science

Language planning

Language planning is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Language planning rather than just read about it. In short: In sociolinguistics, language planning (also known as language engineering) is a deliberate effort to influence the function, structure or acquisition of languages or language varieties within a speech community. Robert L.

Key takeaways

Language planning belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Language planning to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Language planning from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In sociolinguistics, language planning (also known as language engineering) is a deliberate effort to influence the function, structure or acquisition of languages or language varieties within a speech community. Robert L. Cooper (1989) defines language planning as "the activity of preparing a normative orthography, grammar, and dictionary for the guidance of writers and speakers in a non-homogeneous speech community" (p. 8). Along with language ideology and language practices, language planning is part of language policy – a typology drawn from Bernard Spolsky's theory of language policy. According to Spolsky, language management is a more precise term than language planning. Language management is defined as "the explicit and observable effort by someone or some group that has or claims authority over the participants in the domain to modify their practices or beliefs" (p. 4) Language planning is often associated with government planning, but is also used by a variety of non-governmental organizations such as grass-roots organizations as well as individuals. Goals of such planning vary. Better communication through assimilation of a single dominant language can bring economic benefits to minorities but is also perceived to facilitate their political domination. It involves the establishment of language regulators, such as formal or informal agencies, committees, societies or academies to design or develop new structures to meet contemporary needs.

Language ideology

Four overarching language ideologies are proposed to explain motivations and decisions.

Internationalization the adoption of a non-indigenous language as a means of wider communication, as an official language or in a particular domain, such as the use of English in India, Singapore, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and South Africa. Linguistic assimilation the belief that every member of a society, irrespective of their native language, should learn and use the dominant language of the society in which they live. An example is the English-only movement of some residents of the United States. Linguistic pluralism the recognition and support of many languages within one society. Examples include the coexistence of French, German, Italian, and Romansh in Switzerland; and the shared official status of English, Malay, Tamil, and Mandarin Chinese in Singapore. The coexistence of many languages may not necessarily arise from a conscious language ideology but rather the relative efficiency of communicating in a shared language. Vernacularization the restoration and development of an indigenous language, along with its adoption by the state as an official language. Examples include Hebrew in the state of Israel, Quechua in Peru and Māori in New Zealand.

Goals Eleven language planning goals have been recognized (Nahir 2003):

Language purification – prescription of usage norms in order to preserve the "linguistic purity" of language, protect language from foreign influences, and guard against perceived language deviation from within Language revival – the attempt to restore to common use a language which has few or no surviving native speakers Language reform – deliberate change in specific aspects of language or extralinguistic elements, such as grammar and orthography, in order to facilitate use Language standardization – the attempt to garner prestige for a regional language or dialect, developing it as the chosen standard language of a region Language spread – the attempt to increase the number of speakers of a language Lexical modernization – word coining or adaptation Terminology unification – development of unified terminologies, mainly in technical domains Stylistic simplification – simplification of language usage in lexicon, grammar, and style. That includes changing the use of language in social and formal contexts. Interlingual communication – facilitation of linguistic communication between members of distinct speech communities Language maintenance – preservation of a group's native language as a first or second language where pressures threaten or cause a decline in the status of the language Auxiliary-code standardization – standardization of marginal, auxiliary aspects of language, such as signs for the deaf, place names, or rules of transliteration and transcription

Types Language planning has been divided into three types:

Status planning

Status planning is the allocation or reallocation of a language or dialect to functional domains within a society, thus affecting the status, or standing, of a language.

Language status Language status is distinct from, though intertwined with, language prestige and language function. Language status is the given position (or standing) of a language against other languages. A language garners status according to the fulfillment of four attributes, described in 1968 by two different authors, Heinz Kloss and William Stewart. Both Kloss and Stewart stipulated four qualities of a language that determine its status. Their respective frameworks differ slightly, but they emphasize four common attributes:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Language planning

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Language planning claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Language planning before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Language planning ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Language planning

In research: Language planning appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Language planning in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Language planning is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Applied linguistics, Concepts in language policy, Interlinguistics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Language planning outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Language planning in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Language planning means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Language planning out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Language planning in simple terms?

Why does Language planning matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Language planning?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Language planning.