Many countries have a
language policy designed to favour or discourage the use of a particular
language or set of languages. Although nations historically have used language policies most often to promote one
official language at the expense of others, many countries now have policies designed to protect and promote regional and ethnic languages whose viability is threatened.
Language Policy is what a government does either officially through legislation, court decisions or policy to determine how languages are used, cultivate language skills needed to meet national priorities or to establish the rights of individuals or groups to use and maintain languages.
Overview
The preservation of cultural and linguistic
diversity in today's world is a major concern to many scientists, artists, writers, politicians, leaders of linguistic communities, and defenders of
linguistic human rights. Up to one half of the 6000 languages currently spoken in the world are estimated to be in danger of disappearing during the 21st century. Many factors affect the existence and usage of any given human language, including the size of the native speaking population, its use in formal communication, and the geographical dispersion and the socio-economic weight of its speakers. National language policies can either mitigate or exacerbate the effects of some of these factors.
Types of language policies
What follows below is one of many ways in which language policies can be categorized. It was elaborated by
Université Laval sociolinguist Jacques Leclerc for the French-language Web site
L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde put on line by the
CIRAL in 1999. The collecting, translating and classifying of language policies started in 1988 and culminated in the publishing of
Recueil des législations linguistiques dans le monde (vol. I to VI) at Presses de l'Université Laval in 1994. The work, containing some 470 language laws, and the research leading to publication, were subsidized by the
Office québécois de la langue française. In April 2008, the Web site presented the linguistic portrait and language policies in 354 States or autonomous territories in 194 recognized countries.
Assimilation policies
A policy of assimilation is one that uses strong measures to accelerate the downsizing of one or more linguistic minority group(s).The ultimate goal of such policies is to foster national unity inside a state (based on the idea that a single language in the country will favor that end). The measures taken by States enforcing such policies may include banning the social use of a given language, the exclusion and social devalorization of a language group and in extreme cases repression by force and even genocide.
These policies are to be distinguished from all other policies which it could be argued favor or lead to assimilation of members of minority groups as a result of non-intervention or insufficient measures of protection. In practice, all States enforce, implicitly, policies leading to assimilation with regards to immigrant groups and in numerous cases aboriginal groups and other national minorities.
Jurisdictions having such a policy:
Afghanistan - Burma - Brazil - Greece - Indonesia - Iran - Iraq - Pakistan - Syria - Turkey - Thailand - Vietnam
Non-intervention policies
A policy of non-intervention consists in choosing to allow the normal rapport between the main linguistic group and the minorities evolve on its own. This almost invariably favours the
dominant group. Sometimes, such policies are accompanied by administrative measures protecting certain minorities.
Jurisdictions having such a policy:
Angola - Argentina - Australia - Austria - Bangladesh - Benin - Burkina Faso - Chile - Congo-Kinshasa - Côte d'Ivoire - Cuba - Czech Republic - Dominica - Dominican Republic - Ecuador - Gabon - Ghana - Germany - Gibraltar - Guinea - Guyana - iran- Jamaica - Japan - Liechtenstein - Mali - Nebraska - Nicaragua - Saint Kitts and Nevis - Saint Lucia - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - El Salvador - San Marino - Saudi Arabia - Senegal - United Kingdom - Uruguay - Venezuela - Vermont
Differentiated legal statute policies
A policy that recognizes a different legal statute for a given language usually aims at allowing the coexistence of multiple linguistic groups inside a state. Typically, the majority has all its linguistic rights secured and sometimes promoted while the minority or minorities are given special protection for their language.
Jurisdictions having such a policy:
Albania - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - California - China - Croatia - Estonia - European Council -Republic of Macedonia - Guatemala - Latvia - Lithuania - Manitoba - Ontario - Netherlands - New Mexico - Paraguay - Quebec - Portugal - Romania - Slovakia - Spain - Sweden - Wales - Yukon
Valorisation of the official language policies
A policy favouring the
official language is a policy of
unilingualism. Sometimes, it favours the (or a)
national language, sometimes it favours a colonial language with a strong influence internationally. In some cases, such policies are accompanied by measures recognizing and protecting
minority languages or
indigenous languages. This approach may be considered in two broadly different types of situations: where the official language is also the
first language of the majority of the population, and where it is not.
Jurisdictions having such a policy:
Åland - Albania - Algeria - Andorra - Azerbaijan - Brazil - California - Cambodia - Colombia - Cyprus - Croatia - East Timor - Egypt - Estonia - India - Iran - Iceland - Israel - Italy - Japan - Kuwait - Latvia - Lebanon - Lithuania - Republic of Macedonia - Madagascar - Morocco - Mexico - Moldova - Montenegro - North Korea - Nepal - Peru - - Philippines - Poland - Quebec - Saint-Pierre and Miquelon - Slovakia - Slovenia - Somalia - South Korea - Sri Lanka - Tunisia - Ukraine - Uzbekistan - Vietnam - Voivodina
Sectoral policies
A language policy is said to be sectoral when it concerns only a subset of the possible sectors generally considered by global language policies. Examples of common sectoral policies are those which only deal with matters of education, or corpus planning, or the status of a language in the civil government and justice system, etc.
Bilingualism or trilingualism policies
A policy favouring the two official languages is a policy of
bilingualism. There are many different ways in which these policies can be applied.
Based on non-territorialized individual rights
A policy of bilingualism based on non-territorialised individual rights recognizes the same rights to all members of a community whatever their location on the national territory.
Belarus - Burundi - Canada - Central African Republic - Chad - Djibouti - Guam - Hong Kong - Republic of Ireland - Kenya - Kiribati - Malta - Nauru - New Brunswick - New Zealand - Northwest Territories - Norway - Nunavut - Rwanda - Samoa - South Africa - Tanzania - Tonga - Tuvalu
Based on territorialised individual rights
A language policy based on territorialised individual rights recognizes the same rights to all members of a community within a specific region.
Aosta Valley - Balearic Islands - Basque Country - Brandenburg - Brittany - Catalonia - Channel Islands - Corsica - Faroe - Finland - Friuli Venezia Giulia - Galicia - Hawaii - Isle of Man - Micronesia - Navarre - Northern Ireland - Nicaragua - Philippines - Sardinia - Scotland - Sicily - Sind - Slovenia (Istria and Prekmurje)- Sweden - Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol - Wales
Based on territorial rights
Belgium -
Cameroon -
Fribourg -
Grisons -
Switzerland -
Ticino -
Valais
Linguistic internationalization policies
An internationalization policy is one whereby a State exercises supremacy on the linguistic code beyond its borders.
Germany - United States - France - Portugal
Strategic multilingualism policies
South Africa -
Netherlands Antilles -
Aruba -
Australia - Federal
Belgium -
Belize -
Comoros -
Ethiopia -
Fidji -
Gagauzia -
Hungary -
India -
Lebanon -
Luxembourg -
Malaysia -
Maurice -
Mauritania -
Moldova -
Namibia -
Niger -
Nigeria -
Pakistan -
Papua New Guinea -
Philippines -
Seychelles -
Singapore -
Slovenia -
Sudan -
Suriname -
Vatican City -
Vojvodina -
Zimbabwe
Mixed linguistic policies
Mixed policies are possible when a State enforces different types of language policies at the same time.
Non-intervention (official language) and sectoral policies for minorities
Austria -
Czech Republic -
Germany -
Panama -
Tajikistan -
United States
Non-intervention (official language) and assimilation policy for minorities
Northern Ireland -
Botswana
Valorisation of the official language and differentiated for minorities
Albania -
California -
Chile -
Croatia -
Estonia -
Kirghistan -
Latvia -
Lithuania -
Guatemala -
Macedonia -
Montenegro -
Romania -
Slovakia -
Quebec
Valorisation of the official language and sectoral policies for minorities
Armenia -
Australia -
Cyprus -
Costa Rica -
Greece -
French Polynesia -
Serbia -
Tajikistan -
Togo -
Zambia
Valorisation of the official language and non-intervention for other languages
Lesotho -
São Tomé and Príncipe -
Oman -
Swaziland -
Yemen
Valorisation of the official language, assimilation policy and territorial bilingualism for minorities
Bosnia -
Hong-Kong -
Kosovo -
Pakistan -
Turkmenistan -
Transnistria -
Vietnam - (
Serbia)
Language boards
See also
- *Linguistic imperialism
- *Linguistic protectionism and Linguistic purism
- *Linguistic separatism
- *Europe: European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
- *Belgium: Language legislation in Belgium
- *Croatia: Croatian linguistic purism
- *Finland: Finland's language strife
- *France: Language policy in France
- *Germany: Germanization
- *Latvia: Language policy in Latvia
- *Poland: Polonization
- *Spain: Language politics in Francoist Spain
- *Former Soviet Union: Russification, Ukrainianization, Education in the Soviet Union
- *United Kingdom: Welsh Not
- *Canada: Bilingualism in Canada, Official Language Act
- *Pakistan: Bengali Language Movement
- *Arab world: Arabisation
Notes
References
Further reading
