Language Problems and Language Planning - Volume 25, Issue 1, 2001

The paper analyses the mythology and imagery underpinning global English, the many labels used to describe English, and the transition from an imperialist language into one that meshes with ongoing processes of Europeanisation and Americanisation, largely through the influence of transnational corporations. EU language policy does not represent a counterweight to an expansion of English, which constitutes a threat to other languages. Implications are drawn for Danish, the dominant language hitherto, and for foreign and immigrant languages, in Denmark, a country that traditionally has a laissez-faire attitude to language policy. Building on a wealth of research evidence and experience in other countries, an ABC of language policy for Denmark is articulated. It covers an Action plan, links with Business, Consultation, Diversification of languages and ways of learning them, Europeanisation, proper Funding through co-ordination between relevant government departments, Goals that reflect local and global needs, policies that respect the linguistic Human rights of speakers of all languages in Denmark, and resistance to linguistic Imperialism.

One of the main difficulties in describing state language policies and planning has to do with the fact that very often one has to decide whether changes observed in state attitude vis-à-vis specific languages indicate the adoption of a new policy or reflect activation processes which tend to unveil previously covert or de facto policies. The interpretation of apparent changes in policy often becomes more difficult because of the existence of divergent, even conflicting, linguistic practices within the same polity. The introduction of legislation aiming to protect the Greek language in Cyprus in the mid 80s can be interpreted as an activation of the Cypriot state de facto policy in favor of the Greek language, a policy that marks the history of the Greek Cypriot community even before the creation of the Cypriot state. The shift from a laissez faire attitude that prevailed in the years after Independence (1960) toward legal intervention in favor of the Greek language in the mid 1980s cannot be understood without reference to a set of interrelated factors that distinguish this period from previous periods of the history of the Cypriot state.

The South African case raises a number of important issues of concern for those interested in language policy and language planning: issues of multilingualism, linguistic diversity, linguistic integration, linguistic equity, and language rights. South Africa is fascinating for those interested in matters of language because it is characterized by elements of both the ‘developed’ and the ‘developing’ worlds, and thus, to some extent, provides us with a microcosm of the broader international issues related to language. In the years since the 1994 election, South Africa has begun seriously and thoughtfully to address many of the challenges related to language and language policy that will face virtually all societies in the next century. Its experiences in this regard are both telling and significant, and have far broader implications for other societies. This article provides a brief discussion of the historical use of language policy and language planning in the South African context, and explores recent developments in South Africa with respect to language policy. Finally, it identifies and discusses possible lessons for efforts to promote linguistic diversity in multilingual settings.

Due gruppi di alunni di una scuola media italiana, comparabili tra loro per molti aspetti, hanno preso parte ad un esperimento sugli effetti dell’apprendimento dell’esperanto relativamente alle loro abilità metalinguistiche. Il gruppo che ha seguito un corso di esperanto per un intero anno scolastico ha avuto dei risultati migliori in test di abilità metalinguistiche sviluppati e validati indipendentemente da questo esperimento rispetto al gruppo di controllo. Pertanto, i risultati dell’esperimento sono del tutto in linea con le ipotesi prefissate, e cioè che l’insegnamento dell’esperanto avrebbe avuto un’influenza positiva sulle abilità metalinguistiche degli alunni. I risultati dei test mostrano chiaramente che all’inizio dell’anno scolastico entrambi i gruppi erano allo stesso livello sia per quanto riguarda le risposte “linguistiche” sia per quanto riguarda quelle “metalinguistiche” del test. Il test, infatti, richiede sia risposte linguistiche che metalinguistiche, in altre parole si devono dare le giustificazioni per le risposte linguistiche indicate. Questi risultati sono in linea con i risultati di ricerche precedenti sugli effetti propedeutici dell’esperanto e sottolineano i potenziali vantaggi dell’educazione bilingue per tutti i bambini. Confermando la validità dell’educazione bilingue dei bambini, gli autori chiedono che verifiche simili siano fatte relativamente a bambini con diverse età e con diverse lingue materne.