Over the last 50 years, language policy has developed into a major discipline, drawing on research and practice in many nations and at many levels. This is the first Handbook to deal with language policy as a whole and is a complete 'state-of-the-field' survey, covering language practices, beliefs about language varieties, and methods and agencies for language management. It provides a historical background which traces the development of classical language planning, describes activities associated with indigenous and endangered languages, and contains chapters on imperialism, colonialism, effects of migration and globalization, and educational policy. It also evaluates language management agencies, analyzes language activism and looks at language cultivation (including reform of writing systems, orthography and modernized terminology). The definitive guide to the subject, it will be welcomed by students, researchers and language professionals in linguistics, education and politics.

Language allows humans to act cooperatively, to plan, and to remember. It is the prime factor in the constitution of groups as well as a major barrier between groups. Language policy and planning is rarely just about language; it always has political, social and ethical dimensions. This is a comprehensive advanced textbook, covering not only language learning imposed by economic or political agendas but also language choices entered into freely for reasons of social mobility, economic advantage or group identity. The first part of the book reviews the development and role of standard languages in the construction of national communities and identities. The second part examines the linguistic accommodation of groups in contact, major lingua francas and the case of 'International English'. The third section explores reactions to nationalism and globalization, with some attention to language rights. The book further deals with methodological problems of working in this interdisciplinary area, and provides detailed illustrations from a range of countries and communities.

此书是一本综合性高级读本，不仅覆盖经济或政治进程所强加的语言学习问题，而且还包括因社会流动、经济提升或社团身份认同而主动作出的语言选择问题。该书第一部分回顾了标准语在全国性社区和身份认同构建过程中的形成和作用；第二部分考察了社团接触过程中的语言顺应问题、主要通用语以及“国际英语”个案；第三部分探讨了民族主义和全球化引发的各种反应，同时讨论了语言权问题。该书还进一步探讨了语言政策与规划这一跨学科领域开展研究的方法论问题，提供了许多国家和社团的详细实例。