Date: 14-Feb-2012 From: Julia Ulrich <julia.ulrichdegruyter.com> Subject: Paradigm Shift in Language Planning and Policy: Koffi E-mail this message to a friend
Title: Paradigm Shift in Language Planning and Policy
Subtitle: Game-Theoretic Solutions
Series Title: Contributions to the Sociology of Language [CSL] 101
Published: 2012
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
http://www.degruyter.com/mouton
Author: Ettien Koffi
Electronic: ISBN: 9781934078112 Pages: 328 Price: Europe EURO 99.95
Hardback: ISBN: 9781934078105 Pages: 328 Price: Europe EURO 99.95
Abstract:
The book proposes a paradigm shift in language planning and language policy in Africa. For the past fifty years, the dominant model has been the hegemonic model whereby a language of wider communication (LWC) is imposed on minority languages. It is now time for a paradigm shift in favor of a more egalitarian model in which all the languages spoken in the same country, irrespective of their size, are planned. The paradigm shift concerns four critical areas: status planning, cost-benefit planning, acquisition planning, and corpus planning.
Such a shift is justified for the following reasons: First, the hegemonic model has a dismal track record of success in Africa and elsewhere. Second, the hegemonic model exacerbates linguistic conflicts in many countries. Consequently, policy makers shun it for fear of jeopardizing the fragile social fabric in their respective countries. Last, a shift away from the hegemonic model is recommended because it is too costly to implement. The "democratic model" is undergirded by the Strategic Game Theory proposed by David Laitin. It forecasts a 3±1 language outcome for most African countries. This outcome supports the "three language formula" now called for by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Linguistic Field(s):
Applied Linguistics
Language Policy
Sociolinguistics
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