Abstract
Language planning in education refers to a broad range of decisions affecting the structure, function, and acquisition of language in schools. This chapter reviews the history of language planning in education, major contributions of past research, current research, problems and difficulties facing the field, and future directions. Early developments are categorized into two major periods, distinguished by a focus on the role of language planning in “modernization” and “development” on the one hand and critical analysis of power and ideology on the other. Major contributions emphasize work by pioneers in language planning, such as Joshua Fishman and Charles Ferguson, who laid the foundation for subsequent work on language maintenance and shift, bilingualism and diglossia, and a host of related topics. Subsequent developments shifted attention to language and ideology, tensions between “standard” and “nonstandard” varieties, globalization and the spread of English, language maintenance/revitalization, and bilingual approaches to education. Work in progress includes new developments in research methodologies, new conceptual frameworks such as interpretive policy analysis and the ecology of language, and changing understandings of language policy and planning. These new understandings have led to increasing use of qualitative research methods such as ethnography. Important challenges facing the field include efforts to integrate language planning with other social sciences and to build more direct links between research and the practice of language planning in education. Finally, this chapter examines future directions, including the role of language planning in economic inequality, language planning in non-state institutions such as the World Bank, and development of new research methodologies.
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Tollefson, J.W. (2016). Language Planning in Education. In: McCarty, T., May, S. (eds) Language Policy and Political Issues in Education. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02320-5_2-1
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