Mercator’s Wiki on Minority Language Learning by Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning is an online factsheet system which provides information on regional or minority language education that have only a (very) small place in the national education system, or none at all. Mercator’s Wiki is to complement the Regional Dossiers. The Wiki provides information on language vitality, demographics, related legislation, history of its education, education in practice, as well as educational institutions and learning resources. Mercator’s Wiki allows for flexibility in its structure to accommodate for the various educational arrangements, which are susceptible for change.

The main goals of the Wiki on Minority Language Learning are to:

• share knowledge on regional or minority language learning, as education of the languages is a key factor for language vitality ¹⁾²⁾³⁾, and inclusion of multilingualism and mother tongue education is important for the academic success and wellbeing of students ^4)5)6)7);
• reflect the institutional support for regional or minority language education in different contexts;
• collect and offer open resources for regional or minority language learning;
• increase the visibility of regional or minority languages online;

The Wiki on Minority Language Leaning mainly focusses on regional or minority languages in Europe, but also covers some languages in other parts of the world.

Mercator’s Wiki on minority language learning is relevant for anyone who wishes to explore developments in regional or minority language education in Europe. For example:

• policymakers;
• researchers;
• students;
• teachers;
• journalists.

With information on regional or minority language education with little or no place in the education system, Mercator’s Wiki complements the Regional Dossiers, which provide concise descriptions of regional or minority languages which are taught in the formal education system. Aspects that are addressed in the Regional Dossiers include features of the education system, recent educational policies, main actors, legal arrangements, and support structures, as well as quantitative aspects such as the number of schools, teachers, and pupils, and financial investments. Mercator’s Wiki and the Regional Dossiers share a similar aim and target group. Together, they describe the education of more than 80 regional or minority languages.

Most people recognise a wiki as a platform to find and share information. Likewise, Mercator’s Wiki on Minority Language Learning allows for people to contribute to the Wiki, and share information about the education of regional or minority languages. Mercator European Research Centre manages, publishes and maintains this Wiki. The main editor of this Wiki enables people who wish to contribute, and entries are proofread before they are published online. This way, Mercator European Research Centre aims to publish accurate and up-to-date information. For more information, see Ownership of content.

Suggestions, new information or new contributors are welcomed. Please go to the page Contribute for more information to contact us, and for an overview of previous contributors to the Mercator's Wiki on minority language learning.

Since 2017, Mercator European Research Centre has had a co-operation with the MA-programme Multilingualism at Campus Fryslân, which is part of the University of Groningen. A lecture or workshop is given to explore the topics covered by the Wiki, and afterwards, the students are assigned to choose a regional or minority language (with a focus on Europe), and write a fact sheet on the education of this language. This way, students learn more on gathering (limited) information on minority or regional language education, international or European treaties which promote education, and of course, about regional or minority education. Afterwards, students can submit their fact sheets to be published online.

If a workshop or such an assignment regarding this Wiki suits your educational programmes, please contact the the main editor.

The mission of the Mercator European Research Centre is the acquisition and inventory, research and study, dissemination and application of knowledge in the field of language learning at school, at home and through cultural participation. Its work is mostly focused on the regional and minority languages in Europe. Since 2016, the Wiki on Minority Language Learning has been online and has developed as a platform to share knowledge on minority or regional language education, as information on this topic often is scarce. Currently, the Wiki has 38 language entries. If the language on the Wiki also has a Regional Dossier, the dossier is linked in the Wiki entry at the bottom of the page.

You can read about new developments in News.

In preparation of the Wiki, a report was made with an overview of other platforms with information on minority or regional languages, as well as recommendations and an initial set-up for the Wiki. See: Discussion paper an inventory of best practicesand potential partners for exchanging information on minority languages by Buning in 2016.).

Some large platforms focus on (socio)linguistic data and resources on (endangered) languages. Several calculate the language vitality of the listed languages, for which the education of the language is (one) of the key factors ^8)9)10). Information of such platforms are incorporated in the Wiki entries by means of the Language Vitality Table. These are:

• UNESCO World Atlas of Languages with the UNESCO’s Language Vitality and Endangerment framework
• Glottolog with the Agglomerated Endangerment Status (AES)
• Endangered Languages Project with the the Language Endangerment Index (LEI)
• Ethnologue . The Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS)