[lg policy] Language Avenue: Sociolinguistics and Language Policy

[Harold Schiffman]

Sociolinguistics and Language Policy

Linguistics - Language Policy
Written by VNTK

Friday, 01 August 2008 15:24

Sociolinguistics takes such issues as language rights and language and
nationalism into great consideration. Since there are different
varieties of the same language within a country, people tend to favor
one (usually standard) variety over the others. The role of
sociolinguistics is to speak for the rights of speakers of all
languages. Crystal (2003, p. 21) notes that movements for minority
language rights have been very important in many countries, including
the USA. He claims that "in certain instances the decline of a
language has been slowed, and occasionally (as in the case of Welsh)
halted." Crystal also notes (p. 128) that some people are concerned
with some "internal forces threatening the country's future identity."

The English language is viewed as a major factor in preserving "mutual
intelligibility and American unity", especially in times when
immigration is increasing at rapid rates. The 'official English'
movement resulted from this viewpoint." Later, Crystal observes this
position is "one of [...] elitism and discrimination." Thus speakers
of minority languages would be denied "constitutional rights to
freedom of self-expression and equal protection of laws" (p. 138).
Crystal refers to the statement on language rights issued by
Linguistic Society of America in 1995:

Notwithstanding the multilingual history of the United States, the
role of English as our common language has never been seriously
questioned . [...] Nonetheless, promoting our common language need
not, and should not, come at the cost of violating the rights of
linguistic minorities (p. 139). Given its multifaceted nature,
sociolinguistics offers the community of language users a better
understanding of policies hidden behind the veil of preservation of
national identity through eliminating the linguistic diversity of this
country.


References:

Crystal, D. (2003). English as a Global Language (2nd ed.). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. [Return to top]

http://languageavenue.com/linguistics/language-policy/sociolinguistics-and-language-policy
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