Policy and Planning for Endangered Languages

A unique and timely exploration of how the development and implementation of language policy and planning impact on endangered languages.

Mari C. Jones (Edited by)

9781107099227, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 August 2015

280 pages, 23 b/w illus. 8 maps 9 tables
23.8 x 16 x 2.3 cm, 0.54 kg

'Why have language policies had only limited success in reversing language shift? The case studies presented in this volume show the effects of various language policies on a range of communities around the world. By understanding the successes and failures of different language policies, linguists and language activists can be better informed as to what type of language policy might have the greatest impact on a given community.' Bonny Sands, Northern Arizona University

Language policy issues are imbued with a powerful symbolism that is often linked to questions of identity, with the suppression or failure to recognise and support a given endangered variety representing a refusal to grant a 'voice' to the corresponding ethno-cultural community. This wide-ranging volume, which explores linguistic scenarios from across five continents, seeks to ignite the debate as to how and whether the interface between people, politics and language can affect the fortunes of endangered varieties. With chapters written by academics working in the field of language endangerment and members of indigenous communities on the frontline of language support and maintenance, Policy and Planning for Endangered Languages is essential reading for researchers and students of language death, sociolinguistics and applied linguistics, as well as community members involved in native language maintenance.

Preface Mari C. Jones
1. Leveraging language policy to effect change in the Arctic Lenore A. Grenoble
2. Maintaining and revitalising the indigenous endangered languages of Borneo: comparing 'top-down' and community-based policy initiatives and strategies James McLellan and Gary Jones
3. Language ideologies, practices and policies in Kanaky/New Caledonia Julia Sallabank
4. Immersion education and the revitalisation of Breton and Gaelic as community languages Fabienne Goalalbré
5. Asset, affiliation, anxiety? Exploring student perspectives on Welsh-medium study at post-16 Further Education Colleges Andrew James Davies and Prysor Mason Davies
6. From policies to practice: the complex role of social mediators in Náayeri public education (Nayarit, Mexico) Margarita Valdovinos
7. Transitional turtle soup: reconceptualising Mikasuki language acquisition planning Arieh Sherris and Jill Robbins
8. Value, status, language policy and the language plan Rawinia Higgins and Poia Rewi
9. Assessing the effect of official recognition on the vitality of endangered languages: a case study from Italy Claudia Soria
10. Young Kashubs and language policy: between officialisation and community Nicole Do?owy-Rybi?ska
11. Confrontation and language policy: non-militant perspectives on conflicting revitalisation strategies in Béarn, France Damien Mooney
12. Occitan: a language that cannot stop dying Aurélie Joubert
13. 'To be a good westerner, you need to know where you come from': challenges facing language revitalisation in central Africa Rebecca Mitchell
14. Rediscovering history and the Cornish revival: changing attitudes to obtain language policies Michael Tressider.

Subject Areas: Anthropology [JHM], Sociolinguistics [CFB]