Language planning - Citizendia

This article is about the field of language planning & policy. See Constructed language for details on the creation of planned or artificial languages. A constructed or artificial language known colloquially or informally as a conlang is a Language whose Phonology, Grammar

Language planning refers to deliberate efforts to influence the behaviour of others with respect to the acquisition, structure, or functional allocation of language. Typically it will involve the development of goals, objectives and strategies to change the way language is used. At a governmental level, language planning takes the form of language policy. Many countries have a language policy designed to favour or discourage the use of a particular Language or set of languages Most nations have language regulatory bodies which are specifically charged with formulating and implementing language planning policies. This is a list of bodies that regulate Standard languages Natural languages Auxiliary languages Interlingua The auxiliary language

1 Characteristics
2 Category
3 Further reading
4 See also

Characteristics

The term language planning has often been identified with a third world context, being seen as a tool for the establishment of standardised national languages as a part of modernisation and nation building. The idea of modernization comes from a view of societies as having a standard Evolutionary pattern as described in the Social evolutionism theories For nation-building in the sense of enhancing the capacity of state institutions building state-society relations and also external interventions see State-building In fact, language planning is neither a modern phenomenon nor is it confined to the third world.

Language planning is not necessarily conducted at the national level. It can also be carried out by ethnic, religious or occupational groups. In the case of language communities that are divided by borders, language planning may also involve more than one country (on the governmental or non-governmental level) or international or regional bodies and conferences.

One international organization (based in the U.S.) that is involved in considerable amount of language planning around the world, especially for people with unwritten languages, is SIL International. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the SIL International (the official name of what was originally the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is a worldwide U

Language planning can also go from the bottom up, such as the movement for non-sexist language in the U. Gender-neutral language, gender-inclusive language, or gender neutrality is language use that aims at minimizing assumptions regarding the Gender S. , which originated with grass-roots feminist groups, or the N'Ko movement in West Africa. N'Ko (ߒߞߏ is both a script devised by Solomana Kante in 1949 as a writing system for the Mande languages of West Africa, and the name of West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent.

Category

Language planning can be divided into three sub-dimensions:

Corpus planning

Corpus planning refers to prescriptive intervention in the forms of a language. In Linguistics, prescription can refer both to the codification and the enforcement of rules governing how a language is to be used This may be achieved by creating new words or expressions, modifying old ones, or selecting among alternative forms. Corpus planning aims to develop the resources of a language so that it becomes an appropriate medium of communication for modern topics and forms of discourse, equipped with the terminology needed for use in administration, education, etc. Terminology is the study of terms and their use Terms are Words and Compound words that are used in specific contexts Corpus planning is often related to the standardisation of a language, involving the preparation of a normative orthography, grammar, and dictionary for the guidance of writers and speakers in a speech community. A standard language (also standard dialect, standardized dialect, or standardised dialect) is a particular variety of a Language that Normative has specialized meanings in several academic disciplines The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific Writing system to write the language Grammar is the field of Linguistics that covers the Rules governing the use of any given natural language. A dictionary is a book of alphabetically listed Words in a specific language with definitions etymologies pronunciations and other information or a book of alphabetically Efforts at linguistic purism and the exclusion of foreign words (see linguistic protectionism) also belong to corpus planning, as do spelling reform and the introduction of new writing systems (e. Linguistic purism (or linguistic protectionism) is the definition of one language variety as purer than other varieties often in reference to a perceived decline Many languages have undergone spelling reform, where a deliberate often officially sanctioned or mandated change to spelling takes place g. that of the Turkish language). Turkish ( tr Türkçe IPA) is a language spoken by over 63 million people worldwide making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. For a previously unwritten language, the first step in corpus planning is the development of a writing system. A writing system is a type of Symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in Language.

Status planning

Status planning refers to deliberate efforts to allocate the functions of languages and literacies within a speech community. It involves status choices, making a particular language or variety an 'official language', 'national language', etc. An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory A national language is a Language (or language variant, ie Dialect) which has some connection - de facto or de jure - with Often it will involve elevating a language or dialect into a prestige variety, which may be at the expense of competing dialects. A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of A prestige dialect is the Dialect spoken by the most prestigious people in a Speech community which is large enough to sustain more than one dialect Status planning is often part and parcel of creating a new writing system. Status planning tends to be the most controversial aspect of language planning (see article on Language policy). Many countries have a language policy designed to favour or discourage the use of a particular Language or set of languages

Acquisition planning

Acquisition planning concerns the teaching and learning of languages, whether national languages or second and foreign languages. One hotly debated issue is whether the biological contribution includes capacities specific to language acquisition often referred to as Universal grammar. A second language (L2 is any Language learned after the first language or mother tongue (L1 A foreign language is a Language not spoken by the people of a certain place for example English is a foreign language in Japan. It involves efforts to influence the number of users and the distribution of languages and literacies, achieved by creating opportunities or incentives to learn them. Such efforts may be based on policies of assimilation or pluralism. A region or society where several different groups are spontaneously assimilated is sometimes referred to as a Melting pot. Cultural pluralism is a term used when small groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities Acquisition planning is directly related to language spread. While acquisition planning is normally the province of national, regional, or local governments, bodies such as the British Council, Alliance française, Instituto Cervantes, Goethe-Institut, Società Dante Alighieri, Instituto Camões, and latterly the Confucius Institute are also very active internationally promoting education in their respective languages. The British Council is a Public Body of the United Kingdom Government which specialises in educational and development opportunities The Alliance française ( AF) is an organisation whose mission is to promote French language and The Cervantes Institute is a worldwide non-profit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991 The Goethe-Institut ( Goethe Institute in English is a German cultural institution operational worldwide promoting the study of the German language The Instituto Camões ( En Camões Institute) is an institution created for the promotion of the Portuguese language and culture world-wide Confucius Institute ( is a non-profit public institute which aims at promoting Chinese language and culture and supporting local Chinese teaching internationally

Contents

Characteristics

Category

Corpus planning

Status planning

Acquisition planning

Further reading

See also