Language Problems and Language Planning - Volume 34, Issue 1, 2010

Research into language policy in Africa has addressed the impact of colonial language policies on efforts to formulate and implement post-colonial language policies aimed at vernacularization, defined as the use of indigenous African languages in higher domains such as education. What seems to have received very little attention to date, however, is the effect of globalization, through the medium of English, on vernacularization not only in Anglophone but also in non-English-speaking countries in the African continent. Focusing on the latter territories, this paper explores this issue from the perspective of recent theoretical developments in the field of language economics, an area of study whose focus is on the theoretical and empirical ways in which linguistic and economic variables influence one another. It argues that the spread of English to these historically non-English-speaking territories in Africa represents the second challenge to largely symbolic language policies aimed at promoting vernacularization, the first one being other western languages (e.g. French, Portuguese, Spanish). Drawing on language economics, the paper argues that the prospects for the indigenous languages will continue to be bleak, especially in the era of globalization, unless these languages are viewed as a commodity rather than as a token for cultural preservation, and are associated with some of the advantages and material gains that have for decades been the preserve of western languages. Resistance against, and successful case studies of, vernacularization informed by language economics in various parts of the world are presented in support of the proposed argument for the promotion of Africa’s indigenous languages in education.

This paper explores the effects of different political ideologies on language, using as examples three historical stages and three political periods in the history of Iran, and the differing policies adopted in these eras concerning language and language education. Over the years, political ideologies have served as a barrier as well as a contributor to language use (whether first or foreign) and to language teaching. The paper then turns to explore local language policies and the status of the Persian language in the modern era, focusing particularly on foreign language teaching policies after the Islamic revolution and their implications for teaching and learning activities and practices in Iran’s educational system. Finally, using several Iranian political periods as an example, this study demonstrates how globalization has influenced the teaching of foreign languages, especially English.

Denmark is known for its rather “liberal” and implicit language policy. Many of the decisions concerning the use, acquisition and status of languages are influenced by political decisions made on other topics and by the changing governments’ hidden political agenda. Language policy is therefore not so much non-existent as it is hidden. The aim of the present article is to uncover the covert mechanisms of language policymaking and its relationship to the prevailing linguistic culture. The roots of the laissez-faire language policy in Denmark are planted deeply in the prevailing linguistic culture in the country, according to which sanctioning and controlling the use of language is conceived as discriminatory, as it is in conflict with the right to freedom of speech. However, recent sociolinguistic research carried out in Denmark bears witness to the fact that the laissez-faire or liberal language policy does not necessarily contribute to linguistic diversity, but quite to the contrary speeds up the opposite processes of standardization and dedialectalization.

The typological similarities between Esperanto and other languages have long been a matter of debate. Assuming that foreign-language structures are more easily acquired when they resemble those of the learner’s native tongue, any candidate for a global lingua franca obviously ought to be as typologically neutral as possible. One common criticism of Esperanto is that it is ‘too European,’ and thus less accessible to speakers of non-European languages. In order to provide a more solid base for such discussions, this paper makes an attempt to quantify the Eurocentricity of Esperanto, employing the features catalogued in the World Atlas of Language Structures. It is concluded that Esperanto is indeed somewhat European in character, but considerably less so than the European languages themselves.