[lg policy] Language policy

Tue Jun 1 14:01:54 UTC 2010

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.

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.

Jurisdictions having such a policy:

Afghanistan - Brazil - Burma - Cyprus - East Timor - Greece -
Indonesia - Iran - Iraq - Kosovo (Not a state; under United Nations
protectorate and officially under sovereignty of Serbia) - Pakistan -
Syria - Thailand - Turkey - 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 - CÃ´te d'Ivoire - Cuba - Czech
Republic - Dominica - Dominican Republic - Ecuador - Gabon - Ghana -
Germany - Gibraltar - Guinea - Guyana - Northern Ireland - 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 -Macedonia - Guatemala - Latvia -
Lithuania - Manitoba - Ontario - Netherlands - New Mexico - Paraguay -
Quebec - Romania - Slovakia - Sweden - Wales - Yukon
Valorization of the official language policies

A policy favouring the official language is a policy of unilingualism.
Sometimes, it favours the 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.

Jurisdictions having such a policy:

Ã…land - Albania - Algeria - Andorra - Azerbaijan - California -
Cambodia - Colombia - Cyprus - Croatia - Egypt - Estonia - France -
Greece - India - Iran - Iceland - Israel - Italy - Japan - Kuwait -
Latvia - Lebanon - Lithuania - Macedonia - Madagascar - Morocco -
Mexico - Moldova - Montenegro - North Korea - Nepal - Peru - Poland -
Romania - Saint-Pierre and Miquelon - Serbia and Montenegro - Slovakia
- Somalia - South Korea - Spain - Tunisia - Ukraine - Uzbekistan -
Vietnam - Voivodina
Sectorial Policies

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-territorialized individual rights
A policy of bilingualism based on non-territorialized 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 Zealand - Northwest Territories - Norway - Nunavut -
Rwanda - Samoa - South Africa - Tanzania - Tonga - Tuvalu
Based on territorialized individual rights
A language policy based on territorialized 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 - Sardinia - Scotland - Sicily
- Sind - Trentino-South Tyrol - Valencia - 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
Linguistic internationalization policies
Mixed linguistic policies
Language boards
*BÃ²rd na GÃ idhlig
*Foras na Gaeilge
*List of language regulators
*Office quÃ©bÃ©cois de la langue franÃ§aise
*Welsh Language Board
See also
*Cultural hegemony
*Language Movement
*Language planning
*Language revival
*Linguicide
*Official script
*Regional language
*Directions of language policies::*Linguistic imperialism:*Linguistic
protectionism and Linguistic purism:*Linguistic separatism
*Some case studies::*Europe: European Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages::*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::*United Kingdom: Welsh Not:*Canada: Bilingualism in
Canada, Official Language Act
Source
* Primary source of information: Leclerc, Jacques. "Index par
politiques linguistiques" in L'amÃ©nagement linguistique dans le
monde, QuÃ©bec, TLFQ, UniversitÃ© Laval, December 2003 [1] (in
French).

http://www.associatepublisher.com/e/l/la/language_policy.htm
-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents.
Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal,
and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message.
 A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman,
Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************

_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list