Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
University of Saida
Faculty of Letters and Languages and Arts
Department of English
Module: Linguistics Ms. Belaskri Khadidja
Level: 3rd year
[email protected] Language Planning
Language planning occurs because there is a close relationship between a nation and its
language through which members of social and political units identify themselves. What we
speak is a marker of our identity and group membership. Therefore, it is obvious that every
country has its language. For instance English in England, French in France, Spanish in Spain,
Portuguese in Portugal, Japanese in Japan, German in Germany, etc.
Hence, language planning refer to the deliberate and prescriptive activities that aim to
regulate language use in counties are necessary, especially in multilingual countries where
governments (linguists can also be involved) make plans to develop certain languages or to
limit the use of others (linguistic cleansing) for the purpose of linguistic homogenization in
their respective countries. Language planning can involve changing some aspects of language
or its linguistic varieties as well as specifying certain functions to each.
• Wardhaugh (2006: 354) explains that language planning may involve ‘assessing resources,
complex decision-making, the assignment of different functions to different languages or
varieties of a language in a community, and the commitment of valuable resources’.
• Cooper (1989: 45) defines language planning as the ‘deliberate efforts to influence the
behavior of others with respect to the acquisition, structure, or functional allocation of their
language codes’.
These two linguists point to the conscious efforts initiated to change the linguistic
behaviour of a speech community.
Choosing a variety depends on factors like:
1/The form of the variety. 2/The functions it serves. 3/The attitudes people hold towards it.
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Types of language planning
Language planning concerns four areas:
Status planning
It refers to the decisions and activities concerned with bringing about changes in the
functions or uses of languages (or language varieties) in social and political units such as
countries and federal departments.
Example: the Algerian government’s decision to set Arabic as the language of the official
scountry and the medium of instruction in the Algerian schools after independence in 1962.
Corpus planning
It refers to decisions and activities concerned with developing the form and the structure
of a language or one of its varieties, and to provide it with the necessary linguistic means, that
is, improving its grammar and enriching its vocabulary, to serve particular functions so that it
can fulfil its new functions effectively, in the different social domains (such as government,
education, scientific fields, workplace, media, etc).
Examples: designing an orthography and a written code, introducing new words to fill gaps in
the languages, publishing dictionaries, grammar books and literature to ensure language
acquisition and transmission through generations.
Acquisition planning
It refers to decisions and activities aimed at increasing the number of a language users,
that is, its speakers, writers, listeners, and readers (Cooper, 1989: 33). This occurs through
promoting its teaching and providing opportunities to people to learn it, practice it and develop
communicative and other specific skill in this language.
Examples: Mother Tongue Education programmes, language revitalization activities
Prestige planning
This concerns the decisions and activities aimed at motivating people to use the
language and developing positive attitudes and feeling towards the language to achieve success
in expanding the language throughout the country. Such decisions are essential to guarantee a
long-term stability.
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These four areas of language planning do not exist in isolation they are interrelated and
work jointly. Activities aimed at changing the functions of a language (status planning) often
require changes in the form or structure of the language (corpus planning), and may also involve
education and training (acquisition planning). Status planning activities will only succeed if
positive attitudes towards the language are adopted (through prestige planning) by both the
speakers of the language and others in the wider society such as government officials, teachers,
pastors. Language academies, committees and commissions are interested in language
planning. Individuals can be language planners, too, mainly sociolinguists and lexicographers.
The process of language planning
Many linguists agree that language planning typically include four main steps:
1. Selection: Choosing the variety to be developed for broader usage. Selecting the variety to
be developed is often a political decision.
2. Codification: Standardising its structural or linguistic features. That is, developing the form
of the language, i.e. its linguistic structure, including its phonology, grammar, and lexicon. This
step is also referred to as Corpus Planning. Linguists help in codifying a language and they can
point out the different linguistic issues that may arise in selecting one variety than another.
3. Elaboration (implementation): Extending its functions for use in new domains. Haugen
(1983: 272) argues that ‘Selection and codification remain mere paper exercises unless they are
followed by implementation and elaboration, the former involving social status and the latter
the linguistic corpus’.
4. Acceptance: Enhancing its prestige and encouraging people to develop pride in it and loyalty
towards it. The acceptance of the chosen variety by the people will require the support of
politicians and socially prestigious groups.
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Purposes of Language Planning
1. Language Purification: To prescribe the usage in order to preserve the “linguistic purity”
of a language and protect it from foreign influences.
Example: Classical Arabic grammar books.
2. Language Revival: To attempt to turn a language with few or no surviving native speakers
back into a spoken means of communication.
Example: Hebrew
3. Language Reform: To deliberately change specific aspects of a language such as
orthography or grammar in order to facilitate and simplify its use.
Example: Chinese [reduced the number of characters]
Turkish [Changed characters from Arabic to Latin]
4. Language Spread: To attempt to increase the number of speakers of one language at the
expense of another.
Example: The spread of Spanish in Paraguay at the expense of the native language, Guarani.
5. Terminology Unification: To develop unified terminologies, primarily in technical
domains.
Example: The Arab Language Academy
6. Language Maintenance: To preserve the use of a group’s native language as a first or second
language where pressure cause a decline in the status of the language.
Example: Welsh.
