Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wg55d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-11T11:43:59.300Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2019

Thomas Ricento
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
Get access

Summary

An important goal of this edited volume is to address the following challenge: What can scholars of language politics and policy contribute to our understanding of things as they are (the "Why?" Question) while also providing concrete suggestions and describing actual policies that have enhanced democratic participation and inclusion (the "What" Answer)? The contributors fully embrace the fundamental reality that virtually all contemporary nation-states have multiple language groups among their citizens, and that acceptance and legitimation of linguistic and cultural diversity is beneficial for societal well-being, and not just beneficial for minority/minoritized language communities. In exploring and explaining language politics and policies in diverse contexts in Canada and the United States, using a variety of data sources and disciplinary perspectives, the authors describe the challenges and set-backs, along with the many positive steps taken in recent years to advance the interests and aspirations of speakers of marginalized/minoritized languages. The authors remain hopeful that positive change is possible while acknowledging that ideologies about language and the role of language in national development and identity remain potent forces that are often difficult to challenge, let alone dislodge, when they become embedded in the daily lives and common sense views of citizens.

Type
Chapter
Information
Language Politics and Policies
Perspectives from Canada and the United States
, pp. 1 - 24
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism (Revised). London: Verso.Google Scholar
Boutet, J. (2012). Language workers: Emblematic figures of late capitalism. In Duchêne, A. & Heller, M. (eds.), Language in Late Capitalism: Pride and Profit. London: Routledge, pp. 27229.Google Scholar
Cardinal, L. (2017). Multilingualism and the local politics of language regime. Keynote address, The Politics of Multilingualism: Possibilities and Challenges Conference, May 22–25, University of Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Fettes, M. (1998). Life on the edge: Canada’s Aboriginal languages under official bilingualism. In Ricento, T. & Burnaby, B. (eds.), Language and Politics in the United States and Canada: Myths and Realities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 117–49.Google Scholar
Fettes, M. & Norton, R. (2000). Voices of winter: Aboriginal languages and public policy in Canada. In Castellano, M. Brant, Davis, L., & Lahache, L. (eds.), Aboriginal Education: Fulfilling the Promise. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, pp. 2954.Google Scholar
Fraser, G. (2006). Sorry, I Don’t Speak French: Confronting the Canadian Crisis That Won’t Go Away. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.Google Scholar
Fraser, G. (2015). Foreword. In Hayday, M., So They Want Us to Learn French: Promoting and Opposing Bilingualism in English-Speaking Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, pp. xixiii.Google Scholar
Gilbert, A. & Veronis, L. (2010). Le meilleur des deux mondes: l’expérience géographique des immigrants francophones d’Afrique centrale dans la région d’Ottawa-Gatineau. In Gallant, N. (ed.), Cahier de la Recherche Actuelle sur L’immigration Francophone au Canada. Ottawa: Minister of Canadian Heritage, pp. 3840.Google Scholar
Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua, N. (2013). The Seeds We Planted: Portraits of a Native Hawaiian Charter School. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua, N. (2014). Introduction. In Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua, N., Hussey, I., & Kahunawaika‘ala Wright, E. (eds.), A Nation Rising: Hawaiian Movements for Life, Land, and Sovereignty. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp. 133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grinberg, J. & Saavedra, E. (2000). The constitution of bilingual/ESL education as a disciplinary practice. Review of Educational Research, 70(4), 419–41.Google Scholar
Haque, E. (2012). Multiculturalism within a Bilingual Framework: Language, Race, and Belonging in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, B. (April 16, 2014). LEAPs Act calls for sea change in thinking about language skills and teaching. MinnPost. Retrieved from www.minnpost.com/learning-curve/2014/04/leaps-act-calls-sea-change-thinking-about-language-skills-and-teaching [Last accessed March 10, 2019].Google Scholar
Hayday, M. (2015). So They Want Us to Learn French: Promoting and Opposing Bilingualism in English-Speaking Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.Google Scholar
Heller, M. (2010). Language as resource in the globalized new economy. In Coupland, N. (ed.), The Handbook of Language and Globalization. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 349–65.Google Scholar
Hermes, M., Bang, M., & Marin, A. (2012). Designing Indigenous language revitalization. Harvard Educational Review, 82(3), 381402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hermes, M. & Kawai‘ae‘a, K. (2014). Revitalizing Indigenous languages through Indigenous immersion education. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 2(2), 303–22.Google Scholar
Katznelson, N. & Bernstein, K. A. (2017). Rebranding bilingualism: The shifting discourses of language education policy in California’s 2016 election. Linguistics and Education, 40, 1126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kertzer, D. I. & Arel, D. (2002). Censuses, identity formation, and the struggle for political power. In Kertzer, D. I. & Arel, D. (eds.), Census and Identity: The Politics of Race, Ethnicity, and Language in National Censuses. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 142.Google Scholar
Leonard, W. Y. (2017). Producing language reclamation by decolonizing “language.” Language Documentation and Description, 14, 1536.Google Scholar
Liptak, A. (June 25, 2013). Supreme Court invalidates key part of Voting Rights Act. New York Times. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/us/supreme-court-ruling.html [Last accessed March 10, 2019].Google Scholar
Nieto, S. (2000). Puerto Rican students in U.S. schools: A brief history. In Nieto, S. (ed.), Puerto Rican Students in U.S. Schools. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 538.Google Scholar
Ricento, T. (1998). National language policy in the United States. In Ricento, T. & Burnaby, B. (eds.), Language and Politics in the United States and Canada: Myths and Realities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 85112.Google Scholar
Ricento, T. (2005). Problems with the language-as-resource discourse in the promotion of heritage languages in the U.S.A. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 9(3), 348–68.Google Scholar
Ruiz, R. (1984). Orientations in language planning. NABE Journal, 8(2), 1534.Google Scholar
Scheurich, J. J. (1994). Policy archeology: A new policy studies methodology. Journal of Education Policy, 9(4), 297316.Google Scholar
Schmidt, R. Sr. (2014). Democratic theory and the challenge of linguistic diversity. Language Policy, 13(4), 395411.Google Scholar
Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 2 (2013).Google Scholar
Simpson, L. (2014). Land as pedagogy: Nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellious transformation. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 3(3), 125.Google Scholar
Sonntag, S. K. and Cardinal, L. (2015). Introduction: State traditions and language regimes: Conceptualizing language policy choices. In Cardinal, L. & Sonntag, S. K. (eds.), State Traditions and Linguistic Regimes. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, pp. 326.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada. (2012). Linguistic characteristics of Canadians. Retrieved from www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98–314-x/98–314-x2011001-eng.cfm [Last accessed March 10, 2019].Google Scholar
Statistics Canada. (2017a). Immigration and Diversity: Population Projections for Canada and Its Regions, 2011 to 2036. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada. (2017b). Language Projections for Canada, 2011 to 2036. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Task Force on Aboriginal Languages and Cultures. (2005). Towards a New Beginning: A Foundational Report for a Strategy to Revitalize First Nation, Inuit and Métis Languages and Cultures. Ottawa: Aboriginal Languages Directorate, Aboriginal Affairs Branch, Department of Canadian Heritage.Google Scholar
Taylor, M. (2006). Rationality and the Ideology of Disconnection. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tomiak, J. (2016). Unsettling Ottawa: Settler colonialism, indigenous resistance and the politics of scale. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 25(1), 821.Google Scholar
Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (2015). Honouring the truth, reconciling for the future: Summary of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Retrieved from nctr.ca/assets/reports/Final%20Reports/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf [Last accessed March 10, 2019].Google Scholar
Urla, J. (1993). Contesting modernities: Language standardization and the production of an ancient/modern Basque culture. Critique of Anthropology, 13(2), 101–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valdez, V. E., Delavan, G., & Freire, J. A. (2014). The marketing of dual language education policy in Utah print media. Educational Policy, 30(6), 849–83.Google Scholar
Wilkins, D. E. & Stark, K. T. (2011). Uneven Ground: American Indian Sovereignty and Federal Law. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Thomas Ricento, University of Calgary
  • Book: Language Politics and Policies
  • Online publication: 18 July 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108684804.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Thomas Ricento, University of Calgary
  • Book: Language Politics and Policies
  • Online publication: 18 July 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108684804.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Thomas Ricento, University of Calgary
  • Book: Language Politics and Policies
  • Online publication: 18 July 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108684804.001
Available formats
×