Language Acquisition Planning Research Articles

La planificació de l’estatus i de l’adquisició del català al Principat d’Andorra: anàlisi qualitativa de discursos dels gestors de les polítiques lingüístiques

This article presents a qualitative analysis of a sample of discourses on status and language acquisition planning in the Principality of Andorra. After a presentation of the demographic and legal contexts of languages in Andorra, as well as the qualitative research methods carried out, the results of the study are presented. Among the most relevant, it is worth highlighting the perception of Catalan as a language whose use is not widespread despite being the only official language of the country. This phenomenon is even observed in language uses in public administration. The other important result is the need to implement better strategies to encourage migrant people to learn Catalan. According to participants in the fieldwork, the State should put more effort into making Catalan the common language of the whole society because this will contribute to the country’s nation-building.

Language Policy and Planning in Algeria: Case Study of Berber Language Planning

This paper discusses the Berber language situation in Algeria in a language policy and planning context. It comprises two main parts. The first provides a general account of the linguistic profile of Algeria coupled with a historical context of the Berber language and Algerian Arabic. In order to develop a deeper understanding of the present issue, the second section is devoted to the Berber language planning, and the socio-political context of its recognition as the second official language alongside Arabic. In accordance with Hornberger’s (2006) Integrative Framework, the study provides a critical examination of the Berber language planning process, i.e., corpus and acquisition planning, and explores the challenges language planners are facing.

Characteristics of Foreign Language Education in Italy and Implications: From the Perspective of National Foreign Language Capacity

This article reviews foreign language education in Italy using a national language competence-oriented evaluation approach. Foreign language education is at the heart of the acquisition component of language planning, and assessing foreign language education from the perspective of the purpose of language policy, i.e. the promotion of national language competence, which refers to the sum total of the government’s ability to deal with all language-related issues of strategic interests and allows for a more direct application of language planning theory. Based on the theoretical framework of National Foreign Language Capacity and acquisition planning, this study presents a detailed analysis of the characteristics and problems of Italian foreign language education policy, taking into account its ‘rationality,’ ‘coverage,’ and ‘influence,’ which are three interrelated indicators that allow for a comprehensive and specific assessment of national foreign language competence. By revealing the inadequacies of Italy’s national language proficiency system, the author intends to provide an insight into the gap between the effectiveness of policy formulation and implementation in foreign language education in Italy and to suggest some widespread problems in foreign language education that are similar to those in China.

Language in education planning: Evaluation policy in Mongolia

The drive of this article is to evaluate the capability and service delivery of the English language training institutions and their coordination, according to the findings of the survey. The research incorporated the framework of language planning goals of Kaplan and Baldauf, to perform relative and content investigation. Expressive statistics and examination of study related to language learning and instruction delivered at the secondary schools and the universities have been studied to identify conditions for the English language training. This article focuses on language acquisition planning, especially evaluation policy in Mongolian educational institutions which have the main responsibility to implement the policy. It also discussed the results taken for consideration in language testing considering attaining programs, and goals. For example, every year the proficiency testing is done for more than 3000 freshmen students who are studying ‘English I’ (A2 level), the assessment reveals that more than 90% of them fail. It is then concluded that there is no united and national evaluation policy for English language acquisition planning in Mongolia.

Individual agency in language acquisition planning for multi-dialectism: A Shanghai story

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the individual agency exercised by different actors in the process of language planning for multi-dialectism in Shanghai, China. Language acquisition planning is adopted as the analytical framework to identify the multiple roles individual actors have played in promoting the use and learning of the Shanghai dialect. Drawing on in-depth interviews and document analysis, this paper interprets 18 local actors’ roles in relation to preservation of the Shanghai dialect. Qualitative analysis of the data reveals that these actors exercised agency in different aspects of language acquisition planning and thus exerted different influences on the planning process. The paper concludes with a discussion of the need to give individual actors more room to exercise their agency without predefined policy constraints in the language acquisition planning process. The relevant findings have implications for other multilingual/multidialectal contexts with similar constraints where linguistic diversity needs to be sustained by bottom-up efforts. In addition, this study captures various individual actors’ agency to help these actors’ influences on language acquisition planning.

Język łużycki w szkolnictwie Brandenburgii i Saksonii – (nie)obecność w edukacji jako czynnik kształtujący sytuację języka w ostatnich 200 latach

Abstrakt
 Teza: 1) Sytuacja języka łużyckiego w szkolnictwie Brandenburgii i Saksonii w ostatnich 200 latach była generalnie zła. 2) Niewystarczająca obecność łużycczyzny w szkolnictwie wpłynęła niekorzystnie na ogólną sytuację wskazanego języka.
 Omówione koncepcje: Artykuł oparty jest na socjolingwistycznych pojęciach planowania języka (language planning), planowania statusu (status planning) i planowania akwizycji (acquisition planning), według definicji Roberta L. Coopera (1989). Omawiając dzieje łużycczyzny w szkolnictwie, autor analizuje decyzje władz niemieckich oraz aktywność ruchu łużyckiego, dopatrując się w nich świadomych działań, które miały ograniczać lub też promować używania języka łużyckiego, nie tylko w placówkach szkolnych, ale też w innych sferach życia społecznego.
 Wyniki i wnioski: Potwierdzona została hipoteza, że sytuacja łużycczyzny w edukacji przez ostatnie 200 lat była rzeczywiście zła. Pomimo pozytywnych inicjatyw w latach 50. XX wieku, nie udało się naprawić szkód poczynionych wcześniej przez celową germanizację. Hipoteza, że niewystarczająca obecność łużycczyzny w szkolnictwie wpłynęła niekorzystnie na ogólną sytuację języka została potwierdzona, ale tylko częściowo, ponieważ wskazano też inne, równie ważne czynniki, które warunkowały odejście od języka łużyckiego.
 Oryginalność/wartość poznawcza podejścia:
 Tekst ten może być wartościowy jako podsumowanie dotychczasowego stanu wiedzy, jako element popularyzacji problematyki języków mniejszościowych i jako inspiracja dla bardziej szczegółowych badań empirycznych nad sytuacją języka łużyckiego.

The Correlation between Language Acquisition and Language Planning

Language acquisition is a process which can take place at any period of one's life. In the sense of first language acquisition, however, it refers to the acquisition (unconscious learning) of one's native language (or languages in the case of bilinguals) during the first 6 or 7 years of one's life (roughly from birth to the time one starts school).Language acquisition planning has a significant correlation to the language acquisition by the students. Because the students’ age in between zero up to five years is the appropriate moment to acquire a certain language.

Fostering Social Inclusion through Multilingual Habitus in Estonia: A Case Study of the Open School of Kalamaja and the Sakala Private School

After the restoration of independence in 1991, Estonia continued with a parallel school system with separate public schools operating for Russian- and Estonian-speaking children. Seen as a developmental ‘growing pains’ of a transitional state, during the last 27 years the separate school system has contributed to infrastructural difficulties, educational injustice, and societal segregation. This article investigates the role of private schools in addressing this injustice from the analytical angle of new institutionalism, structuration and intergroup contact theories. How do these institutions challenge and aim at changing the state language regime or path dependency in the language of education? Two case studies are presented in this article: The Open School, established in 2017 for children with different home language backgrounds and targeting trilingual competences; The Sakala Private School, established in 2009, offering trilingual education with Russian as a medium of instruction. During this period of nation-state rebuilding and globalization, we investigate whether developing a multilingual habitus is a way to address the issue of social cohesion in the Estonian society in. So far, no other studies of private initiatives in Estonian language acquisition planning have been done.

To postpone or not to postpone? Examining access policy on early foreign language learning from second language acquisition and language planning and policy perspectives

AbstractThis paper examines the suggestion to postpone instruction on early foreign language learning, from both second language acquisition (SLA) and language planning and policy (LPP) perspectives. Contrary to the widely held belief that SLA research on age effects can inform policymakers as to when to start instruction, this paper demonstrates that such research may not offer much to language policymaking. The paper argues that the use of a more pragmatic approach in the transdisciplinarity of SLA and LPP emphasizing research into the benefits of instruction for children should be the underpinning SLA-based rationale for early foreign language learning policies. The paper contends that collaborative work between policymakers and researchers working in LPP and/or SLA domains in an SLA-LPP consortium could help address the problems occurring in the micro-context of policy interpretation and enactment with a primary focus oninput enhancementrather thanpostponement.

The use of Basque in model D schools in the Basque Autonomous Community

Against the background of a general sketch of language acquisition planning in European indigenous language minority settings and a brief presentation of developments in language acquisition planning in the BAC, this contribution presents an analysis of recent data on language use in Basque model D-schools. On the one hand, it concentrates on the differences in language use at school as they exist between pupils according to their mother tongue profile and the Basqueness of their area of living. On the other hand, it pays attention to the factors that influence the language use at school within these subgroups. It then links a brief discussion of these factors to a more general discussion of some challenges with which school language planners in the BAC (as well as in other European contexts) are confronted.

He Rāngai Maomao, He Iti Pioke: Te Mauri o Pūheke

This presentation looks at some of the main pillars of language revitalisation suggested by Fishman et al, and how they can be transposed on to an indigenous platform. With Critical Language Awareness, Status Planning, Acquisition Planning and Implementation being the main pillars; the paper explores how these can be translated in to a Māori model.
 As a reference point, I will look at my own two tribes from the northern part of New Zealand. Patukoraha and Te Whanau Moana, who have experienced severe language loss as evidenced by the depleting numbers of speakers of the reo in contexts such as marae, local meeting house, home, community events etc. A language revitalisation strategy is explored as a way to support these hapū to reverse language shift and the decline of competent speakers and return the language to its appropriate and rightful place in the cultural and social place as the essence of Māoritanga, and integral component of cultural identity.
 Using both the pillars and Mātāpono Māori, Māori principles of Rangatiratanga, ownership, Whanaungatanga, kinship ties, Kaitiakitanga, guardianship, and Rāhu/Takwai, reservations, and with a base grounded in Whakapapa, genealogical ties, the symbolic nature of a Wheke, octopus (a local guardian totem) was drawn forth. With each arm representing a particular facet, this symbolism, exposes the fundamental aspect that each arm moves independently, but ultimately all ensure the survival of the octopus, relating to the proverb: “one hand washes the other, both wash the face”.

Adult language learning: a survey of Welsh for Adults in the context of language planning

Abstract This article discusses the importance of adult language learning when a minority language is threatened. Language acquisition planning attempts to reproduce the language across generations. The research context is Wales with its strong history of adults learning Welsh. The history of the Welsh language shows a decline in the last century, but increased emphasis on language acquisition planning, including adults learning Welsh, has halted the decline. Using a longitudinal design and a multi-method approach, the research aims to understand learners' expectations, experiences, outcomes and course issues such as retention and progression. The article reports the initial results from a sample of 1061 adults beginning to learn Welsh, obtained using questionnaire survey methodology. The results suggest that there is a match between the motivations and aspirations of adult language learners and the theory of language acquisition planning. Integrative motivation was stronger than instrumental motivation i...

A Model of Language-Group Interaction and Evolution Including Language Acquisition Planning

A model of language-group interaction as modified by deliberate language acquisition planning (LAP) is given. The behavior of the model while LAP measures are in force (First Regime or Regime 1) is distinguished from the longer term when natural interaction is re-established (Second Regime or Regime 2). Both regimes are subclassified into scenarios according to inherent long-term behavior, and an attempt is made to classify real-world examples of LAP and natural interaction in terms of these. Conclusions are drawn regarding the assumptions of LAP, and the use of the model in the allocation of resources to LAP initiatives.

Promoting Diversity through Language-in-Education Policies: Focus on Australia and the European Union

Promoting diversity has become a prominent goal in language-in-education policy discourse in two broad contexts. On the one hand, language policies take on the challenge of maintaining and developing de facto linguistic and cultural diversity through language acquisition planning; on the other hand, they portray themselves as active agents of social change and aim to develop positive cross-cultural attitudes through language education. This paper discusses these two main aspects of language-ineducation policies. The discussion is focused on the Australian and the European policy discourses. These two contexts offer an interesting point of comparison as they represent Western democracies with a highly multicultural and multi-ethnic population.

Language planning and image building: the case of Malay in Malaysia

Language Status, corpus, and acquisition planning in the development of the national language do not always offer prestige to the language concerned. Image building is another dimension that should be added to the development ofthe national language, and it involves the ability to overcome the various challenges beyond that of building an identity and the allocation of language use by fiat. It involves the building of image repertoires, consisting ofscientific image, Professional image, image ofhigh culture and refined social interaction, etc. This article argues that language planning is not restricted to the building ofan identity but also has to concern itselfwith giving a good image, which is a necessary ingredient in the building of the confidence of its users.