scholarly journals Implementation Challenges of National Language Policy in Nigeria: The Roles of the Indigenous Languages

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 270-279
Author(s):  
Francis Owojecho
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
National Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Implementation Challenges ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
National Language Policy ◽  
To Come ◽  
Definition Of

The administration and maintenance of linguistic plurality and multilingualism in Nigeria seem to come with a lot of challenges, given a setting within which English is still being assigned dominant functional roles. Language policy which is a deliberate effort to mandate specific language behaviours in particular contexts is characterized by many obvious implementation defects in Nigeria. Such defects revolve around lack of decisive policy guidelines being implemented about language development and allocation, language use, language rights, and a host of other important issues. This paper examines the detrimental effects that poor implementation of national language policy initiatives in Nigeria has had on the development and survival of indigenous languages in the immediate past. It reveals the unhealthy attitude of many Nigerians elite groups towards the sustainability of indigenous languages, the inability of successive government to select a single viable national language from the indigenous languages, non-codification of many minority languages, and inadequate definition of roles for indigenous languages in governance. The study found that the lack of adequate implementation of the language policy initiatives has given prominence to English which is consequently endangering the indigenous languages in Nigeria. 

LAS PARADOJAS DEL MULTILINGUISMO EN MÉXICO

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-127
Author(s):  
Maria Antonieta Flores Ramos
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
National Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
Official Policy ◽  
The World ◽  
Siglo Xx

En este artículo se desarrolla una breve retrospectiva de la historia del multilingüismo, es decir, de las políticas lingüísticas llevadas a cabo en México a partir de la Colonia, pasando por el período independista hasta llegar al siglo XX con el propósito de analizar, posteriormente, las circunstancias a las que se enfrentan las lenguas de Chiapas, en la actualidad. Dicho recuento nos permite concluir que las políticas lingüísticas en México han sido paradójicas desde la época colonial pues son contrarias al sentir de los mexicanos hablantes de lenguas originarias. Este recorrido también permitió percatarnos de que las circunstancias, a las que se enfrentan las lenguas originarias en Chiapas, se reproducen, con mayor o menor semejanza, en diferentes latitudes del mundo donde se hablan las denominadas “lenguas minoritarias”.  Palabras-clave. Multilingüismo, políticas lingüísticas en México, contacto de lenguas, lenguas minoritarias, transformaciones socioculturales.  Abstract: the article focuses on the mismatch between the Mexican´s stated official policy on language and the evolving linguistics realities from colony to nowadays in order to analyze the situation of the indigenous languages from Chiapas, today. The study reveals a permanent contradiction between the language policy in Mexico and the linguistics realities and also shows that Spanish as a successful national language is recent because this idiom was introduced during the colonial period but it didn´t take root until the last decades of the twentieth century. The article describes the conditions of the so called minority languages in Chiapas and reveals that these circumstances take place all over the world with few differences.  Key- words. Language policy in Mexico, multilingualism, contact languages, minority languages, social and cultural changes.      

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.

National Policy on Languages: A Community Language Perspective

1986 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Smolicz
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
National Policy ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Historical Review ◽  
National Language ◽  
Committee Report ◽  
Linguistic Rights ◽  
Minority Ethnic Groups ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
National Language Policy

A brief historical review of language policies in Australia up to the publication of the Senate Standing Committee's Report on a National Language Policy in 1984 is given. The recommendations of the Report are discussed in the light of the ethno-cultural or core value significance that community languages have for many minority ethnic groups in Australia. Recent research findings on such languages are presented and their implications for a national language policy considered. It is postulated that the linguistic pluralism generated by the presence of community languages needs to be viewed in the context of a framework of values that includes English as the shared language for all Australians. From this perspective, it is argued that the stress that the Senate Committee Report places upon the centrality of English in Australia should be balanced by greater recognition of the linguistic rights of minorities and their implications for bilingual education. It is pointed out that both these aspects of language policy have been given prominence in recent statements and guidelines released by the Ministers of Education in Victoria and South Australia. The paper concludes by pointing to the growing interest in the teaching of languages other than English to all children in Australian schools.

scholarly journals Language Challenges in Global and Regional Integration

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Phillipson
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Research Collaboration ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
National Language ◽  
University Education ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Linguistic Capital

Summary The article analyses whether the expansion of English is adding to linguistic repertoires, or whether a process of linguistic capital dispossession of national languages is taking place. It explores the role that discourses of ‘global English’ and of English as a ‘lingua franca’ play in processes of global and regional European integration. It considers whether the linguistic capital of all languages can be made productive when in much of Europe there is a marked downgrading of the learning of foreign languages other than English, alongside the continued neglect of many minority languages. Language pedagogy and language policy need to be situated within wider political, social and economic contexts. EU schemes for research collaboration and student mobility are of limited help in maintaining linguistic diversity. The Bologna process furthers European integration but intensifies the hegemony of English. Nordic universities are moving into bilingual education, combining English with a national language. The 2006 Declaration on a Nordic Language Policy aims at ensuring that Nordic languages and English develop in parallel, that all residents can maintain their languages, and that language policy issues should be widely understood. If neoliberalism and linguistic neoimperialism are determining factors, there are challenges in maintaining the vitality of languages, and organizing school and university education so as to educate critical multilingual citizens.

scholarly journals Implementation and acceptance of national language policy: the case of Dutch (1750–1850)

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-279
Author(s):  
Gijsbert Rutten ◽  
Andreas Krogull ◽  
Bob Schoemaker
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
National Language ◽  
National Language Policy
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