Language Problems and Language Planning - Volume 49, Issue 2, 2025

Abstract

The study aims to address the potential challenges, advantages and disadvantages associated with the implementation of the Cyrillic-to-Latin script transition strategy based on the experience of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The lack of financial resources, increased resistance in society, and the prospect of a cultural gap between the older and younger generations were obstacles to the transition. In terms of the political situation, factors such as the multinationalism of the Kyrgyzstani population, the prospect of reviving national consciousness and the political will of the leadership were noted. In terms of education, the switch to Latin was seen as a way to speed up the learning of English and to have a positive impact on the development of information technology. From an economic point of view, the transition could lead to a boost in the development of information technology and the printing industry.

Abstract

This paper explores the critical need to integrate linguistic justice into disaster risk reduction (DRR) and resilience planning. Linguistic injustice can cause enduring harm even in ordinary times, limiting access to essential services, marginalising minority groups, and deepening social inequalities. Yet during disasters, the consequences of linguistic exclusion can be even more devastating — becoming, quite literally, a matter of life and death. Although navigating language policy is already fraught with challenges in peaceful settings, it becomes even more complex under the pressures of crisis. This article positions linguistic justice within the broader literature on disaster management, focusing particularly on DRR frameworks. It examines the management of linguistic diversity and the state’s responsibilities in mitigating language-based disadvantages within both natural and man-made disasters. Two research questions guide the discussion: (1) How is language represented in DRR literature across the three phases of disasters — before, during, and after — considering both its practical and symbolic dimensions? and (2) What ethical principles should underpin linguistic justice within DRR efforts? Finally, drawing on Etkin and Timmerman’s (2013) I-Thou model and Peled’s (2024) solidarity-based approach to language, the paper proposes an alternative ethics of disaster management that centres linguistic justice.

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of the evolution of Chinese language education policy amid the country’s global transformation. Drawing upon the theory of structural realism in international relations, we argue that China’s language policy changes are driven by the dynamic interactions between a country’s domestic developments and its changing position in the international system. Through a review of policy documents, the study reveals three major shifts in China’s language education policy in the past three decades: from an economic to a political orientation, from an emphasis on cultural input to cultural output, and from a focus on English as the major foreign language to the promotion of a multilingual landscape. These shifts are analyzed as China’s strategic responses to its pursuit of national interests within the changing international environment. The analysis not only contributes to an understanding of policy changes in China, it also makes a contribution to the field of language policy by demonstrating the explanatory power of international relations theory in understanding language policy changes in the context of globalization.

This article reviews Posizione e vitalità dell’italiano nel contesto aziendale e lavorativo svizzero

This article reviews Foreign Languages Planning in China from the Perspective of Global Governance

This article reviews Policies, Politics, and Ideologies of English-Medium Instruction in Asian Universities: Unsettling Critical Edges