Linguicism

Linguicism (also called linguistic discrimination or languagism) is understood as treating someone unfairly or worse than others due to one's linguistic skills and performance. Linguicism may be connected with violating linguistic rights (human rights connected with language and communication) and infringing on one's freedom of using his or her mother tongue, dialect, or register in social interactions. Taking into account the scope of languagism, it may concern different levels of linguistic representation. Analyzing the macro dimension, it may involve languages, dialects, or registers. Linguistic discrimination is also connected with communication styles. Thus, some communicative behaviors may be viewed as improper or worse by others and, consequently, the users of some interactional practices as inferior. Linguicism may also be observed on a micro level as it may concern words and phrases. Thus, because linguicism involves social linguistic representation (language) and personal communication style (word), it can be viewed on both individual and group levels. It may concern both verbal and paraverbal elements of communication; one's choice of linguistic repertoire and pitch may be viewed as more prestigious than the phrases or accent in the piece of communication produced by someone else.

Apart from the mentioned issues, linguicism may also concern situations when someone has limited or no access to information due to some impairments or health problems. For example, linguicism may take the form of making information unavailable in Braille or sign language. In addition, linguicism is connected with the juxtaposition of linguistic inclusion and exclusion. It is often represented by the opposition of language or dialect and lingua franca or vernacular. As far as the background of linguistic discrimination is examined, there are various reasons for linguicism. One of them is stereotyping that is connected with thinking that speakers of some languages, or dialects, as well as the users of some styles or nonstandard phrases, lack certain skills or are inferior to others in some way.

In addition, the speakers possessing different verbal and paraverbal features may be perceived as less educated or coming from disadvantaged social backgrounds. Another reason for linguicism may be the lack of financial resources to conduct efficient [Page 799]multilingual policies. For example, the costs of translating some materials into Many dialects or minority languages may be too high for some organizations. Consequently, some speakers do not have the possibility to access data in their mother tongues on, for example, corporate Web sites. In addition, linguistic issues do not take place in a vacuum; political, financial, and cultural dimensions influence linguistic attitudes and policies. Thus, linguistic discrimination is often caused by the improper allocation of power, money, and human resources in a given setting. Consequently, historic, monetary, or cultural factors influence the treatment of linguistic communities in a given territory.