How do you actually design a language policy? A document analysis

While many of us are subjected to language policy on multiple levels on a daily basis (Spolsky, 2004), the actual process of putting one together is a rare experience, but something which should be demystified and be more inclusive. This study specifically asks 1) what is the process of putting a language policy together? 2) when people from different countries and different domains gather, what aspects are particularly emphasized in designing a language policy? In this case study, the actual process of designing a language policy statement is traced via document analysis.  The documents collected are those from one of the week-long sessions sponsored by Salzburg Global Seminar titled, “Springboard for Talent: Language Learning and Integration in a Globalized World” which took place from December 12 to 17, 2017, attended by 40 education experts from around the world. The documents analysed are 12 seminar-related documents that are disseminated via the internet, written and uploaded by the seminar staff throughout the policy-making process. These documents are then contrasted to the final statement, which was written collectively with a language policy specialist at the helm. The analysis revealed that, while diversity and minority communities are strongly supported, policy emphasizes neoliberalistic benefits (Block, 2018; Ricento, 2015; Piller & Cho, 2013) of multilingualism, referring to language as a commodity (e.g., “critical skill”) and associating language knowledge to socio-economic welfare (e.g., “promote economic development”), owing parts of the benefits to communication technologies. Multilingualism is presented as a panacea for social ills such as poverty and discrimination, uncritically praising additive, multiple language learning. While the policy is succinct and eloquent, it does not explore the core reasons as to why multilingualism is not fully promoted today, without which only the call for multilingualism will be heard, while the obstacles against it remain unclear.

Presented at Multidisciplinary Approaches in Language Policy and Planning Conference (LPP 2018), Toronto, Canada, August 23-25, 2018.