Research On International Language Planning Based On World Language Information Database

To search for the solutions to the problems hindering the language situation and language planning in our country,our scholars have turned to international language planning researches for answers during recent years.However,the existing researches are lack of hierarchy and system.These researches mainly deal with national research and researches on the middle and micro levels are highly neglected.The research results are mostly based on analysis of several cases from some certain countries,a specific year or a certain area and therefore are often restricted to theoretical assumptions and are not specific enough.Therefore,it is necessary to conduct deep systematic research on international language planning from diversified perspectives of areas,levels and objects.Based on language planning theories and with combination of different research methods such as documentary research,inductive method and database analysis,this paper tries to filter and integrate more than 1000 language planning practices in foreign countries during recent five years,and then analyze the main features of international language planning from the perspectives of different areas such as area,planner and object,different levels such as macro level,middle level and micro level,and different objects such as national common language,aboriginal language,dialects and foreign languages.It then gives specific suggestions to improve our language planning practices.Concerning the areas of language planning,language planning activities very frequently appear in areas such as politics,economics and education,among which economics and education are language planning's key areas.Research on language planning in political area reveals that the impact of language on domestic ethnical relationships and national security is the main theme;language status and language right are the main factors underlining national language planning.Research on language planning in economic area reveals that language industry comes in diversified forms;the types and quality of language services provided by companies is constantly getting improved;and the public's awareness of language study and language service consumption is relatively strong.Research on language planning in educational area reveals that bilingual teaching model and mother tongue teaching are the hotspots;foreign language education planning is the focus;teachers,teaching materials and teaching methods play more and more important roles.Concerning language planners,planners on the middle and micro levels show more diversity on patterns of language planning and their importance grows.On the macro level,supranational organizations have conducted different kinds of language planning in the aim of preserve language diversity but only limited results have been yielded;national governments have played important roles in language status planning and funding support.On the middle level,local governments show their importance in areas such as setting up local official language,establishing different kinds of special language management agencies,improving language education support and providing multilingual public service;social organizations have been engaged in language planning areas such as language education and spread,language purification and standardization,language survey and preservation.On the micro level,enterprises have been mainly involved in developing language industries,boosting language capabilities and funding language cultural activities;schools show prominent effect in multilingual education and preservation.Concerning the objects of language planning,status planning and education planning are the main approaches that governments take on national common language,aboriginal language,dialects and foreign language planning;the official preservation of bilingual or multilingual equality,protection of aboriginal language and dialects diversity,development of multilingual capability have become the hotspots of international language planning.The planning of national common language mainly involves enhancing equal application of official bilingual or multilingual usage and solidifying the status of national common language through language policy and language legislation.The planning of aboriginal language mainly involves taking cultural spread activities of aboriginal languages,improving language legislation and enhancing aboriginal language education and giving attention to students' aboriginal language ability.The planning of dialects mainly covers paying attention to public attitude toward dialects and the status of practical usage,improving the language status of dialects by law,recording and protecting dialects with digital methods.The planning of foreign language mainly deals with conducting survey on foreign language ability of the public,establishing scholarship to encourage foreign language study and enhancing foreign language education and status planning.In general,international language planning is marked by its characteristic of diversity,which is further reflected in three aspects of content,method and language type.These features provide inspirations for language planning in our country from the perspectives of the resource view of language and the harmony view of language.On the protection of language resource,our suggestions include enhancing multilingual education and application in schools,establishing funding and rewarding system to encourage multilingual study,emphasizing the important roles of business societies,media and NGOs played in language resource survey and protection.On the cultivation of language resource,our suggestions include enhancing research on language market demand,boosting the balanced development of multilingual industries,improving awareness of language service and language consumption through legislation and business monitoring,and valuing the importance of tourism and cultural publication business on cultivating language resources of dialects and minority languages.On the fulfillment of language harmony,we suggest encouraging middle and micro level language planners such as communities and individuals to participate in the popularization of Putonghua,and increasing public language service for special social groups.