Introduction: Language policies on social network sites

Abstract

Research on language policy has progressed in recent decades from a focus on the language policies of government agencies to policies within a much broader range of domains, such as the workplace, the family, the public space, and the media (Spolsky 2009). Recognising that the official policy of a setting may bear little relationship to the de facto language norms operating within it, this research has also developed from an emphasis on explicit language policies to policies taking more implicit forms (Shohamy 2006; Spolsky 2004), In this regard, it is now generally accepted that policies need to be understood in the context of the language practices of their target audience and their associated language ideologies. Stronger forms of this view go so far as to claim that the ‘language policy’ of a certain setting can only be understood as the sum total of the policies, practices and ideologies operating within that environment (Spolsky 2004). Within this view, language policy is a dynamic composite of elements, constantly under construction and always subject to change. The expanded view of language policy has also drawn attention to a broader range of language policy agents. When exploring a wider range of domains with attention to both explicit and implicit forms of policymaking, it becomes clear that not simply government officials but also parents, bosses, colleagues, sports coaches, friends, can and do engage in making and modifying language policies. While some theorists claim that doing so requires some kind of actual or perceived authority on the part of the policymaker, e.g. status as a parent (Spolsky 2009), this may not necessarily be the case. Indeed, if we take seriously the notion that practices make