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Language policy issues are imbued with a powerful symbolism that is often linked to questions of identity, with the suppression or failure to recognise and support a given endangered variety representing a refusal to grant a 'voice' to the corresponding ethno-cultural community. This wide-ranging volume, which explores linguistic scenarios from across five continents, seeks to ignite the debate as to how and whether the interface between people, politics and language can affect the fortunes of endangered varieties. With chapters written by academics working in the field of language endangerment and members of indigenous communities on the frontline of language support and maintenance, Policy and Planning for Endangered Languages is essential reading for researchers and students of language death, sociolinguistics and applied linguistics, as well as community members involved in native language maintenance.
List of contents
Preface Mari C. Jones; 1. Leveraging language policy to effect change in the Arctic Lenore A. Grenoble; 2. Maintaining and revitalising the indigenous endangered languages of Borneo: comparing 'top-down' and community-based policy initiatives and strategies James McLellan and Gary Jones; 3. Language ideologies, practices and policies in Kanaky/New Caledonia Julia Sallabank; 4. Immersion education and the revitalisation of Breton and Gaelic as community languages Fabienne Goalalbré; 5. Asset, affiliation, anxiety? Exploring student perspectives on Welsh-medium study at post-16 Further Education Colleges Andrew James Davies and Prysor Mason Davies; 6. From policies to practice: the complex role of social mediators in Náayeri public education (Nayarit, Mexico) Margarita Valdovinos; 7. Transitional turtle soup: reconceptualising Mikasuki language acquisition planning Arieh Sherris and Jill Robbins; 8. Value, status, language policy and the language plan Rawinia Higgins and Poia Rewi; 9. Assessing the effect of official recognition on the vitality of endangered languages: a case study from Italy Claudia Soria; 10. Young Kashubs and language policy: between officialisation and community Nicole Döowy-Rybi¿ska; 11. Confrontation and language policy: non-militant perspectives on conflicting revitalisation strategies in Béarn, France Damien Mooney; 12. Occitan: a language that cannot stop dying Aurélie Joubert; 13. 'To be a good westerner, you need to know where you come from': challenges facing language revitalisation in central Africa Rebecca Mitchell; 14. Rediscovering history and the Cornish revival: changing attitudes to obtain language policies Michael Tressider.
About the author
Mari C. Jones is Reader in French Linguistics and Language Change at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Peterhouse College. She has published extensively on language endangerment in relation to Norman, Welsh and Breton, and lectures internationally on language revitalisation. She is Fellow of the International Centre for Language Revitalisation (Auckland), Visiting Fellow at the University of Canterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand) and Visiting Professor at Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, Germany.
Summary
A collaborative work written by academics working in the field of language endangerment and members of indigenous communities acting on the frontline of language support and maintenance, this volume offers a unique perspective on how the development and implementation of language policy and planning impact on endangered languages.
