Language Problems and Language Planning - Current Issue

Abstract

Religion is an important but understudied domain of language policy. Inspired by the work of Jonathan Z. Smith, an influential theoretician in the comparative study of religion, this article aims to advance research on the religious domain by mapping out two contrasting ‘topographies’ and their attendant language policies. A locative topography is a religious orientation that emphasizes fixity, sacrality, hierarchy, and purity, while a utopian (“no-place”) typography valorizes freedom, movement, interconnection, and the transcendence of boundaries. The Russian Orthodox maintenance of Church Slavonic and Catholic support for Esperanto serve as respective examples, with the continuance of Latin in Catholicism presenting a mixed case. The article suggests that the locative-utopian distinction can also shed light on secular policies, such as the Russian government’s entrenchment of the Cyrillic alphabet and the widespread use of the Frutiger typeface in major world airports.

Abstract

Intralingual translation in Arabic has been treated as a tool of simplification, while its implications for language planning remain underexplored. Using al-Shāmilī’s 2016 translation of al-Maʿarrī’s Risālat al-Ghufrān into semi-literate spoken Arabic as a case study, this article argues that intralingual translation constitutes a site where corpus and status planning interact reciprocally rather than unfold in a linear sequence of form following function. Four dynamics exemplify this interplay. First, the translation advances modernization rather than standardization, evident in its minimal graphization and its alignment with state discourses on renewing heritage texts. Second, it engages in intertextual positioning by drawing on earlier editions and interlingual translations as auxiliary sources to enhance intelligibility and, in so doing, cast Classical Arabic as a code requiring mediation. Third, it disrupts entrenched hierarchies and sparks media controversy through labelling by presenting the work as a translation in the Egyptian language. Finally, it undertakes functional reallocation by authorizing the selected variety as a medium of storytelling and religious expression. These dynamics show that intralingual translation should be understood not as a secondary act of simplification but as a powerful instrument of language planning that modernizes linguistic resources, renegotiates hierarchies, and redistributes authority across communicative domains.

Abstract

Despite the increased international use of English-medium instruction in higher education, little attention has been given to the language-related experiences of international students in non-Anglophone settings where local or national languages are used for academic purposes. This study explores the language ideologies and practices of a cohort of international students studying in a CAP course. Based on a large ethnographic study, the findings demonstrate that (i) international students tend to see Chinese as burdensome and of low value in science and technology; (ii) they have little interest in, and low motivation for, the CAP course because of complex linguistic, pedagogical, institutional, ideological factors; (iii) they engage in multilingual practices for empowerment in the CAP classroom. The study emphasizes the need for dynamic, locally contextualized language policies and curriculum design to improve outcomes for international students, offering insights about CAP in higher education and South-South student mobility in China and beyond.

This article reviews Pobal na Gaeilge — Daonra, Institiúidí, Stádas, agus Cumhacht (La Communauté irlandophone — Population, Institutions, Statut, et Pouvoir)

This article reviews Language Policy as Practice: Advancing the Empirical Turn in Language Policy Research978-3-031-55782-8EUR 149.79

This article reviews The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Listening

This article reviews Le guerre per la lingua. Piegare l’italiano per darsi ragione

This article reviews The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism (2nd ed.)

This article reviews Language Policy at the Supranational Level: English and the ASEAN978-3-031-73399-4EUR 149.99