Questioning North Korea’s digraphic inflection point: Kim Il Sung’s 1964 and 1966 conversations with linguists reconsidered

Kim Il Sung’s 1964 and 1966 conversations with linguists are appropriately deemed important as the establishment of the North’s “cultured language” as a standard, as well as guidance related to language purification and script. In the analysis of inflection point related to language planning and policy in the North, is the often guidance on re-enshrinement of teaching “Chinese characters” (hanja) in North Korean education. Clearly this was official pronouncement of functional, synchronic digraphia, which has been preserved and operationalized down to the present. Scholarship on these conversations, amounting to policy guidance, attribute the shift in policy related to script as an inflection point. The author of this article concurs with its importance, but with respect to digraphia in the North, the conversations related to hanja instruction served as a confirmation for what was a broad trend in North Korean language planning during the years 1953-1964, a language planning and policy fait accompli, diminishing the portrayal of the conversations as a digraphic inflection point in North Korea.

Editorial: ideology and commemoration in the urban space

In this editorial, we outline the theoretical framework underpinning the contributions to this volume, providing a succinct overview of the development of linguistic landscape research and pointing to the unexplored areas of overlap with its neighbouring disciplines, including critical toponomy, collective memory studies, language planning and policy and critical discourse studies. In doing so, we position the articles in this special issue with respect to current themes in research on the ideological struggles over the semiotic landscape.

Institutional Framework for Language Policy in Russia: Views for the Future

Introduction. The study of language planning and policy (LPP) involves the cross-disciplinary interaction of applied linguistics and political science. The need for this is increasing especially in relation to the regulatory and organizational aspects of language regulation in the conditions of modern Russia. Methods and materials. The authors use the techniques of systems analysis and approaches of political institutionalism: normative, rational choice, theory of organizations, historical, constructivist, network. To study the materials of official documents and legislative acts, the method of textual analysis is used. Academic works of foreign and Russian authors are used through the prism of discourse analysis. Materials related to the activities of agencies and actors in the field of LPP, characterized from a structural and functional point of view. Analysis. The normative and agentive properties of LPP in the modern conditions of Russia and its regions are considered by the authors of the article through analytical procedures proposed by foreign scientists. Many developments from Englishlanguage works in this area can be adapted to the tasks of studying political-linguistic relations, taking Russian specifics into account. The ratio of institutional and conversational types of linguistic interactions is considered as a subject of linguistic pragmatics. The main subject of analysis is formal regulatory complexes and agencies specializing in this area. The analysis undertaken by the authors of the article leads to the conclusion that there is no sustainable institutional LPP model in the Russian situation. This applies, in particular, to the de facto and de jure characteristics of bilingualism as a strategic priority proclaimed at the beginning of the 20 th century. In the latest official texts, the emphasis is on strengthening the position of the Russian language. Further, the body of Russian and regional legal acts is marked by features of rhetoric and excessive symbolism. The prospects for institutionalization here are associated with overcoming such normative dysfunctions. Results. The article draws conclusions about the desirability of conceptualizing LPP within the framework of a separate state doctrinal document, as well as a system of information support and implementation of the principles of language cultivation and management.

The Sociolinguistic Status Quo of the English Language Departments in Jordan: A Language Planning Perspective

This study aims at investigating the missions and visions of the English departments in Jordan from a language planning perspective. To this end, a questionnaire was developed following Tollefson's model (1989) with a modified version of the instruments used in the previous studies conducted by Al-Abed Al-Haq and Smadi (1996) and Abu Dalbouh (2002). The items of the questionnaire targeted the five main elements of the study: the adequacy of the current objectives of the English departments, the adequacy of the English language courses, the sociolinguistic relation between students and English language, the English department policies, and the potential stakeholders involved in formulating a language planning policy. The questionnaire was distributed to 150 English language majors in three public universities in Jordan. The study concluded that the objectives of the English language departments are theoretical rather than practical, revealing a mismatch between the objectives and plans on the one hand and the outcomes of these departments, on the other. The findings also indicated that the objectives of the English departments are too ambitious and far beyond the needs of the students and the needs of the market; thus, a reconsideration of the policy followed by these departments is urgently needed. Keywords: Language planning and policy, Sociolinguistics, English departments, Missions, Visions, Objectives.