Language Policy Formation Research Articles

School actors navigating between implementor & arbiter – a qualitative study on the dynamics in multilingual schools’ language policy

ABSTRACT Over the past two decades, heightened migration has increased linguistic diversity in schools. For schools to cope with this multilingualism, many governments impose a monolingual policy where only the language of instruction is allowed. Although many schools adopt such a policy, the classroom practices may differ since multilingual students often revert to translanguaging-as-practice. Drawing on three key conceptual language policy (LP) models (Bonacina-Pugh, 2012. Researching ‘practiced language policies’: Insights from conversation analysis. Language Policy, 11(3), 213–234; Johnson & Johnson, 2015. Power and agency in language policy appropriation. Language Policy, 14(3), 221–243; Ricento & Hornberger, 1996. Unpeeling the onion: Language planning and policy and the ELT professional. TESOL Quarterly, 30(3), 401–427), this study explores LP formation across macro (government), meso (school), and micro (classroom) educational levels in Flanders, Belgium. Macro-level analysis involves scrutinizing policy documents from the Educational Department of Flanders. Meso-level investigation includes policy documents from three secondary schools, compared with insights from interviews with the schools' principals and language coaches. Semi-structured interviews with teachers (n = 18) and classroom observations (n = 138 hours) provide nuanced perspectives at the micro-level. Triangulating data reveals declared, perceived, and practiced language policies at various levels. The study underscores LP's intricate nature within a multilingual educational context. Results highlight the contrast between macro-level policy straightforwardness and the complexity faced at meso- and micro-levels, where context-specific challenges arise. As schools navigate linguistic diversity, the role of language coaches becomes pivotal in creating inclusive and effective educational settings.

Language Policy in Kazakhstan in the Context of World Practice

Abstract The problem of language policy formation arises from combined efforts to achieve the long- term goals of civil peace and avoid ethnic conflicts. Globalization poses a range of challenges to society, such as migration and multiculturalism. However, the language situation in postcolonial developing countries is more complex than in developed ones. This paper analyzes the history of language policy in Kazakhstan by comparing the experiences of other post-Soviet countries and developed countries in Europe and North America. The study relies on comparative historical and conceptual analysis of language policies and population censuses. The paper also explores different approaches to language policy formation from influential researchers to highlight the most significant factors behind a successful language policy. The primary goal of language policy in Kazakhstan is to overcome the dominance of the Russian language without violating the rights and freedoms of ethnic groups. The country’s strategy involves promoting bilingualism to introduce the Kazakh language into all spheres of public life step by step. The results of the study may help other developing countries to shape their national language policies. They may also find applications in political science, futurology, and political forecasting.

Language policy formation in higher education: discursive tension and legitimacy-seeking deliberation

ABSTRACT How are processes of language policy formation carried out? Besides, how does one negotiate competing discourses in a policy process to ensure its legitimacy? Such questions sparked the interest for this study, which examines legitimization processes involved in the development of language policy guidelines at a higher education institution in Norway. The article examines how different actors at the institution strive to obtain legitimacy for their different views, as well as for the policy process as a whole. The data collected include audio recordings of meetings in a language policy committee, submissions from a round of consultations, and language policy guidelines. The article shows how actors drawing on different discourses concerning use of English and Norwegian met during the process. Due to tension between discourses, the policy committee had to take several steps in order for the process and the final guidelines to be acknowledged as legitimate. Most importantly, a range of voices and discourses had to be included. The article offers insight for language policy scholarship as it highlights policy formation in higher education settings and draws attention to how the context of policy formation defines what is seen as legitimate, allowing for future comparative perspectives.

Participation and deliberation in language policy: the case of gender-neutral language

ABSTRACT This paper investigates language policy formation through participatory and deliberative methods and, more concretely, the regulation of gender-neutral language in Barcelona City Council (Spain). Through an argumentative approach to policy, the paper examines a specific language policy idea, process and solution, and the accompanying discursive argumentation used by decision-makers. The paper (a) shows that linguistic preconceptions and power relations may constitute a potential barrier to effective deliberation on language, and (b) argues that if local modes of governance (as opposed to the centralised role assigned to language academies) are going to be used to prescribe language practices in institutional contexts, arrangements should be put in place to provide access to a full range of views about language, generate reflective judgments and promote a public exchange of arguments. The paper concludes with a discussion about the implications of this study for the inclusion of deliberation in language policy-making.

The Formation of Language Policy from the Historical Point of View and its Basic Principles

Language policy is understood as ensuring national unity, economic conditions and political reasons for interfering with the forms and functions of language within the framework of political powers. We can also express the status, languages, and regions of the languages spoken in a society as a set of ideas, laws, and decisions about the rights of individuals who speak them. Although the concepts of «language policy» and «language planning» are accepted as a new concept in sociolinguistics, they are rooted in the past. It should be noted that there is no single term that can express this concept among researchers conducting research in this field related to language policy and language planning. «Language policy, language planning» is often used as a different, sometimes the same concept. Language regulation is a concept that encompasses the whole of conscious activities related to the structure, position, use, and function of languages. However, it is a multifaceted chain of activities involving different processes, expressed in different terms, such as language regulation, language policy, language planning. These vary depending on whether the intervention consists of specific ideas or an abstract action plan, whether the activities are aimed at language norms or the status of the language. The first stage of language regulation is the assessment process aimed at identifying language, languagesociety problems. The problems that arise are considered. The next stage, language policy, is the most concrete stage of a regulatory activity, consisting of goal setting. Language planning is the activity of concretely implementing language policy. Language policy is a set of decisions and applications aimed at the languages spoken in a political unit, their areas, development and use. The main feature of language policy is the presence of conscious interference from outside. These external interferences focus on the internal structure of a language.

The Role of Language Policy in Nation-Building in Pakistan

This article presents the analysis of the relation between language policy formation and nation-identity development process in context of Pakistan. Language is not only an instrument of communication, but it is also central element of culture, resultantly reaffirming the cultural differences in contrast to other cultures. After independence, a shared common language is often used by nations as symbolic marker in order to integrate their diverse population into a single unified nation. Language become a central factor in the process of nationalism or nation-building and to culture in general, results into politicization of language policy and planning process. This paper analyzed the language policy documents of last 20 years and highlighted that in Pakistan LPP, particularly status planning, decisions are largely influenced by power politics in the country. This paper argue that the issue of language cannot be detached from the political issue of the country. Pakistan is a home to a vast number of ethnic communities, who speaks different languages. Pakistan’s recognition of Urdu as national language results in given privileged status to the people who identify themselves with this language. The ruling elite enjoy the privileged status of English and Urdu language in various power domains whereas the languages of minority powerless groups are marginalized from the domains of literacy, administration, education and power. The monolingual conception of national identity has largely alienated the under-represented or powerless languages which put their native speakers at grave disadvantage. This paper proposed that language policy makers must incorporates all the indigenous language on stage in context of nation-identity development with an ideology that all language are equal linguistically or socially. Every individual has right to use and promote their mother tongue and education being basic right of every individual it should be given in one’s own mother tongue. Keywords: Nation-identity, nationalism, Language policy, Urdu language, National language, Status planning, Politics. DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/74-04 Publication date: December 31 st 2020

Challenges and Opportunities of English and Urdu contest: Language Planning and the Implementation of Article 251 in Pakistan

Immediately after independence in 1947, Urdu became the national language of Pakistan. The constitution of 1973 promised the realization of this goal in Article 251. This paper analyses the causes of its lack of implementation with the help of textual analysis of archival sources. A historical overview of the introduction and domination of the English language in South Asia through colonial machinery explains the reasons for ambivalence about English and Urdu language to be entrenched in the colonial legacy and anticolonial nationalism. The lack of capacity and will combines with the forces for globalism in enhancing the position of the English language in Pakistan. Further, the association of English and Urdu with the existing class division has reduced the debate about language policy to rhetorical postures. The paper proposes a reconsideration of the historical top-down formation of language policy and planning and its replacement with a renewed bottom-up approach where diversity in Pakistan is accessed as a resource instead of treating it as a problem.

ЯЗЫКОВАЯ ПОЛИТИКА РЕСПУБЛИКИ КАЗАХСТАН В КОНТЕКСТЕ СОЦИОКУЛЬТУРНЫХ ПРОЦЕССОВ

The article examines the language policy of Kazakhstan from the point of view of historical development and in the context of the socio-cultural process of conjugation of the Chinese initiative «One Belt, One Road» and the program of Kazakhstan «Bright Path», the analysis of the modern language situation in Kazakhstan is made and on the basis of this analysis forecasts are made and determined prospects for the language policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as proposals for the development of language and culture in China. The authors substantiate the importance of the study of the language policy of Kazakhstan for the PRC, since China is a multinational country, and the study of the language policy of Kazakhstan will allow considering the methods adopted by another multiethnic country to solve the problems of the national language and the formation of language policy, and learn from the practice of Kazakhstan, which will allow the PRC to develop and implement a more effective policy in relation to national and foreign languages, as well as form proposals for the development of cultural exchanges between China and Kazakhstan. The article provides an overview of the current state of research on the language policy of Kazakhstan by Western European and Chinese scientists. The article analyzes documents on the language policy of Kazakhstan, examines such noticeable phenomena in the implementation of language policy as Kazakhization, Latinization of the Kazakh writing and trilingual policy, characterizes the development of the Chinese language in Kazakhstan. The authors of the article analyze in detail the most important trends in the socio-cultural life of Kazakhstan in terms of the implementation of a trilingual policy, consider the reasons for the popularity of the Chinese language in Kazakhstan and consider the activities of Confucius Institutes as the most important centers in the spread of the Chinese language and Chinese culture in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

“English is an unwritten rule here”

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of corporate language policies that are implemented without formal decision-making processes.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative case study based on three Scandinavian multinational corporations which use English as a common corporate language without formal language policy decisions.FindingsNon-formalised language policies are found to be clearly distinct from formalised language policies in terms of language policy format, language policy focus, language policy formation, language planning agency and management style. Non-formalised language policies can represent a type of informal control, but the absence of a policy document leaves employees without a common reference point which may cause confusion and inter-collegial conflict.Originality/valueThe study offers a nuanced perspective on the role of language policies in corporate communication by demonstrating that language policies may come in a variety of different forms, also as implicit assumptions about language use. Findings reveal benefits and drawbacks of the different language policy approaches.

Practicing Community-Based Truku (Indigenous) Language Policy: Reflection on Dialogue and Collaboration

This study focuses on one Truku (Indigenous) village in eastern Taiwan and aims to understand the processes and possibilities of bottom-up language policy formation and implementation. In 2012, the first author assisted the villagers to start a community-driven language revitalization initiative. Drawing on scholarship guided by critical Indigenous research methodologies, and critical sociocultural approaches to language policy and planning, this paper continues the conversation about the complex and dynamic processes of collaboration and relationship building in developing bottom-up language revitalization. Affirming the role of relationship in collaboration, the study argues that it is the dialogue of individuals’ intersecting social positions that makes relationship building possible. The newly developed relationship further transforms each other’s position(s) in praxis. As the dichotomy between the researched and the researchers is blurred, the authors further argue that the relationship comes along with responsibility, challenging the silenced dialogue of “exiting” in traditional research ethics. Methodologically, this study contributes to the scholarship of language policy and planning by exploring an alternative, democratic, humanizing way of doing language policy and planning research that prioritizes local knowledge, voice, and engagement. Additionally, drawn from Indigenous epistemology, the recognition of human relationships in praxis critically features the affective dimension of LPP, offering a more holistic and developmental understanding of the process.

Русский язык в мультикультурном пространстве Казахстана: государственная политика и общественные настроения

The article examines issues associated with the functioning of the Russian language in Kazakhstan. Considering the fact that this country is multinational, the issue of intercultural communication is always relevant. There is a need to address intercultural communication as part of the development of state language policy. It is noted that there are four stages in the development of language policy in Kazakhstan. Having analysed the stages of language policy formation, the author concludes that the Russian language in Kazakhstan has held a different position depending on the geopolitical, social, economic, migration and demographic conditions prevailing in Kazakhstan. The current linguistic and cultural situation is characterised by the development of Kazakh-Russian bilingualism, which manifests itself in various spheres of communication. The introduction of multilingual education in national schools makes it possible to draw certain conclusions and identify the positive and negative consequences of the project. The author argues that a language policy meant to protect the interests of speakers of different languages living in a multi-ethnic state may help solve linguistic contradictions.

Discursive mechanisms and human agency in language policy formation: negotiating bilingualism and parallel language use at a Swedish university

In the wake of the enactment of Sweden's Language Act in 2009 and in the face of the growing presence of English, Swedish universities have been called upon by the Swedish Higher Education Authority to craft their own language policy documents. This study focuses on the discursive negotiation of institutional bilingualism by a language policy committee at one Swedish university during the process of developing a draft language policy. Following an ethnographic/discourse analytic orientation to language policy and planning research, data were collected during language policy committee meetings at the university. Using nexus analysis, circulating discourses are mapped and analyzed, with a specific focus on how these discourses were negotiated through mediated actions during committee meeting interaction and then entextualized in a draft policy. Analysis reveals how ‘bilingualism’ became reinterpreted as ‘parallel language use,’ a concept developed and used in Nordic language planning over the past 15 years. Analysis further shows how committee members negotiated the meaning of parallel language use and the processes of resemiotization that took place as discourses from other sociolinguistic scales entered into the committee's discussion and writing. In all, the study highlights discursive mechanisms of language planning and the interplay of social actors and texts.

Closing the Classroom Door and the Achievement Gap

This qualitative study explored Teach for America (TFA) alumni teachers’ discourse on Arizona language policy, conducted with eight teachers in the Phoenix metropolitan area who received their professional teacher preparation from TFA, a national organization that uses alternative paths to certification to place teachers in low-income schools. During the 2009-2010 school year, we investigated how TFA alumni teachers described the state-mandated English-only language policy, which requires all labeled English language learners (ELLs) to enroll in English language development (ELD) classrooms for 4 hr of daily skill-based English instruction. In addition to their open evaluation and critique of the language policy, teachers’ discourse revealed language policy appropriation, as the teachers tweaked and stretched the language policy directives to match their ideology, pedagogy, and classroom context. Findings from our discourse analysis of the interview data demonstrate that the teachers’ discourse reflected their TFA preparation regarding recognizing the flaws in the educational system and taking action to make change within the four walls of their urban classrooms. The research holds implications for language education reform through recognizing the active role of the teacher in language policy formation and implementation.

Jean-Bernard Adrey: Discourse and Struggle in Minority Language Policy Formation: Corsican Language Policy in the EU Context of Governance

Jean-Bernard Adrey: Discourse and Struggle in Minority Language Policy Formation: Corsican Language Policy in the EU Context of Governance

THE LINGUISTIC IMPERIALISM OF NEOLIBERAL EMPIRE1

The article explores the transition from the linguistic imperialism of the colonial and postcolonial ages to the increasingly dominant role of English as a neoimperial language. It analyzes ‘global’ English as a key dimension of the U.S. empire. U.S. expansionism is a fundamental principle of the foreign policy of the United States that can be traced back over two centuries. Linguistic imperialism and neoimperialism are exemplified at the micro and macro levels, and some key defining traits explored, as are cultural and institutional links between the United Kingdom and the United States, and the role of foundations in promoting ‘world’ English. Whereas many parts of the world have experienced a longstanding engagement with English, the use of English in continental Europe has expanded markedly in recent years, as a result of many strands of globalization and European integration. Some ongoing tensions in language policy in Europe, and symptoms of complicity in accepting linguistic hegemony, are explored. Valid analysis of the role of language in corporate-driven globalization requires theory-building that situates discourses and cultural politics in the material realities of neoimperial market pressures. A plea is made for more active language policy formation to strengthen ongoing efforts to maintain linguistic diversity worldwide. 1The article builds on a keynote lecture at the conference ‘Dialogue under occupation. The Discourse of Enactment, Transaction, Reaction, and Resolution,’ November 7–10, 2006, convened at Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, by Dr. Larry Berlin. I am very grateful to Peter Ives, John Richardson, Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, and Sohail Karmani for insightful comments on a draft, and to Richard C. Smith for invaluable historical research.

Bilingual education & bilingualism

Bilingual education & bilingualism

WAR in the Media: Metaphors, Ideology, and the Formation of Language Policy

In 2000, the Arizona Proposition 203 campaign gained overwhelming public approval by claiming that Arizona's bilingual education programs impeded English-language learning of language-minority students. Established within a context of educational and social antipathy, it is necessary to look at the impetus for language policies like Proposition 203 and how they are promoted to the public. This project is based on Lakoff and Johnson's (1980) work with metaphor theory to uncover the rhetorical strategies applied in the media by the English for the Children campaign to position Proposition 203 in a favorable light. Grounded in Critical Discourse Analysis, Santa Ana's (2002) metaphor analysis model is applied here to unveil the most prominent metaphors used to degrade bilingual education in public discourse. While many metaphors were applied in this debate, this work concentrates on the multivalent metaphor PROPOSITION 203 AS WAR to expose the underlying ideology of Proposition 203 and its supporters. The metaphor of WAR was purposely implemented to construct a context of violence and heroism. This study exposes the rhetorical strategies used by opponents of bilingual education and highlights the nature of metaphor as a tool of persuasion.

An Overview of Language Policy and Planning

The 1970s have ushered in a new phase in approaches to language planning; the preference for a less provocative term such as language policy is indicative of this. There is now a decline in the use of terms such as language planning and language engineering: this is as it should be. For almost tow decades, language planning was presented as a cure-all for culturally and lingustically pluralistic societies in the developing Asian, African, and other non-Western countries. The term was overused, and its applications exaggerated. But this enthusiasm was not shared by all; serious practitioners were conscious of the limitations of the claims and the complexities of the task. This changed attitude has naturally contributed to a reassessment and re-evaluation of these earlier claims. There is now a much better understanding of the linguistic, political, sociological, and attitudinal constraints on language policy formation. The availability of greater cross-linguistic empirical data makes comparative observations more meaningful. As a consequence, the term language planning is now used with caution, with restricted generalization, and with an appreciation of the complexity of each situation. It has rightly been recognized that the task is more complex than linguists can handle within the traditionally conceived boundaries of their discipline, for example, in the work of the venerable Einar Haugen, or more recently, in the work of Charles Ferguson, Joshua Fishman, and others.