The Logic of Best-Practice Language Strategy

Abstract

The most formal document which outlines a government’s approach to the protection and promotion of one or more minority languages is an official language strategy, and nearly all EU jurisdictions now have such a provision. However, the debate as to what constitutes a good language strategy is rarely conducted in public and only occasionally behind closed doors in government circles — usually when there is a crisis or an apparent breakdown of communication between an arm of government and one of its several partners tasked with delivering an important element of strategy. In this chapter we move from an overview description of how language strategies are constructed, measured and evaluated to a more prescriptive and normative assessment of what makes a good language strategy. The interpretation identfies significant elements of current best practice from within the case studies surveyed and recommends their emulation elsewhere in Europe, North America and parts of Africa and Asia.¹