LINGUISTIC DEMOGRAPHY AND THE STUDY OF LM

In this first chapter dealing with data collection, we focus on linguistic demography. Linguistic demography is concerned with the study of numerical or statistical aspects of languages and their distribution across the world. Major sources of information include Census and large-scale surveys. A number of countries collect information on language use and language proficiency through their periodic Census surveys, usually done every five to ten years. The language data collected in this way have been of assistance to language scholars interested in the linguistic make-up of a country, state or region and in the dynamics of these linguistic landscapes, including major and minor shifts in the usage of particular languages and language varieties. In line with a purpose of Census surveys, they have also been used in the shaping or changing of language policies and planning initiatives. In this chapter we will look at some issues that surround the use of language data drawn from Census surveys in the study of LM and LS.

LANGUAGE DATA FROM CENSUS SURVEYS

Census surveys are periodical population surveys that collect information from individuals (typically over the age of five years) about a large set of variables, factors and behaviours. These surveys facilitate planning in a variety of fields such as transport, education, social services, health, housing, trade, business, the economy and even political representation. Countries with a linguistically diverse population increasingly include questions around language use and language proficiency. Reasons for such inclusion can range from a desire to document and monitor trends in the linguistic diversity of the national population to a need for the planning of language services (interpreting, translation and language learning) to formulating policies on language use and language rights. These questions, albeit that their formulation is often problematic, are regularly used by a variety of scholars, including those working on LM and LS, to assess the state and vitality of territorial minority, immigrant or heritage languages within a country or large polity. In some cases where the Census does not include language questions researchers may draw upon other variables (e.g., ethnic origin, birthplace) to gain some insight into language matters. Of course the latter way of gaining information on language matters is very fraught as neither ethnicity nor birthplace is an appropriate substitute or reliable indicator of linguistic background.