The definitive guide to the field of language policy, rich with examples Explores a theory of language policy starting with the individual speaker rather than the nation Draws on a range of examples and case studies including examples of threatened indigenous and minority languages throughout the world Surveys the language practices, beliefs, and planning efforts of a wide range of stakeholders including families, public institutions and local and national activists Drawing on four decades of research, Bernard Spolsky presents an updated theory of language policy that starts with the individual speaker instead of the nation. In this book, he surveys the language practices, beliefs, and planning efforts of individuals, families, public and private institutions, local and national activists, advocates and managers, and nations. He examines the diversity of linguistic repertoires and the multiplicity of forces, linguistic and non-linguistic, which account for language shift and maintenance. By starting with the individual speaker and moving through the various levels and domains, Spolsky shows the many different policies with which a national government must compete and illustrates why national policy is so difficult. A definitive guide to the field, this is essential reading for policy makers, stakeholders, researchers, and students of language policy.

About the Author
Bernard Spolsky was Professor Emeritus in the Department of English Literature and Linguistics, Bar-Ilan University, Israel

Reviews
"Breathtaking in scope, Rethinking Language Policy offers a world tour of language policy by a scholar whose work has defined the field. Demonstrating that language policy depends on many non-linguistic factors, Professor Spolsky leads readers from the individual, to the familial, to the myriad institutional forces that shape language policy, illustrating it all with case examples through time and across every region of the globe. Timely, fascinating, and highly accessible, this unparalleled comparative account reveals language policy as practices, beliefs, and management mediated by relations of power." -Teresa L. McCarty, GF Kneller Chair in Education and Anthropology, University of California



Book Information
ISBN 9781474485470
Author Bernard Spolsky
Format Paperback
Page Count 276
Imprint Edinburgh University Press
Publisher Edinburgh University Press