Language policy

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Many countries have a language policy designed to favour or discourage the use of a particular language or set of languages. Although nations historically have used language policies most often to promote one official language at the expense of others, many countries now have policies designed to protect and promote regional and ethnic languages whose viability is threatened

Language Policy as is what a government does either officially through legislation, court decisions or policy to determine how languages are used, cultivate language skills needed to meet national priorities or to establish the rights of individuals or groups to use and maintain languages.

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The preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity in today's world is a major concern to many scientists, artists, writers, politicians, and leaders of linguistic communities. Up to one half of the 6000 languages currently spoken in the world are estimated to be in danger of disappearing during the 21st century. Many factors affect the existence and usage of any given human language, including the size of the native speaking population, its use in formal communication, and the geographical dispersion and the socio-economic weight of its speakers. National language policies can either mitigate or exacerbate the effects of some of these factors.

What follows below is one of many ways in which language policy laws can be categorized.

A policy of assimilation is one that uses measures to accelerate the downsizing of one or more linguistic minority group(s). The ultimate goal of such policies is to foster national unity inside a state (based on the idea that a single language in the country will favor that end). It is based on the belief that every person in a given society should be able to function in the dominant language or language variety regardless of which language or dialect that person speaks.

Jurisdictions having such a policy:

Afghanistan - Burma - Estonia - Indonesia - Iraq - Latvia - Lithuania - Pakistan - Syria - Thailand - Vietnam

A policy of non-intervention consists in choosing to allow the normal rapport between the main linguistic group and the minorities evolve on its own. This almost invariably favours the dominant group. Sometimes, such policies are accompanied by administrative measures protecting certain minorities.

Jurisdictions having such a policy:

Angola - Argentina - Australia - Austria - Bangladesh - Benin - Burkina Faso - Chile - Congo-Kinshasa - Côte d'Ivoire - Cuba - Czech Republic - Dominica - Dominican Republic - Ecuador - Gabon - Ghana - Germany - Gibraltar - Guinea - Guyana - Jamaica - Japan - Liechtenstein - Mali - Nebraska - Nicaragua - Saint Kitts and Nevis - Saint Lucia - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - El Salvador - San Marino - Saudi Arabia - Senegal - Turkey - United Kingdom - Uruguay - Venezuela - Vermont

A policy that recognizes a different legal statute for a given language usually aims at allowing the coexistence of multiple linguistic groups inside a state. Typically, the majority has all its linguistic rights secured and sometimes promoted while the minority or minorities are given special protection for their language.

Jurisdictions having such a policy:

Albania - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - California - China - Croatia - Estonia - European Council -Republic of Macedonia - Guatemala - Latvia - Lithuania - Manitoba - Ontario - Netherlands - New Mexico - Paraguay - Quebec - Portugal - Romania - Slovakia - Spain - Sweden - Wales - Yukon

A policy favouring the official language is a policy of unilingualism. Sometimes, it favours the (or a) national language, sometime it favours a colonial language with a strong influence internationally. In some cases, such policies are accompanied by measures recognizing and protecting minority languages or indigenous languages. This approach may be considered in two broadly different types of situations: where the official language is also the first language of the majority of the population, and where it is not.

Jurisdictions having such a policy:

Åland - Albania - Algeria - Andorra - Azerbaijan - Brazil - California - Cambodia - Colombia - Cyprus - Croatia - East Timor - Egypt - Estonia - France - India - Iran - Iceland - Israel - Italy - Japan - Kuwait - Latvia - Lebanon - Lithuania - Republic of Macedonia - Madagascar - Morocco - Mexico - Moldova - Montenegro - North Korea - Nepal - Peru - - Republic of the Philippines - Poland - Quebec - Saint-Pierre and Miquelon - Slovakia - Slovenia - Somalia - South Korea - Sri Lanka - Tunisia - Ukraine - Uzbekistan - Vietnam - Voivodina

A policy favouring the two official languages is a policy of bilingualism. There are many different ways in which these policies can be applied.

A policy of bilingualism based on non-territorialized individual rights recognizes the same rights to all members of a community whatever their location on the national territory.

Belarus - Burundi - Canada - Central African Republic - Chad - Djibouti - Guam - Hong Kong - Ireland - Kenya - Kiribati - Malta - Nauru - New Brunswick - New Zealand - Northwest Territories - Norway - Nunavut - Rwanda - Samoa - South Africa - Tanzania - Tonga - Tuvalu

A language policy based on territorialized individual rights recognizes the same rights to all members of a community within a specific region.

Aosta Valley - Balearic Islands - Basque Country - Brandenburg - Brittany - Catalonia - Channel Islands - Corsica - Faroe - Finland - Friuli Venezia Giulia - Galicia - Hawaii - Isle of Man - Micronesia - Navarre - Northern Ireland - Nicaragua - The Philippines - Sardinia - Scotland - Sicily - Sind - Slovenia (Istria and Prekmurje)- Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol - Wales

Belgium - Cameroon - Fribourg - Grisons - Switzerland - Ticino - Valais

A policy of multilingualism based on non-territorialized individual rights recognizes the same rights to all members of a community whatever their location on the national territory.

Singapore

  • Directions of language policies:
  • Some case studies:

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_policy"
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