Language Policy

Bernard Spolsky author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:11th Dec '03

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Language Policy cover

An introduction exploring many debates at the forefront of modern national language policy.

In this introduction, Bernard Spolsky explores many debates at the forefront of language policy. He develops a theory of modern national language policy and the major forces controlling it, and asks the central questions of how to recognize language policies, and whether language can actually be managed at all.Language policy is an issue of critical importance in the world today. In this introduction, Bernard Spolsky explores many debates at the forefront of language policy: ideas of correctness and bad language; bilingualism and multilingualism; language death and efforts to preserve endangered languages; language choice as a human and civil right; and language education policy. Through looking at the language practices, beliefs and management of social groups from families to supra-national organizations, he develops a theory of modern national language policy and the major forces controlling it, such as the demands for efficient communication, the pressure for national identity, the attractions of (and resistance to) English as a global language, and the growing concern for human and civil rights as they impinge on language. Two central questions asked in this wide-ranging survey are of how to recognize language policies, and whether or not language can be managed at all.

' … this is a clearly written book that touches upon virtually all the important and timely issues in language policy …'. Sociolinguistica

ISBN: 9780521011754

Dimensions: 213mm x 137mm x 15mm

Weight: 340g

264 pages