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Great Expectations, Trivialised Gains
Multilingualism is being embraced more and more rhetorically in Germany, yet the language policy approach put into practice in schools shows a hierarchical order within which languages are treated unequally. While some are viewed favourably, some others are either marginalised or largely ignored. Analysing the newly introduced Kurdish heritage language teaching in Berlin, this article seeks to explore how language hierarchies function in schools and how teaching Kurdish is confined by such hierarchies. Drawing on field notes and observations collected as part of a larger project, the article pinpoints the structural limitations and challenges faced by Kurdish heritage language instruction in Berlin and why it might contribute to the reproduction of hierarchical attitudes towards multilingualism rather than challenge them
One Language, Two Contexts: Kurdish in Bakur and in Western Turkey’s Metropolises
When Kurdish emigrants from Eastern Turkey are studied, one first thinks of the Kurdish emigrants in Europe and the Americas. And yet, a particularly large Kurdish diaspora from Eastern Turkey can be found within Turkey itself, having resettled in western Turkey’s metropolises. This article seeks to discuss recent sociolinguistic developments both in the Kurdish-speaking regions of Eastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan/Bakur) and in the Kurdish communities in western Turkey (i.e., in the diaspora). My focus is on the two largest so-called ‚minority languages‘ of Turkey: Kurmanji and Zazaki—with the guiding issue of interest being language policy. And here again, my interest is twofold: first, Turkey’s language policy towards its minorities, particularly towards Kurdish, is at stake; and second, the language policy within the Kurdish movement towards Kurdish is depicted, including its recent paradigm shift, and with particular consideration of gender aspects. Recent developments give rise to doubts and yet hope that Kurdish will continue to serve as a language of private life, but also spread to everyday public visibility and prestige in Turkey.