17.491, Review: Socioling/Lang Planning: Ricento (2005)

[LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-17-491. Wed Feb 15 2006. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 17.491, Review: Socioling/Lang Planning: Ricento (2005)

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Wayne State U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>
 
Reviews (reviews at linguistlist.org) 
        Sheila Dooley, U of Arizona  
        Terry Langendoen, U of Arizona  

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded by Eastern Michigan University, Wayne
State University, and donations from subscribers and publishers.

Editor for this issue: Lindsay Butler <lindsay at linguistlist.org>
================================================================  

What follows is a review or discussion note contributed to our 
Book Discussion Forum. We expect discussions to be informal and 
interactive; and the author of the book discussed is cordially 
invited to join in. If you are interested in leading a book 
discussion, look for books announced on LINGUIST as "available 
for review." Then contact Sheila Dooley at dooley at linguistlist.org. 

===========================Directory==============================  

1)
Date: 13-Feb-2006
From: Dafna Yitzhaki < dafna75 at zahav.net.il >
Subject: An Introduction to Language Policy 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 21:18:48
From: Dafna Yitzhaki < dafna75 at zahav.net.il >
Subject: An Introduction to Language Policy 
 

EDITOR: Ricento, Thomas
TITLE: An Introduction to Language Policy
SUBTITLE: Theory and Method
PUBLISHER: Blackwell Publishing
YEAR: 2005
Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-2442.html 

Dafna Yitzhaki, English Department, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 
Israel. 

SYNOPSIS

''An Introduction to Language Policy'' is an extensive collection of 
chapters written by prominent scholars in the field and intended for 
students, academicians and researchers in sociolinguistics, applied 
linguistics, social studies and related areas. The chapters cover a 
large range of topics in the field, from its inception to the present, and 
include both theoretical and methodological perspectives. The 
nineteen chapters of the book are organized into three parts, each 
one opening with an overview by the editor. Part 1, entitled 
'Theoretical Perspectives in Language Policy' aims at defining 
and characterizing the field historically, through its main goals and 
from the point of view of several theoretical 'schools of thought,' such 
as Critical Theory, Postmodern thinking, economics and political 
theory. Methodology is the topic of part 2, which consists of 
contributions that present practical procedures, such as text and 
discourse analysis, ethnography, and psycho-sociological methods 
(Chapters 9, 10 and 12) and more theoretically-oriented approaches 
dealing with the implications of historical studies and territorial 
considerations (Chapters 8 and 11). Part 3 presents seven 'Topical 
Areas' in language policy, including traditional subjects, such as 
nationalism, education, and language shift (Chapters 13, 16 and 17); 
relatively new topics of interest such as sign languages (Chapter 18), 
and more theoretically controversial topics, such as language rights 
and linguistic imperialism (Chapters 14, 15 and 19). Each of the 
nineteen chapters in the book ends with an annotated bibliography 
and a list of discussion questions. 

The first two chapters of Part 1 'Language Policy: Theory and 
Practice - An Introduction' by Editor Thomas Ricento and 'Frameworks 
and Models in Language Policy and Planning' by Nancy Hornberger 
begin by reviewing the history of the field. Ricento then focuses on the 
overall, positive influence of Critical Theory on the research in the 
field, which inspired ideological concepts such as 'Linguistic 
Imperialism' (see Chapter 19) and language rights (see Chapters 14, 
15). At the same time, he points out that these 'critical' studies may 
not ''rise to the level of a paradigm in the traditional sense of some 
grand theory'' (p.17). 

Hornberger goes on to describe the Integrative Framework for 
Language Policy and Planning (LPP), which is a synthesis of several 
policy models proposed by different scholars from the 60's onward. 
The framework presented is a summary of the one originally proposed 
in Hornberger (1994) and it would probably be worthwhile for readers 
who are less familiar with the field to look at the original description for 
a better understanding. Both writers end with similar observations 
regarding the current state of the field: Ricento claims it is still missing 
well-defined models for systematic evaluations of policies across 
settings, and Hornberger maintains that the field is still ''poised 
perpetually between theory and practice'' (p.35).

Each of the next four chapters revolves around a specific discipline 
or 'school of thought'. James Tollefson (Chapter 3) discusses Critical 
Language Policy (CLP) as a sub-field of LPP based on both the need 
for ethical and political considerations in research, and on the 
incorporation of ideas and concepts from Critical Theory, such 
as 'power', 'struggle', 'colonization' and 'hegemony'. CLP is further 
divided into two main approaches: the 'historical-structural approach' 
and the one based on Foucault's notion of 'Governmentality'. 

Alastair Pennycook (Chapter 4) suggests adopting a Postmodern 
approach as it lends a more 'localized understanding' to notions such 
as knowledge, action and value. In so doing, he argues, researchers 
can challenge the traditional categories of ethnicity, territory or nation 
when planning, analyzing and evaluating language policies. Policy 
studies that express the 'postmodern spirit', according to the writer, 
are Rampton's (1995) ''Crossing study'' (in which members of 
dominant groups 'cross sides' and use a minority language) and Le 
Page and Tabouret-Keller's (1985) ''Acts of Identity''. 

François Grin (Chapter 5) suggests using tools and concepts from the 
discipline of economics in order to investigate how economic variables 
affect linguistic processes and vice versa. More specific lines of 
inquiry include the influence of language on labor income, language 
as a criterion for the distribution of resources and language as a 
medium of international trade. Grin devotes a large portion of the 
chapter to presenting a systematic cost-efficiency model for language 
policy, starting on an individual basis and moving towards the 
aggregated 'social market' value for all members of society (p.85). He 
acknowledges the fact that such a social market value involves 
additional factors, such as the 'non market'/'symbolic' value of the 
specific policy. Unfortunately, he does not demonstrate how this kind 
of an analysis could be accomplished. Political Theory is the fourth 
discipline addressed in relation to language policy. 

In chapter 6, Ronald Schmidt states that political science is a 'treasure-
trove' (p.97) for people working in language policy.  He illustrates this 
with the works of two political theorists: Bonnie Honig and Will 
Kymlicka. Honig explains the vast support for the 'English-only' 
movement in the US, showing how xenophilia and xenophobia are 
intertwined. In other words, while immigrants enable Americans to 
preserve positive myths of the American nation, such as individualism 
and feminism, they also embody the negative symbol of citizens who 
receive benefits without contributing in return. Kymlicka represents a 
pluralist approach to language and social equality. His main argument 
asserts that the state should play an active role in preserving cultural 
communities since they are fundamental to individuals' 'well-being'. 
However, only national minorities are entitled to demand the formal 
inclusion of their languages in the public sphere since 'nation-building 
processes', which are relevant for groups such as ethnic minorities, 
should not apply to them. 

In the closing chapter of part 1 (Chapter 7), Harold Schiffman 
proposes the notion of 'Linguistic Culture' as a theoretical concept in 
order to examine language policy. Linguistic Culture, which was 
originally introduced in Schiffman (1996), refers to ''the sum totality of 
ideas, values, beliefs, attitudes, prejudices, myths religious structures... 
speakers bring to their dealings with language from culture' 
(p.112). It is illustrated by two principles: diglossia and the importance 
of the covert aspects in a language policy. The Tamil tongue in India is 
used as an example of a language that became diglossic through 
an 'implicit policy', while France and the U.S. are characterized as 
societies in which mythologies about language and policy are so 
deeply rooted within the linguistic culture that it is unnecessary to 
create an actual, official policy. 

In part 2, 'Methodological Perspectives in Language Policy', two types 
of chapters emerge. The first type includes contributions from Suresh 
Canagarajah, Ruth Wodak and Colin Baker (Chapters 9, 10 and 12) 
that describe familiar and recognized methodological paradigms. 
Canagarajah's chapter focuses on the methodology of ethnography. It 
begins with background issues, such as the nature of qualitative 
methodology and the distinction between Traditional and Critical 
Ethnography. Then it addresses the relevance of ethnography to 
different policy stages and policy forms (status, acquisition and 
corpus), using various examples of ethnographic policy studies and 
showing how the researchers' perceptive observations would probably 
not have been possible unless ethnographic investigation had been 
carried out. 

Wodak's 'Linguistic Analyses in Language Policies' deals with text and 
discourse analysis. 'Text' includes oral, written and visual texts, and it 
is considered to be both the object of analysis and a 'representation' 
of the groups and the situations investigated. Wodak correlates these 
analyses to Critical Discourse Analysis, and she emphasizes the need 
to consider as many social and political contextual variables as 
possible. The chapter ends with an analysis of an extract from a focus 
group discussion. The participants come from different regions in 
Austria, and Wodak attempts to show how linguistic markers (such as 
pronouns and particles) can be used to reveal differing 'strategies of 
argumentation' associated with national and linguistic identities. 

Baker presents the psycho-sociological methodology in language 
planning according to four concepts: (1) Language Attitudes 
(measured by attitude surveys and opinion polls as well as more 
qualitative methods, such as open-ended interviews and 
autobiographies); (2) Ethnolinguistic Vitality (measured by the 
ethnolinguistic vitality scale); (3) Language Use (measured by census, 
language-use surveys and social networks) and (4) Language Testing 
(measured by proficiency tests of understanding, speaking, reading 
and writing). 

The two other chapters in Part 2 are more theoretically oriented. 
Authored by Terrence Wiley and Don Cartwright, chapters 8 and 11 
discuss issues that are relatively unique in the LPP literature.  In 'The 
Lessons of Historical Investigation', Wiley urges the reader to learn 
one principal 'lesson'. He advises language policy and planning 
researchers to question long-established, Western-centered 
paradigms that have influenced historical thinking and were once used 
to justify colonialism and the repression of indigenous peoples. One of 
the paradigms he describes is 'the colonizer's model', which is based 
on the assumption that 'good things' develop in the west and then 
spread to the periphery. Historical studies that followed this line of 
thinking used western standardized literacy as the model for corpus 
and status planning. Moreover, this led to a division between literate 
and non-literate populations in which western alphabetic literacy was 
associated with individual cognitive development and institutional 
advancement (the 'cognitive great-divide' theory). 

The chapter 'Geolinguistic Analysis in Language Policy' by Don 
Cartwright refers to the territorial considerations relevant in LPP 
research. The writer identifies two types of communities - 
geographically-peripheral and contiguous - and discusses the main 
distinctions between them. For example, while fragmented 
communities usually settle for exclusive minority language use in 
minority language domains (i.e., the educational system), contiguous 
communities demand minority language use in all domains within a 
certain territory (where the minority language is dominant). 
Additionally, Cartwright claims that speakers of a minority language in 
fragmented communities are at risk for subtractive bilingualism, 
whereas such speakers in contiguous communities are likely to 
develop additive bilingualism. 

In the third part of the volume, 'Topical Areas in Language Policy', 
Nationalism (Jan Blommaert, chapter 13), educational language 
policies (Christian Paulston and Kai Heidemann, Chapter 16) and 
Language Shift (Joshua Fishman, Chapter 17) represent the more 
prevalent areas in the field. Blommaert's principal claim throughout 
chapter 13 is that the relationship between language and nationality 
can no longer be seen as a simple, one-to-one correlation. Rather, it 
should consider more specific domains, activities and norms of 
language use. Blommaert uses Tanzania in East Africa to demonstrate 
how policy-makers were trying to create one national identity, that of 
the Socialist African, through the use of Swahili. He believes this was 
problematic because it ignored the different layers of identity people 
manifested through the use of other languages (English and the other 
indigenous languages). 

Paulston and Heidemann make a similar claim. According to them, 
state-level educational policy can only succeed if it considers the 
socio-cultural context of the specific environment. They also address 
other key principles, such as the idea that the best teaching medium is 
the mother tongue, and the notion that children easily perceive 
the 'standard'/'correct' form of language. Because the writers are 
more interested in how language policies are 'represented' in the 
classrooms than in the policies themselves, they envision the 
programs as intervening variables rather than as the independent or 
causal variables that most other researchers employ. 

Fishman also discusses the educational system, emphasizing its role 
as a powerful language-shift mechanism. He highlights the fact that 
language shifts may occur without explicit policies (i.e., Spanish 
speakers in the US) and that 'no-policy policy' (p.318) usually benefits 
the stronger group. Interestingly, he observes the significance of 
corpus planning, and asserts that it (and not merely status planning) 
may also be 'political' and result in a shift. 

Chapters 14, 15 and 19 address more controversial notions that are 
largely influenced by critical theory: Stephen May covers Minority 
Rights, Tove Skutnabb-Kangas deals with Linguistic Human Rights 
and Phillipson tackles 'Linguistic Imperialism'. May begins by criticizing 
the 'old' school of LPP for accepting the processes that have led to 
the creation of hierarchy between languages. The majority of the 
chapter is devoted to arguments advocating minority language rights: 
(1) the minority-majority language hierarchy is neither a natural nor a 
linguistic process.  Rather, it is the result of power relations and 
political events; (2) The expected losses of minority languages are 
predicted to cause social, economic and political displacements of 
their speakers; (3) language loss for linguistic minorities does not 
result in better social mobility. 

Skutnabb-Kangas presents an even more inclusive and severe 
approach to linguistic human rights (LHR). She claims that LHR should 
be both negative, (by protecting individuals from discrimination), and 
positive, (by maintaining and promoting one's identity); it should be 
both individual and collective; it should consider both territorial and 
personal factors (see Chapter 11); and it must be based on both 'hard 
laws' (such as covenants and charts) and 'soft laws' (such as 
declarations and supreme court decisions). The educational system, 
according to the writer, is an important agent of 'linguistic and cultural 
genocide' (definitions of 'genocide' from a UN convention are used to 
justify this term), and submersion education, which is perceived to 
cause 'serious mental harm' (p.278) such as impaired fluency and 
literacy. 

The intentional element is also crucial to Phillipson's theory. The 
term 'Linguistic Imperialism' (LI) was coined in Phillipson's 1992 book 
and refers to the dominant role of English in international relations and 
how language pedagogy has created a hierarchy of languages with 
English at the top. In this chapter, Phillipson concentrates on global 
developments and language policy trends in Europe. He points out, 
for example, that English has been 'uncritically' accepted as the lingua 
franca of Europe (p.357), and that Sweden and Denmark are 
exceptional examples of European countries that realize the threat to 
cultural vitality and diversity posed by a shift to English norms. 
Phillipson questions the EU's ability to resist the English-only 
pressure, and attempts to answer this inquiry via a historical analysis 
(i.e., the influence of the Marshall Plan on European economy, and 
the reluctance of Germany to promote its language after the Nazi 
experience).

The last contribution to mention in Part 3 is from Timothy Reagan on 
sign languages (Chapter 18), an unusual topic in LPP literature. The 
significance of the chapter lies in its clarification of basic 'sign 
language terms' (such as the distinction between 'natural sign 
languages' and 'contact languages') and in its analysis of the 
emerging, policy-related issues in the field. For example, when sign 
language is recognized in a certain state, it does not gain an 'official 
language' status. In the educational system, a debate rages about 
whether to teach an 'oral language' or sign language. Reagan also 
shows how language rights terminology has penetrated policy 
discussions on sign languages: sign language users are demanding 
recognition as 'indigenous minorities', and scholars are cautioning that 
a burgeoning hierarchy between sign languages could result in one 
dominant sign language. 

EVALUATION 

The book certainly succeeds in moving the field forward - not only by 
providing a varied range of topics (some of which are uncommon in 
the language policy literature, such as Geolinguistics, historical 
investigations and sign languages), but also by exposing the reader 
to 'controversies' in the field. For instance, the concept of Language 
Rights is presented as fundamental to the field (May, Chapter 14; 
Skutnabb-Kangas Chapter 15) and at the same time as a 'grand 
narrative' rooted within a 'modernity discourse' that prevents language 
policy researchers from understanding underlying and complex 
contextual processes (Pennycook, Chapter 4). In chapter 6, Schmidt 
describes the ideas of political theorist Will Kymlicka at length (In 
Chapter 14, May also refers to them), emphasizing their power to 
develop fair citizenship and social equality. Skutnabb-Kangas 
however, sees them as dangerous prejudices against 'true' linguistic 
diversity (p.280). Another example of intense debate is Linguistic 
Imperialism, presented by Phillipson in chapter 19 and referred to 
throughout the book as a strong 'critical notion'. Nevertheless, 
Fishman recommends looking at Phillipson's characterization of the 
spread of English as a shift process rather than as a 'conspiracy act' 
(p.322-3).     

This 'dialogue' between chapters far exceeds mere criticism. 
Postmodern theory, for example, is the topic of chapter 4, but it also 
categorizes the ideological perspective of other chapters, such as 
Wiley's research on historical investigation (Chapter 8). This is also 
true of critical theory, which is presented in chapter 3 and has a direct 
influence on many of the authors, such as in Wodak's description of 
linguistic analysis (Chapter 10). Furthermore, although methodology is 
the topic of part 2, numerous descriptions of case studies appear 
throughout part 3, along with the methodological approaches and 
practices taken by the researchers (the acquisition and revitalization 
studies described by Paulston and Heidemann in Chapter 16, for 
example).  

The annotated bibliographies in each chapter are highly 
recommended as a starting point for both students and scholars who 
wish to extend their knowledge of the specific topic discussed by the 
author. The usefulness of the discussion questions, however, is less 
apparent. They might assist students in further understanding the 
topics addressed in each chapter.

Another point of weakness is the 'non-homogeneity' in part 2. 
Chapters 8 and 11 contribute important observations (the bias of 
historical investigations and the relevancy of territorial considerations), 
however, it is not clear why they were included in the methodological 
section, especially when the other chapters focus on clear 
methodological paradigms, such as textual analysis and ethnography. 

Overall, the volume is well-written, well-edited and provides a wealth 
of information for linguists and non-linguists alike.

REFERENCES

Hornberger, N. H. (1994). Literacy and Language Planning. Language 
and Education, 8, 75-86.

Le Page R. & Tabouret-Keller A. (1985). Acts of Identity: Creole-based 
approaches to language and ethnicity. Cambridge University Press.

Patten, A. &  Kymlicka, W. (2003). Introduction. Language rights and 
political theory: Context, issues, and approaches. In A. Patten & W. 
Kymlicka (eds.), Language Rights and Political Theory (pp. 1-10). 
Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Phillipson, R. (1992) Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University 
Press. 

Rampton, B. (1995). Crossing: Language and ethnicity among 
adolescents. London: Longman.

Schiffman, H. F. (1996). Linguistic Culture and Language Policy. 
London/New York: Routledge. 

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

I am currently working toward my Ph.D. in Linguistics at Bar Ilan 
University, Ramat Gan, Israel. My dissertation analyzes institutional-
level language policy and practice in Israel with respect to Arabic in 
three domains: the legal, the educational and the media. I also work 
as an instructor teaching English as a Foreign Language for the 
Hearing Impaired, and as an assistant in a graduate course on 
Bilingualism at Bar Ilan University. My research interests include 
societal bilingualism, language policy and Language Rights.





-----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-17-491