Language Policy, Planning and Management: From Micro to Macro and Vice Versa

Bernard Spolsky, Jiri Nekvapil

Bar-Ilan University, Israel; Charles University, Czech Republic

Workshop

Beyond the Micro and Macro to the Global: Who does it? Richard Birge Baldauf Jr
Language planning or language management: in the case of multi-language users in Japan Sau Kuen Fan, Hidehiro Muraoka
Language policy and social power – some open questions Rosita Rindler Schjerve, Eva Vetter
Planning to promote a lingua franca: current developments in the Francophone world Wright, Sue
Toward a General Theory of Language Management Jirí Nekvapil
Welsh Language Policy:From Promotion to Regulation Colin Haslehurst Williams

Background and Objectives

Over the past half-century, the study of language policy has grown rapidly, from the interests of a handful of scholars active in language planning in various national situations, to an academic enterprise with regular conferences, journals and books. The general emphasis remain the description of specific cases (until recently usually at the level of nation-state) and the arguments for one policy or another. The objective of this workshop is to begin discussion at an international level of the possibility of building a strong theory of language planning and management that will adequately account for current understanding of the field.

Discussion questions

1. How does policy related to planning and management? What part does ideology play?

2. What is the relation between micro and macro policy/planning/management? Is it appropriate to look at various domains and levels separately? How do the domains and levels interact?

3. Does each domain/level call for a different form of theory? Is a general model possible and appropriate?

Organization

There will be two session of three papers and 90 minutes each. Each contributor will have 20 minutes for the informal presentation of a paper on the theme of the session. Ample time will be allowed for discussion. Introduction by Bernard Spolsky 5 minutes.

Key references

Baldauf, Richard, Li, Minglin, & Zhao, Shouhui. (2007). Language acquisition management inside and outside the school. In Bernard Spolsky & Francis M. Hult (Eds.), Handbook of Educational Linguistics. Oxford: Blackwell.

Kaplan, Robert B., & Baldauf, Richard B. (1997). Language planning from practice to theory. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

Nekvapil, Jiri. (2006). From language planning to language management. Sociolinguistica, 20, 92-104.

Nekvapil, Jiri. (2007). Language Cultivation in Developed Contexts. In Bernard Spolsky & Francis M. Hult (Eds.), Handbook of Educational Linguistics. Oxford: Blackwell.

Neustupný, J.V., & Nekvapil, Jiri (2003). Language management in the Czech Republic. Current Issues in Language Planning 4, 181-366 [reprinted in Baldauf R.B. and Kaplan, R.B. (eds.), Language Planning and Policy in Europe, Vol. 2.: The Czech Republic, The European Union and Northen Ireland. Clevedon, Buffalo, Toronto: Multilingual Matters, 2006, pp. 16-201]

Schjerve-Rindler, Rosita , & Vetter, Eva. (2007). Linguistic diversity in Habsburg Austria as a model for modern European language policy In Jan D. ten Thije & Ludger Zeevaert (Eds.), Receptive Multilingualism (pp. 49-70.). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Spolsky, Bernard. (2007). Towards a theory of language policy. Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, 22(1), 1-14.

Spolsky, Bernard, & Lambert, Richard D. (2006). Models of Language Planning and Policy. In Keith Brown (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Languages and Linguistics (Vol. 6, pp. 561-575). Oxford: Elsevier.

Williams, Colin. (2003). Language, law and politics. In W.J.Morgan & S.Livingstone (Eds.), Law and Opinion in Twentieth-Century Britain and Ireland (pp. 109-140). London, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillian.

Wright, Sue. (2004). Language Policy and Language Planning: from nationalism to globalisation. London, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.