About Language Policy in Latvia

Abstract

Language policy is the attitude and plan of a country to indicate the existence of diversified language types in this country. The complexity of the historical tradition and social background of a multi-ethnic country often lead to a diversification of the language situations and corresponding language policies. The evolution of Latvian language policy has a complicated history. With the change of the political environment, the status planning of Latvian has experienced twists and turns. The history of Latvia has been seriously influenced by Germanization and Russianization, and the language life is bilingual or multilingual. After independence, Latvia made Latvian a national language for promotion and popularization. Russian is listed as a foreign language after English and German; however, the inheritance of Russian has a history of hundreds of years in Latvia. Due to special geographical reasons, political and linguistic issues in Latvia have always been intertwined with ethnic issues. The solution of language problem in Latvia should be based on the principle of respect for the tradition of language practice, for the language of each person in order to avoid social conflicts. Mass unrest, as a form of reflection of social conflicts, is inevitable from the point of view of the sociology of conflict.