On a small mother tongue as a barrier to intercultural policies: the czech language

• Autores: Jakub Zouhar
• Localización: Exedra: Revista Científica, ISSN-e 1646-9526, Nº. Extra 3, 1, 2011 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Diversity Comunication and coexistence), págs. 25-34
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The essay will discuss the influence of a small language on intercultural policies in the Czech Republic. The Czech language as the only official language in the Czech Republic can definitely be ranked among small European languages since it numbers only over 11 million native speakers. There is no doubt that the fact must affect the way of thinking of the majority of Czech society. From any intercultural policy�s point of view, the impact on the society might be considered as adverse. It will be argued that the Czech society might face an uphill struggle to become international more significantly than other societies that are historically connected with different cultures across the world. The language, needless to say, plays a key role here. Despite the fact, the Czech society has after all an advantage of all similarly small language groups, i.e. nearly everyone is motivated to become multilingual.