Note: [1] Portions of this paper have been presented at the Eurolinguistics Symposium in Mannheim (2001), the Socrates Intensive Programme in Trinity College Dublin (2002), and a seminar in Fairhaven College (Bellingham, Washington, 2003). I am grateful to Sture Ureland, Martine Smith, Irene Walsh, Kathryn Anderson, and Niall Ó Murchú in this regard.
Abstract: With increased population movement throughout the world, and with greater awareness that the maintenance of bilingualism – or more precisely, plurilingualism – in the individual is a realistic goal regardless of any level of linguistic disability that the individual may have, there has been a growth of interest among speech and language therapists in the demands posed by plurilingual client populations. This paper focuses not on the structural aspects of plurilingualism and language disability, but on the insights arising from the paradigm of linguistic human rights. When access to language is viewed as a human right, plurilingualism becomes not just something that might be possible, but something to which the individual is entitled within the legal and social framework of society. From the point of view of speech and language therapy, access to service provision that will facilitate the acquisition, maintenance, or recovery of plurilinguistic skill becomes a question not simply of practical application, but one of civil rights. Speech and language therapists thus have the opportunity to become front line workers in the provision of those human rights which have been guaranteed under appropriate legislation at global, international, national, and local levels. In order to appreciate the role of speech and language therapy within the linguistic human rights paradigm, this paper surveys the relevant legislation arising from the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the ‘Belfast Agreement’ on Northern Ireland.
Keywords: bilingualism, plurilingualism, linguistic human rights
