scholarly journals Language policy in multi-level systems: A historical institutionalist analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 709-727
Author(s):  
Elin Royles ◽  
Huw Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Welsh Language ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Regional Or Minority Languages ◽  
Distinct Field

Efforts are underway to develop a stronger political science perspective regarding the practice of language policy to establish language policy as a distinct field of public policy studies. The article’s original theoretical contribution is to develop a framework, grounded in historical institutionalism, to analyse the multi-level institutional factors that influence language policy choices relating to regional or minority languages within European multi-level states. The framework is tested by applying it to analyse the multi-level factors that condition language policy decisions regarding the Welsh language, and through further investigating the framework’s significance and robustness to analyse language policy trajectories in two contrasting European cases. Overall, the article makes the case for the strengths and adaptability of the framework in producing convincing explanations of the multi-level dimensions of language policy development in different institutionalised contexts and calls for greater investigation of its ability to analyse other regional and minority languages in Europe.

Liberalism, Language Revival and Employment

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 1017-1033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huw Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Equality Of Opportunity ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
The Public ◽  
Language Revival ◽  
Welsh Language ◽  
Linguistic Ability ◽  
Controversial Aspect

Do policies that seek to revive the prospects of minority languages transgress important liberal principles? The article will explore this question by focusing on one controversial aspect of language policy in Wales: the steps taken to set Welsh language requirements for some jobs in the public sector. This is a practice that has generated substantial debate, with opponents claiming that it undermines equality of opportunity in the field of employment and, in particular, transgresses the principle of appointing on the basis of merit. It will be argued here that such objections do not stand up to scrutiny. Efforts to promote a language's position in the field of employment do not undermine the principle of merit, but merely expand slightly on its meaning. Therefore, liberals should, in principle, be willing to endorse policies similar to those adopted in Wales in recent years. Nevertheless, the fact that these policies can be endorsed in principle does not mean that liberals would wish to exclude them completely from criticism. Rather, as will also be argued, the background conditions against which they are implemented and the degree to which these can influence an individual's linguistic ability should also be considered, and in the Welsh context, at least, this is an issue that may call for further attention.

scholarly journals Language Policy: European Criteria and Ukraine

2019 ◽  
pp. 9-31
Author(s):  
Bohdan Azhniuk
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Planning ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Diversity ◽  
National Unity ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Linguistic Rights ◽  
Expert Opinions ◽  
Regional Or Minority Languages ◽  
State Language

The article discusses a much-debated in Ukraine issue: what are the principles of language policy that can be labelled European, what are the major sources for the deduction of these principles and to what extent they could be implemented in Ukraine’s current language policy. It is argued that these principles can be deduced from the following major sources: national constitutions and legislative acts on language issues, international legal instruments (The European Charter of regional or Minority Languages), international declarations (The Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights) that are not legal instruments at the moment, expert opinions of international committees and other bodies like the Venice Commission, OSCE, etc, scientific publications on language policy and language planning. The analysis of these sources gives justification to the following principles as reflecting the mainstream European conception of language policy and language planning: 1) maintaining the leading role of the official state language as the backbone of national unity, 2) protection of endangered languages and preservation of language diversity, 3) promotion of the bilingualism with sufficient competence in the state language, 4) effective management of the enforcement mechanism. The ratification by Ukraine of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages called attention to its implementation in Ukraine. The comparison of Ukraine with most European countries shows that in terms of linguistic rights the country’s main language (Ukrainian) is in a rather underprivileged position. There is growing awareness in the society that the idea of official or semi-official Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism was designed as an instrument of Russian foreign policy and became one of the key factors that provoked political instability in the country. Nowadays Russian is associated with the annexation of Crimea and justification of further aggression and the official upgrading of its status is perceived as jeopardy for the Ukrainian national identity and statehood. The change of the popular attitude to the idea of the official bilingualism has modified the positions of the major political players.

Maintaining the status quo

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Ready
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Ideology ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
The Status ◽  
Regional Or Minority Languages

Abstract Arabic is considered one of the defining cases of diglossia (Ferguson, 1959; Sayahi, 2014). Despite previous scholars’ critiques that the construct of diglossia perpetuates linguistic and societal inequalities, few studies have examined how this seminal construct has been enacted in language policy (Woolard & Schieffelin, 1994; Pennycook, 1994; Harris, 1981). This paper addresses this gap by examining language policy in context through an intertextual analysis of language policy documents including the 1992 European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and several reports on their fulfillment of the charter’s requirements. Using Irvine and Gal’s (2000) framework of three semiotic processes of ideology, the texts demonstrate the use of the notion of diglossia as a tool of iconization, fractal recursivity, and erasure used to naturalize current linguistic inequalities. Consequently, diglossic descriptions are taken up in policy documents in service of a particular language ideology that justifies suppression of minority languages such as is the case of Arabic in Ceuta.

Language policy and language planning in mainland Southeast Asia: Myanmar and Lisu

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
National Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Policy And Planning ◽  
Educational Strategies ◽  
Policy And Planning ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

AbstractMost nations in mainland Southeast Asia and elsewhere have one national language as a focus of national identity and unity, supported by a language policy which promotes and develops this language. Indigenous and immigrant minority groups within each nation may be marginalized; their languages may become endangered. Some of the official national language policies and ethnic policies of mainland Southeast Asian nations aim to support both a national language and indigenous minority languages, but usually the real policy is less positive. It is possible to use sociolinguistic and educational strategies to maintain the linguistic heritage and diversity of a nation, develop bilingual skills among minority groups, and integrate minorities successfully into the nations where they live, but this requires commitment and effort from the minorities themselves and from government and other authorities. The main focus of this paper is two case studies: one of language policy and planning in Myanmar, whose language policy and planning has rarely been discussed before. The other is on the Lisu, a minority group in Myanmar and surrounding countries, who have been relatively successful in maintaining their language.

Language and identity in East Timor

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry Taylor-Leech
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
East Timor ◽  
Language And Identity ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Student Focus ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Official Languages

Language choice in the newly independent Republic of East Timor can be usefully examined in the wider context of language policy in multilingual states. The present article reports on ethnographic research investigating official and popular discourses of language and identity in East Timor and the role of past and present language policies and practices in shaping national and social identity. It focuses on the discursive reconstruction of identity through five official instruments of language policy development. Hostile discourses in the Australian and Indonesian press towards the choice of Portuguese (the former colonial language) and Tetum (the endogenous lingua franca) as official languages provided the context for the investigation. A persistent theme in these discourses is that English and/or Indonesian would be preferable choices. The article puts these discourses into perspective by presenting findings from two data sets: (i) the 2004 National Census and (ii) analysis of the discourses of 78 participants in semi-structured interviews and student focus groups. The census shows clear signs of the revival of Portuguese and the reinvigoration of Tetum. It also shows how diverse linguistic identities have become in East Timor. The research findings show that there is less hostility to official language policy than claimed in the Australian and Indonesian press. However, the findings also emphasise the urgent need to reconstruct an inclusive, plurilingual national identity that can encompass diversity.

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