Language Planning

“Its all about reversing the mess made in

Babylon......”

Jillana Gomez
Shivana Mohammed
Nicole Motilal

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 Points to Consider

 Definitions of Language Planning

 Ideologies of Language Planning
 Goals of Language Planning
 Types of language Planning
 Language Planning and English : A summary

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 Definitions of language planning
 Language planning is a deliberate effort to
influence the function, structure, or acquisition of
a language or language variety within a speech
community. It may be undertaken by the
government or private organisations.

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 DEFINITIONS cont’d
 Language planning is official, government-level
activity concerning the selection and promotion
of a unified administrative language or
languages. It represents a coherent effort by
individuals, groups, or organizations to influence
language use or development.

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 Definitions cont’d
 The attempt to control the use, status, and structure of a
language through a language policy developed by a
government or other authority. Normally carried out by
official agencies, such planning usually passes through
several stages: a particular language or variety of a
language is selected; codification is undertaken to stabilize
it, for example by agreeing on writing conventions for
previously non-literate languages; the codified language is
adjusted to enable it to perform new functions, for example
by inventing or borrowing scientific vocabulary; and
mechanisms are devised, such as teaching syllabi and
procedures for monitoring the media, to ensure that the
language is used in conformity with the policy.

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 Language Planning & Ideology
 The language planning process culminates in a
Language Policy, this is influenced by “the
cultural system of ideas about social and
linguistic relationships together with their loading
of moral and political interests”. (Irvine 1998)

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 Ideologies of language planning
 Linguistic assimilation - the belief that every
member of a society, irrespective of his native
language, should learn and use the dominant
language of the society in which he lives. A
quintessential example is the English-Only
Movement in the United States.
 Linguistic pluralism - the recognition and
support of multiple languages within one society.
Examples include the coexistence of French,
German, Italian and Romansh in Switzerland and
the shared status of English, Malay, Tamil, and
Chinese in Singapore.
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 Ideologies of language planning
 Vernacularization-denotes 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 and Quechua in Peru and Filipino in
the Phillipines
 Internationalization - is the adoption of a non-
indigenous language of wider communication
as an official language or in a particular domain,
such as the use of English in Singapore, India,
the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea.
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 Language Planning & English
 English has a dominant role in the world therefore it does not go
through this sequence, however acquisition and use of English
is planned into national education systems.
 Eg. In post-colonial nations the relationship of English to
indigenous languages is clearly defined. In India, it is an official
language recognized for legal languages. In Tanzania, it is the
language of secondary and tertiary education, although Swahili
is the official language. In some South American countries, it is
a library language of some subjects.
 Countries and governments worldwide are accepting the fact
that no language policy is sufficient without giving English the
centrifugal role.
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 Types of language planning
 Status planning
 Corpus planning
 Acquisition planning

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 Status Planning
 STATUS PLANNING - is the allocation or reallocation of
a language or variety to functional domains within a
society, thus affecting the status, or standing, of a language.
 Language status is the position or standing of a language
vis-à-vis other languages.
 Kloss and Stewart stipulated four qualities of a language
that determine its status.
1. Language origin – whether the language is indigenous or
imported to the speech community.
2.Degree of standardization – the extent of development of a
formal set of norms that define ‘correct’ usage.
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 Status planning cont’d
 Juridical status
› Sole official language (e.g. French in France )
› Joint official language (e.g. English and Afrikaans in South Africa)
› Regional official language (e.g. Igbo in Nigeria)
› Promoted language – lacks official status on a national or regional
level but is promoted and sometimes used by public authorities for
specific functions (e.g. Spanish in New Mexico; West African
Pidgin English in Cameroon)
› Tolerated language – neither promoted nor proscribed;
acknowledged but ignored (e.g. Native American languages in the
United States)
› Proscribed language – discouraged by official sanction or
restriction (e.g. Macedonian in Greece)

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 Status planning cont’d
 Vitality - the ratio, or percent, of users of a language to
another variable, like the total population.

 Functional domains: William Stewart

 Official - An official language "function[s] as a legally
appropriate language for all politically and culturally
representative purposes on a nationwide basis."Often, the
official function of a language is specified in a constitution.
 Provincial - A provincial language functions as an official
language for a geographic area smaller than a nation,
typically a province or region (e.g. French in Quebec)
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 Status planning cont’d
 Wider communication - A language of wider communication is a
language that may be official or provincial, but more importantly,
functions as a medium of communication across language
boundaries within a nation (e.g. Hindi in India)
 International - An international language functions as a medium
of communication across national boundaries (e.g. English)
 Capital - A capital language functions as a prominent language in
and around a national capital (e.g. Dutch and French in Brussels)
 Group - A group language functions as a conventional language
among the members of a single cultural or ethnic group (e.g.
Hebrew amongst the Jews)

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 Status planning cont’d
 Educational - An educational language functions as a
medium of instruction in primary and secondary schools on
a regional or national basis (Urdu in West Pakistan)
 School subject - A school subject language is a language
that is taught as a subject in secondary school or higher
education (e.g. Latin and Ancient Greek in English schools)
 Literary - A literary language functions as a language for
literary or scholarly purposes (Ancient Greek)
 Religious - A religious language functions as a language for
the ritual purposes of a particular religion (e.g. Arabic for
the reading of the Qur'an)
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 Corpus planning
 Corpus planning refers to the prescriptive
intervention in the forms of a language, whereby
planning decisions are made to engineer changes in
the structure of the language. Corpus planning
activities often arise as the result of beliefs about
the adequacy of the form of a language to serve
desired functions. It involves planners with
linguistic expertise.
 Types of corpus planning: graphization,
standardization, and modernization.
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 Corpus planning cont’d
 Graphization - refers to development, selection and modification
of scripts and orthographic conventions for a language.
 Standardization is the process by which one variety of a
language takes precedence over other social and regional dialects
of a language. This variety comes to be understood as supra-
dialectal and the ‘best’ form of the language.
 Modernization is a form of language planning that occurs when a
language needs to expand its resources to meet functions. The
most significant force in modernization is the expansion of the
lexicon, which allows the language to discuss topics in modern
semantic domains.
 Corpus Planning in the Caribbean-Discussion
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 Acquisition Planning
 Acquisition planning is a type of language planning in
which a national, state or local government system
aims to influence aspects of language, such as
language status, distribution and literacy through
education. Acquisition planning is integrated into a
larger language planning process in which the statuses
of languages are evaluated, corpuses are revised and
the changes are finally introduced to society on a
national, state or local level through education
systems, ranging from primary schools to universities.
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 Acquisition Planning cont’d
 This process of change can entail a variety of modifications, such as
an altering textbooks, methods of teaching an official language or the
development of a bilingual language program. This type of planning
is used to promote language revitalization or to reverse language shift.
 Six principle goals of acquisition planning:
 To decide what languages should be taught within the curriculum.
 To determine the amount and quality of teacher training.
 To involve local communities.
 To determine what materials will be used and how they will be
incorporated into syllabi.
 To establish a local and state assessment system to monitor progress.
 To determine financial costs.
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 Acquisition Planning cont’d
 There are some problems associated with
acquisition planning:
 The effects on other aspects of state planning,
such as economic and political planning.
 Financially draining.

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 Goals of language planning
 Language Purification
 Language Revival
 Language Reform
 Language Standardisation
 Language Spread
 Lexical Modernisation
 Terminology Unification
 Stylistic Simplification
 Interlingual Communication
 Language Maintainance
 Auxillary Code Standardisation
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 ENGLISH ONLY MOVEMENT

“ we have no room for but one language in this

country and that is the English Language, we
intend to see that the crucible turns our people
out as Americans of American Nationality, and
not as dwellers in a polygot boarding house..”
(Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, 1919)

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 English Only Cont’d
 “ The passage of English as the official language
will help to expand opportunities for immigrants to
learn and speak English. The single greatest
empowering tool that immigrants must have to
succeed.”(PRO-English Committee)

 The Pro-English Committee is committed to

ensuring that all Americans can share the economic,
political and social benefits of a common language.

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 The Babel mandate
 The Pro English Movement is built on the premise that by
encouraging linguistic diversity the US Government are
threatening the assimilation process necessary for
citizenship.
 The Execution Order is their biggest threat. A document
endorsed by President Clinton on August 11,2000.
 It declares that “An entity receiving federal funds, is
mandated to provide all its services in any foreign
language spoken by anyone likely to receive those
services... failure to do so is likely to constitute
discrimination on basis of national origin...”
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 Do You Dare to challenge the Pro-
English?

 LINGUISTIC ERASURE
“the process in which ideology, in simplifying the
sociolinguistic field, renders some person or activities
or sociolinguistic phenomena invisible..”

 Characterising the US as an English speaking country

overlooks millions of residents that speak languages
other than English. Indeed the US is a country built on
the backs of immigrants.
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 English in singapore
 Singapore was originally part of the Sri Vijaya
Kingdom of Sumatra.
 1819 British Trader Stanford Raffles leased the
island from the sultan of Jahore
 1817 it became a British Colony
 1945 it was taken by the Japanese
 1945 seized by the British

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 Singapore today
 Today in Singapore English is the Language of
the Courts, Government, Administration and
Education since 1956.
 English Stands alongside three other official
languages in Singapore, these being Malay, Tamil
and Chinese.

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 Language Policy/Education
 Since 1966 English has been the exclusive medium of instruction for
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Education.
 This was mixed with an attempt to pursue a ‘bilingual education
policy’, as English was taught alongside another of the four languages.
 This failed, as it was noted that literacy rates dropped as neither of the
two languages was some students native language. So a third language
was introduced as a medium of instruction.
 The government still maintained that English was critical in
instruction, showing their underlying ideology to be
internationalization.
 These form part of the governments status planning as they pride their
ambition in making every native ‘bi-literate.’

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 Singlish
 However, there is no government body dealing
with issues such as codification and purification.
Although some local words such as 'saltish',
'sayang' (love), 'makan' (eat) (Brown, 1999) are
widely used, the Government pays little attention
to them and regards these words as 'Singlish' with
negative connotations.

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 The Good English Movement
 In Singapore there has been the development of
“Singlish” a variety of English with its own lexicon,
pronunciation and morpho-syntax.
 There is however the Speak Good English Movement,
“nationwide movement to encourage Singapore to
speak grammatically correct English v.s. Singlish. This
was launched in 2000 by the then Prime Minister.
 The Singapore Government regards the emergence of
Singapore English as a sign of declining local English
standards.
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 English Ever Hindi Never
 The people of Tamil Nadu cried out for equality,
to be found only in the institution of the English
Language as the Official Language, after the
1945 Indian government granted official status to
Hindi. They believed this type of status change
would foster elitism.

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 “It is not that Tamil people have a special love for English and hatred for
Hindi. This is the only equitable, fair official language policy for an
artificial country like India that consists of many nations with their
different languages, each spoken by tens of millions of people. Like it
or not, a knowledge of English is necessary for communicating in the
international arena and to be abreast with latest developments in science
and technology. It is the ground reality. That is why English is a required
subject in every school in India and in almost all over the world. Making
English the official language of India does not give an unfair advantage to
anyone because it is not the mother tongue of anyone in India with the
exception of the tiny Anglo-Indian community. On the contrary, making
Hindi the official language gives an undue advantage to Hindians
(approximately one third of the Indian population).”

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 English in India
 In India today there are app. 30-50million
speakers of English.
 Article 348-9 on the Language of the Supreme
court dictates that English shall be the language
of the supreme court and the high court until,
parliament dictates otherwise.

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 The Philippines
 The Philippines has a long history of Language
planning, beginning in the American Colonial period
1902-1940.
 These measures were specifically geared to
education in English, and ensuring that the language
of the civil service was English.
 Most Government leaders educated in Spanish, thus
became bi-lingual. Even after the second world war,
English continued as the language of education and
polity.
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 Status of English in the Philippines
 As of last count (McFarland 1993), there are 120 mutually
unintelligible Philippine languages in use in the islands although all
are genetically related. In addition, based on the National Statistics
Office1990 survey, about 99% of Filipino households speak Filipino
or Tagalog as a first or second language. About 56% of Filipinos
report themselves able to speak English.
 The official languages continue to be Filipino and English, the
national language Filipino, but the language most commonly in use
in schools is English and in the print medium, still English.
 Other media (audio and TV) are now dominated by Filipino.
Officially Filipino can be used in government work and in legislation
as well as judicial judgments, but English still dominates.

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 Policy as counteractive to National
Development
 In the Philippines' Policy and reality do not coincide. Where the
national language is Filipino and the language of National office
is English.
 The 1973 constitution as part of a UN mandate for
vernacularization of native languages in schools saw Filipino as
the new language of education. To facilitate learning in the native
language.
 Thus, creating a socio-linguistic rift between those educated
outside the Philippines' in English and those educated within the
Philippines’ in Filipino.
 Filipino is officially the national language, used in a bilingual
scheme in school, but hardly cultivated for intellectual purposes.
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 The Current Status of Caribbean English and its Implications
on Caribbean Society

What is Caribbean Standard English (CSE)?

CSE is the core linguistic features spoken in the

Anglophone Caribbean. It is also included in IAE to
produce a variety encompassing all. To attain CSE,
the process would involve attaining the standards of
all the English speaking Caribbean territories and
finding the core features amongst them; each
territory has its own standard.
 The Englishes of the Caribbean
 Trinidad Standard English
 Jamaica Standard English
 Barbados Standard English
 Antigua and Barbuda Standard English
 Grenada Standard English
 St. Vincent Standard English

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In a paper published by Linda Pilliere, “The Voice of the
Foreigner: Reproducing Caribbean English in the
postcolonial novel”, a question is put forward on whether
the varieties should be considered “forms of Caribbean
Standard English, distinct languages or dialects of
English”.

Thoughts on this…
Can Caribbean Englishes be
planned?

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 Language Standardisation and the
Caribbean?
 Orthography & Graphisation
Cassidy’s Phonemic Orthography sought to serve as a
model for Caribbean writing. A means to standardise the
variety of forms one word can take when written in ‘eye
dialect’.
 “Two linguists named Cassidy and LePage have developed an
orthography, that reproduces as closely as possible the sound
of Jamaica Talk. The main departure is the use of hn to
capture the soft, final "n" sound in words like ahn, dehn, hihn.
hEmphasize your haitches,
you hignorant hass
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 Lexicography
 The Cavehill Campus of the University of the
West Indies is home to the UWI Caribbean
Lexicography unit. Administrator of the Master
of Arts in Caribbean Lexicography, a relatively
new program, but a stride in the way of formal
Caribbean English Standardisation.


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Thus far, there have been several attempts at documenting Caribbean grammar, lexicon and
the phonology of words across the various territories.

Eg. Allsopp’s Dictionary of Caribbean Usage

This dictionary is designed to provide an inventory of English usage in the Caribbean

environment and lifestyle as known and spoken in each territory but not recorded in the
standard British and American desk dictionaries. It cross-references different names for the
same item throughout the Anglophone Caribbean, identifies different items called by the
same name in different territories, notes the acceptability of certain word-forms and usages
frequently encountered in speech and writing, provides some account of the status and
function of certain dialectal forms, offers guidance as to the form and function of French
Creole loan words, provides lexical explanations of a number of Hindu and Muslim terms
occurring increasingly in the Caribbean culture, expands regional acronyms, offers
rationalization or guide for the authentication of spellings, lists idiomatic expressions
derived from or associated with headwords, gives etymological information as available, and
identifies regional pronunciation where necessary or useful. French and Spanish
supplements are also included.
Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago
On Historical Principles
Lise Winer

Using the historical principles of the Oxford English Dictionary, Lise Winer
presents the first scholarly dictionary of this unique language. The dictionary
comprises over 12,200 entries, including over 4500 for flora and fauna alone, with
numerous cross-references. Entries include definitions, alternative spellings,
pronunciations, etymologies, grammatical information, and illustrative citations of
usage.
The Role of Regional Institutions in Language Planning

•The University of the West Indies

•The Caribbean Examinations Council

What should be the role of these Institutions in the Corpus Planning of Caribbean
Englishes?

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AN IDEAL STAUS FOR CSE/CE AND POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS

An ideal status for CE would be that of any other recognized Standard variety that
exists today. This in itself is a difficult feat to accomplish; that the Englishes of the
Caribbean achieve universal recognition as Standard Languages.

In order for the Ideal to be realised, which Goals of Language Planning ought to
be met?
Thank You for
Being Such an
Interactive
Audience!!!!!!

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