Language policy

Many countries have a language policy designed to favour or discourage the use of a particular language or set of languages. Although nations historically have used language policies most often to promote one official language at the expense of others, many countries now have policies designed to protect and promote regional and ethnic languages whose viability is threatened

Language Policy as is what a government does either officially through legislation, court decisions or policy to determine how languages are used, cultivate language skills needed to meet national priorities or to establish the rights of individuals or groups to use and maintain languages.

Overview

The preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity in today's world is a major concern to many scientists, artists, writers, politicians, and leaders of linguistic communities. Up to one half of the 6000 languages currently spoken in the world are estimated to be in danger of disappearing during the 21st century. Many factors affect the existence and usage of any given human language, including the size of the native speaking population, its use in formal communication, and the geographical dispersion and the socio-economic weight of its speakers. National language policies can either mitigate or exacerbate the effects of some of these factors.

What follows below is one of many ways in which language policy laws can be categorized.

Assimilation policies

A policy of assimilation is one that uses measures to accelerate the downsizing of one or more linguistic minority group(s). The ultimate goal of such policies is to foster national unity inside a state (based on the idea that a single language in the country will favor that end). It is based on the belief that every person in a given society should be able to function in the dominant language or language variety regardless of which language or dialect that person speaks.

Jurisdictions having such a policy:

Afghanistan - Burma - Estonia - France - Indonesia - Iraq - Pakistan - Syria - Turkey - Thailand - Vietnam

Non-intervention policies

A policy of non-intervention consists in choosing to allow the normal rapport between the main linguistic group and the minorities evolve on its own. This almost invariably favours the dominant group. Sometimes, such policies are accompanied by administrative measures protecting certain minorities.

Jurisdictions having such a policy:

Angola - Argentina - Australia - Austria - Bangladesh - Benin - Burkina Faso - Chile - Congo-Kinshasa - Côte d'Ivoire - Cuba - Czech Republic - Dominica - Dominican Republic - Ecuador - Gabon - Ghana - Germany - Gibraltar - Guinea - Guyana - iran- Jamaica - Japan - Liechtenstein - Mali - Nebraska - Nicaragua - Saint Kitts and Nevis - Saint Lucia - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - El Salvador - San Marino - Saudi Arabia - Senegal - United Kingdom - Uruguay - Venezuela - Vermont

Differentiated legal statute policies

A policy that recognizes a different legal statute for a given language usually aims at allowing the coexistence of multiple linguistic groups inside a state. Typically, the majority has all its linguistic rights secured and sometimes promoted while the minority or minorities are given special protection for their language.

Jurisdictions having such a policy:

Albania - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - California - China - Croatia - Estonia - European Council -Republic of Macedonia - Guatemala - Latvia - Lithuania - Manitoba - Ontario - Netherlands - New Mexico - Paraguay - Quebec - Portugal - Romania - Slovakia - Spain - Sweden - Wales - Yukon

Valorisation of the official language policies

A policy favouring the official language is a policy of unilingualism. Sometimes, it favours the (or a) national language, sometime it favours a colonial language with a strong influence internationally. In some cases, such policies are accompanied by measures recognizing and protecting minority languages or indigenous languages. This approach may be considered in two broadly different types of situations: where the official language is also the first language of the majority of the population, and where it is not.

Jurisdictions having such a policy:

Åland - Albania - Algeria - Andorra - Azerbaijan - Brazil - California - Cambodia - Colombia - Cyprus - Croatia - East Timor - Egypt - Estonia - India - Iran - Iceland - Israel - Italy - Japan - Kuwait - Latvia - Lebanon - Lithuania - Republic of Macedonia - Madagascar - Morocco - Mexico - Moldova - Montenegro - North Korea - Nepal - Peru - - Philippines - Poland - Quebec - Saint-Pierre and Miquelon - Slovakia - Slovenia - Somalia - South Korea - Sri Lanka - Tunisia - Ukraine - Uzbekistan - Vietnam - Voivodina

Bilingualism or trilingualism policies

A policy favouring the two official languages is a policy of bilingualism. There are many different ways in which these policies can be applied.

Based on non-territorialised individual rights

A policy of bilingualism based on non-territorialised individual rights recognizes the same rights to all members of a community whatever their location on the national territory.

Belarus - Burundi - Canada - Central African Republic - Chad - Djibouti - Guam - Hong Kong - Ireland - Kenya - Kiribati - Malta - Nauru - New Brunswick - New Zealand - Northwest Territories - Norway - Nunavut - Rwanda - Samoa - South Africa - Tanzania - Tonga - Tuvalu

Based on territorialised individual rights

A language policy based on territorialised individual rights recognizes the same rights to all members of a community within a specific region.

Aosta Valley - Balearic Islands - Basque Country - Brandenburg - Brittany - Catalonia - Channel Islands - Corsica - Faroe - Finland - Friuli Venezia Giulia - Galicia - Hawaii - Isle of Man - Micronesia - Navarre - Northern Ireland - Nicaragua - Philippines - Sardinia - Scotland - Sicily - Sind - Slovenia (Istria and Prekmurje)- Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol - Wales

Based on territorial rights

Belgium - Cameroon - Fribourg - Grisons - Switzerland - Ticino - Valais

Strategic multilingualism policies

Based on non-territorialized individual rights

A policy of multilingualism based on non-territorialized individual rights recognizes the same rights to all members of a community whatever their location on the national territory.

Singapore

Language boards

• List of language regulators
• Bòrd na Gàidhlig
• Dutch Language Union
• Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
• Foras na Gaeilge
• Office québécois de la langue française
• Welsh Language Board

See also

• Language politics
• Cultural hegemony
• Language Movement
• Language planning
• Language reform
• Language revival
• Language tax
• Linguicide
• Official script
• Regional language
• International Mother Language Day

• Directions of language policies:

• Linguistic imperialism
• Linguistic protectionism and Linguistic purism
• Linguistic separatism

• Some case studies:

• Europe: European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

• Belgium: Language legislation in Belgium
• Croatia: Croatian linguistic purism
• Finland: Finland's language strife
• France: Language policy in France
• Germany: Germanization
• Poland: Polonization
• Spain: Language politics in Francoist Spain
• Former Soviet Union: Russification, Ukrainianization, Education in the Soviet Union
• United Kingdom: Welsh Not

• Canada: Bilingualism in Canada, Official Language Act
• Pakistan: Bengali Language Movement
• Arab world: Arabisation

References

• Leclerc, Jacques. "Index par politiques linguistiques" in L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, Québec, TLFQ, Université Laval, December 2003 (in French).

Further Reading

• Shohamy, Elana (2006). Language Policy: Hidden Agendas and New Approaches. London: Routledge.
• Crawford, James. Language Policy Website.
• Bastardas-Boada, Albert (2002). "World language policy in the era of globalization: Diversity and intercommunication from the 'complexity' perspective", Noves SL. Revista de sociolingüística (Barcelona)
• Bastardas-Boada, Albert (2007). "Linguistic sustainability for a multilingual humanity" Glossa. An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 2 N. 2.
• Kenan Malik "Let them die". Prospect, 2000.