as a language of scientific communication and the issue of diglossia in scientific communities / Calaresu, Emilia Maria. - In: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE. - ISSN 0165-2516. - STAMPA. - 210:(2011), pp. 93-108. [10.1515/IJSL.2011.032]
Calaresu, Emilia Maria
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
10.1515_ijsl.2011.032.pdf

Accesso riservato

Tipologia: Versione pubblicata dall'editore
Dimensione 702.16 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
702.16 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia
Pubblicazioni consigliate

Licenza Creative Commons
I metadati presenti in IRIS UNIMORE sono rilasciati con licenza Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal, mentre i file delle pubblicazioni sono rilasciati con licenza Attribuzione 4.0 Internazionale (CC BY 4.0), salvo diversa indicazione.
In caso di violazione di copyright, contattare Supporto Iris

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11380/639545
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 12
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact