Language Policy and Language Planning: From Nationalism to Globalisation / Edition 1

by S. Wright

Overview

A comprehensive advanced textbook, covering not only language learning imposed by economic or political agendas but also language choices entered into freely for reasons of social mobility, economic advantage or group identity. The first part of the book reviews the development and role of standard languages in the construction of national communities and identities. The second part examines the linguistic accommodation of groups in contact, major lingua francas and the case of 'International English'. The third section explores reactions to nationalism and globalization, with some attention to language rights. The book further deals with methodological problems of working in this interdisciplinary area, and provides detailed illustrations from a range of countries and communities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333986424
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	12/15/2003
Edition description:	2004
Pages:	311
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

Sue Wright is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Languages and European Studies at Aston University. She has published extensively on the role of language in nation building, European integration and globalization. Her latests books include Community and Communication and Whose Europe? ( with D.Smith).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction PART ONE: COMMUNITY AND THE ROLE OF NATIONAL LANGUAGE From Language Continuum to Linguistic Mosaic: European Language Communities from the Feudal Period to the Age of Nationalism Language Planning in State Nations and Nation States Nation Building in the Wake of Colonialism: Old Concepts in New Settings PART TWO: TRANSCENDENCE AND LANGUAGE LEARNING Transcending the Group: Languages of Contact and Lingua Francas French: The Rise and Fall of a Prestige Lingua Franca English: From Language Empire to the Language of Globalisation Language in a Post-national Era: Hegemony or Transcendence? PART THREE: RENAISSANCE AND REVITALISATION IN SMALL LANGUAGE COMMUNITIES New Discourse, New Legal Instruments and a New Political Context for Minorities and their Languages The Fragmentation of the Old Nation States and the Rise of Small Nations Endangered Languages Conclusion: Identity and Community: Communication and Transcendence Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

'This is a fine book...I believe we need to reconceptualise this area of sociolinguistics and this a is a first step in that direction. Sue Wright's intellectually provocative book holds real implications for EU policies, for educational policies, and for governments that still act as they did in the nineteenth century.' - Christina Paulston, University of Pittsburgh, USA

'One of the best attempts to treat the subject of language in modern Europe I've ever read. Sue Wright not only masters the relevant details of European history but also the historical interpretations of those details.' - John E. Joseph, Professor of Applied Linguistics, University of Edinburgh

From the Publisher