Minorities in GB

The British ethnic make-up is usually described as being diverse & multicultural. 5,5 – 7% of the population of GB are ethnic minorities. People have been migrating to Britain for centuries. Immigrants have come to Britain from all parts of the world. Some came to avoid political or religious persecution, others to find a better way of life or to escape of poverty. Others still come to join members of their family who had already settled in Britain. Many of these immigrants were refugees.

The British minorities can be divided into 3 groups:

1. the most underprivilidged, disadvantaged, having low level of life (Bangladeshi & Pakistani)

2. middle group (less disadvantaged): Caribbians & people of Indian Origin

3. minorities doing more or less well: African Asians (Algerians) & Chinese.

Minorities are mostly concentrated in big cities. Problems they face are the following:

- the percentage of members of ethnic minorities who are unemployed or in low-grade jobs is higher than in the population as a whole;

- racial discrimination, tension & poor living conditions have contributed to racial violence, especially in the day-to-day form of relations between young blacks & the police.

Contribution of the minorities:

It is common knowledge that British culture is being enriched through its contacts with other cultures:

- the British are becoming more adventurous in their cooking & eating habits. Chinese, Indian & Pakistani restaurants are very popular;

- another example can be found in the pop music & dance influenced by the Indians & Caribians.

However, the atmosphere is improving & the different races are slowly learning to trust one another. Even the Race Relation Act was designed to promote equality of opportunity for people of all races. Nowadays the policy is to encourage minorities to continue speaking their own l-ge as well as English. The children of immigrants are often taught their own l-ges in school, & there are special newspapers, magazines, radio & TV programmes for the British minorities.

Despite the figure of the minorities is so small, we still speak of multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is the belief that it is important & good to accept people & their ideas from many different countries, races or religions.

6. Problems of National multilingualism & their solution.

Societal multilingualism is a widespread phenomenon. There are few monolingual countries n the world. The following countries have several official l-ges:

· Belgium (Dutch, French)

· Switzerland (German, French, Italian)

· Sweden

· Belarus

Europe’s outwardly monolingual appearance is deceptive. There is only one official l-ge in European countries, because minorities are small & less influential & are unlikely to have official status. Nevertheless, the existence of national multilingualism in Europe is illustrated with the following examples:

UK:

Ø Native minority l-ges (Welsh, Irish, Gaelic)

Ø L-ges of Indian minorities (Punjabi)

Spain:

Ø Spanish (official l-ge)

Ø The Basque l-ge

Ø Catalan l-ge minority

France:

Ø French

Ø Breton

Ø Catalan speakers

So, nearly all European nations are multilingual to a certain extent. Multilingualism may evoke some problems at 2 levels: for governments & any other official institutions; for individuals & ling.minorities.

For governments:

1. the necessity to develop a certain policy towards minority l-ges:

a) negative policy:

- to ignore minority l-ges,

- to ban them,

- to discourage linguistic minorities from speaking their l-ges;

In these cases the aim of the government is to assimilate minority l-ges into the official l-ge.

b) positive policy: to promote minority l-ges.

2. ling.minorities may turn into a catalyst of discontent. As a result of this discontent the national separatist movement may appear. The government has to find the ideal balance in order not to provoke separatism & not to create discontent;

3. problem of providing education for ling.minorities: extra funds & teaching staff are needed;

4. problem of interl-ge (lingua-franca) – is a l-ge which is used as a means of communication among people who have no native l-ge in common;

For individuals:

1. the problem of the necessity to acquire proficiency in at least 2 l-ges (in other words you have to learn another l-ge if you want to be an efficient member of society);

2. a more specific problem is that insufficient knowledge of the dominant l-ge may be a barrier for your social advancement, may hinder your upward social mobility. Gaelic people may serve as an example here.

3. by assimilating into the dominant l-ge you may feel that you have been untrue to your cultural traditions, you have your native l-ge loyalty & you have betrayed your ethnic identity (the case with the Breton l-ge)

4. educational problem. The difficulty appears when the dominant l-ge & your native l-ge are different / distant genetically & structurally.

Solutions to the problems:

1. providing adequate bilingual educational programmes. It means that there should be classes in the native l-ge. Children are educated through the medium of the native l-ge. The dominant l-ge is introduced later.

2. promoting minority l-ges through Mass Media & culture

3. encouraging rather than enforcing the learning of the dominant l-ge.