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Language Planning in Local Contexts: Agents, Contexts and Interactions

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Language Planning in Local Contexts: Agents, Contexts
and Interactions
Anthony J. Liddicoat
Research Centre for Languages and Cultures, University of South Australia

Richard B. Baldauf Jr.

School of Education, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Queensland

Local contexts in language planning research

Traditionally language planning research has focused on the actions of governments and
similar macro-level institutions. Language planning as an academic discipline began in the
context of nation-state formation following the end of colonialism (see for example Ferguson,
1962; Fishman, Ferguson, & Das Gupta, 1968; Pool, 1972; Rubin & Jernudd, 1971). The
chief concerns were related to issues of creating national unity and developing and
maintaining effective communication within emerging nations (Mansour, 1993; Ricento,
2003). Such a focus privileges the consideration of national level actions and the intervention
of official bodies in the language questions facing a society. More local issues of language
planning have tended to be seen as secondary to the overall process of planning if considered
at all.
One issue which has marginalised micro-level language planning within the context of
language planning research has been definitional. Most definitions of language planning
presuppose “deliberate planning by an organized body enjoying either legal or moral
authority, such as a government agency, commission, or academy” (Nahir, 1998: 351). Such
legal or moral authority has regularly been located within macro-level institutions created
and/or sanctioned by nation-states. This view of language planning locates research within a
theory of power which sees the top down exercise of power (or domination) as the relevant
technology for the understanding decision-making about languages. Such a view of power in
language planning is however problematic as a delimiting factor for constituting the focus of
language planning research. It is problematic for a number of reasons.
The first is that deliberate planning of language issues implies a direct causational
relationship between decisions made by those with the power to execute them and the actual
results of language planning – leaving aside a role for acceptance of the language plan itself.
Such a causational link is not justified by language planning outcomes, which may be
unplanned or may result from activities which were not planned (Baldauf, 1994; Eggington,
2002). Such research shows that a restriction to deliberate planning is not helpful in
understanding the realities of language planning. In fact, it is often local contextual factors
which affect how macro-level plans function and the outcomes that they achieve. As Baldauf
notes the need for an understanding of the unplanned dimensions of language planning
outcomes “is probably especially true at the ‘micro-level’ because there is less awareness of
language planning at this level and because such planning is ongoing and therefore
commonplace (Baldauf, 1994: PAGE?).
The second reason is that is oversimplifies the nature of power as it applies in speech
communities and how this power is realised in matters of language. All social groups involve
technologies of power through which the actions of social actors are shaped. If power is
understood as l’action sur les actions (Foucault, 1975), the operations and role of power
become more complex as power lies not simply in the ability to dominate but also in the
ability to shape the behaviour of others. The operation of power is not therefore simply
enforcement of particular norms but consists in ways of getting others to act of their own
accord in particular ways. This means that individuals and groups have the potential to

1
exercise power over other members of their society in ways which affect the behaviours of
others. This means that it is not through the coercive and normative power of institutions –
the power ascribed by status or realised through sanctions (Carspecken, 1996) – that
behaviours are changed but through more subtle operations on the choices of others. Among
these are the strategies that Carspecken (1996) identifies as charm – the ability to use
culturally understood identity claims and norms to gain the trust and loyalty of others – and
contractual power – an agreement specifying reciprocal obligations between parties. Within a
more elaborated view of power, an exclusive focus on macro-level phenomena becomes
problematic for a full understanding of the nature of language related processes.
Language planning work in local contexts is a fundamental and integrated part of the
overall language planning process, which merits attention both in its own right and within the
context of the operation of macro-level planning.
The focus on local contexts in language planning mirrors an increased concern for the
democratisation of decision-making in social policy in general which recognises the impact of
power asymmetries on policy outcomes (Hill, 2003). Concern for democratisation has been
prompted by a realisation that existing national-level power structures have undergone an
erosion of legitimacy in many contexts which cannot be remedied by centralisation of
decision-making and which needs to evolve local processes to address local contexts (Ghani,
Lockhart, & Carnahan, 2006). A focus on local contexts is not only warranted by
democratisation of decision-making, but also from the perspective of devolution, especially in
education, in which the locus of decision-making lies with local communities (Tunstall,
2001).

Agents of language planning at the local level

Rather than focusing on the work of governments and their agencies as the actors in
language planning, a micro-level approach needs to consider a range of agents, which exist
with greater or lesser formality within their local speech communities. The range is quite
diverse as language issues can arise in association with many different types of activity. Any
survey of the agents of micro language planning must necessarily be incomplete because of
the diversity of potential groups who need to engage in language: e.g. local committee
deciding to sign language interpreters, interest groups disseminating their material in multiple
languages, workplaces with multilingual populations. This overview is an attempt to outlines
some of the better documented agents, without a priori excluding any potential agents.
At the most micro-level of language planning is located the work of individuals, or
often small groups of individuals, who work to revive or promote the use of a language. The
influence of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda on the revival of Hebrew is widely known, although his
individual role may be contested (Fellman, 1973; Nahir, 1998). His influence in actively using
Hebrew as an everyday language and raising his son as a first language speaker of Hebrew,
together with the development of new lexical items as required are frequently cited as initial
steps in the revival of Hebrew. The work of linguist Rob Amery, in collaboration with the
indigenous community, in the corpus planning for the revival of the Kaurna language in
Australia has also be well documented (Amery, 2000, 2001). Sabino Arana (1865-1903), who
created many of the cultural symbols of Basque nationalism, was responsible for the
development of the first standardised variety of Basque in his grammar, which was based on a
compilation of different existing dialects (Sánchez & Dueñas, 2002). The development of a
standardised orthography and the development of a codified lexicon for Jersey Norman
French was fundamentally the work of Frank Le Maistre (Le Maistre, 1966; Liddicoat,
2000). In many cases, these activities were the works of enthusiasts who were motivated by a
range of different concerns. In some cases they worked in relative isolation from
organisations or institutions, with goals of recording a language or because of a personal
investment in the language. The work has undertaken language planning often as a secondary

2
or even tacit goal. However, the resulting work has been to shape patterns of language use and
the forms of language used in speech communities.
Micro-level planning is however not always, or even typically, the work of a single
individual. In some cases, the evolution of language planning in a particular local speech
community may be the result of the successive work of single individuals. Foe example, in
the revival of Cornish, the process can be seen in the work of a series of individuals. Henry
Jenner, in his Handbook of the Cornish Language (Jenner, 1904), not only produced the first
textbook for self-directed learning of the language, but also established standardised spelling
and grammar by regularising the uses of extant Late Cornish texts. This work provided the
basis through which other individuals began to use Cornish. Morton Nance developed a more
elaborated form of Cornish based on Jenner’s work and Middle Cornish literature with
additional lexicon adapted from Breton and Welsh and known as Kernewek Unyes (Unified
Cornish) (Nance, 1929). These early development received support from Cornish cultural
organizations, but there was no coordinated body supporting the revitalisation of Cornish until
1967 when the Kesva an Taves Kernewek (Cornish Language Board) was established. More
recently, a revision was made of Kernewek Unyes by Ken George in the 1980s and known as
Kernewek Kemmyn (Common Cornish) (George, 1986). It retained the Middle Cornish base
but regularised the spelling on the basis of phonemic theory and established rules relating
spelling to pronunciation. Kernewek Kemmyn was adopted by the Kesva an Taves Kernewek
as their preferred system.
Similarly, language organisations have played a significant role in the local language
planning for small communities. Typically some of these institutions have focused on
literature rather than language specifically, but have nonetheless played a powerful role in
shaping languages and language use. For example, the Selskip foar Fryske Taal- en
Skriftekenisse (Society for Frisian Language and Literature), established in 1844, primarily to
promote Frisian through it literature. The primary function of the society was to develop a
writers union in which the “working members” were to write literary works in Frisian
(Feitsma, 1986). It published literary work in Frisian first in the magazine Iduna and from
1850 in the annual Swanneblummen and institutes a literary prize for Frisian writing. The
Selskip, although primarily a literary body, was of necessity involved in language planning
work as an element of its publishing work. It established an archaicising variety of Frisian as
the literary norm, with spelling conventions adopted from Old Frisian. These subsequently
became codified in the Selskip’s grammar. As the principle publisher of Frisian language
texts, the Selkip exercised a considerable influence in the early period of the standardisation
of Frisian (Hoekstra, 2003).
Other organisations have focused on the maintenance of language and culture more
generally, such as the Institut d’Estudis Occitans (IEO), established in 1945 as a co-ordinating
body for work in maintaining and developing Occitan language and culture. The IEO is an
essentially militant occitaniste organisation expressing a conviction in unity of Occitan
language, culture and territory and this set of beliefs has had a powerful role in shaping ways
in which the revitalisation of Occitan (as opposed to that of local varieties such as
languedocien, auvergnat, limousin etc.) has been conducted (Kremnitz, 2001).1 The
establishment of a movement in support of Occitan as a single named language has therefore
been a significant achievement of he IEO, and other militant organisations. The IEO is
particularly engaged in Occitan language education through publishing teaching materials and
conducting language courses. It also publishes a number of literary works and periodicals in
Occitan and conducts conferences and other public events. As part of its work it has adopted a
unified spelling system, which has become the norm in Occitan language education. The work
of the IEO has contributed significantly to the forms of language used in the Calandreta
schools, although there is a tendency in Provençal to use the older roumanillien orthography
(Belasco, 1990). In both these cases, it can be seen that the work of an organisation with a
language focus requires local level language planning as a practical necessity for undertaking

3
written communication within their field of work. Such work may then be applied more
widely, or may be revised or resisted, in the on-going development of the language.
Language planning work is also conducted by official institutions which are not
necessarily language oriented. One of the most prolific of these has been religious bodies. The
work of missionary societies in the development of languages has been particularly significant
and in these cases, language planning work has been secondary to proselytising, but has been
a central tool of proselytising work. The impact of missions has been in some cases the
development of literate forms of vernacular languages and in others it has been language
spread. Missionary activity in South America at different times followed both of these
trajectories, at first developing vernaculars and then replacing them. Early Spanish missionary
activity in South America played a supportive role for local languages, including the
establishment of a chair of Quechua in Lima by the Society of Jesus in the 1570s (Sánchez,
1992; Sánchez & Dueñas, 2002). The establishment of Quechua within the education system
necessitated further work to develop a written form of the language and write grammars and
dictionaries. As the process of colonialism unfolded, missionaries increasingly came to favour
the spread of Spanish as the language of religious teaching and proselytising. Sánchez and
Dueñas (2002) argue that the decision-making regarding the use of Spanish or indigenous
languages for religious work was not based on a coherent top-down policy, but was rather
undertaken locally according to the agendas and sympathies of particular individuals or
groups within the missionary Church. In Taiwan, Dutch missionaries developed a written
form of Siraya, a southern lingua franca, for missionary work, with the language later coming
to be used for administrative matters in the Dutch colony (Tsao, 1999).
Protestant missionaries of the nineteenth century tended to have a strong role in the
development of local written vernaculars with many missions establishing written language
forms and working in the area of Bible translation. In so doing they both developed written
language forms and sought to introduce literacy into local language ecologies, often with
changes to the use patterns of local languages. For example, the Methodist mission in New
Georgia (Solomon Islands) established Raviana, the local language of the mission area as the
lingua franca of the mission, being used liturgically and in the mission schools and hospital.
As communities with other languages joined the mission, Roviana was adopted as the
language for these contexts, leading to eventual shift to the mission language (Dunn, 2007).
Since the Second Vatican Council, the replacement of Latin with vernacular languages
in the liturgy of the Catholic Church has also shaped local language planning decisions
(Liddicoat, 1993). In multilingual communities, the change in liturgical practice may have
lead to the development of multilingualism within a particular church’s practice or it may
have lead to the use of a single local language and the imposition of linguistic uniformity on
congregations. In some contexts, the use of vernaculars in the Catholic liturgy was the first
modern use of the language in a valued context, affecting the perceived prestige of the
language. These local decisions can have strong political consequences as statements of group
identities and aspirations, as in the case of the adoption of Tetum in East Timor from 1975. In
this case, the use of Portuguese had been banned and the use of Tetum was a form of
symbolic rejection of Indonesian as the newly imposed official language (Carey, 1999).
Local community education groups may also be significant agents for micro language
planning. Such local groups often establish educational undertakings in order to fill gaps
found in mainstream provision or even to resist perceived discrimination within the macro-
language planning context. The New Zealand Māori-medium Kōhanga Reo or ‘language
nests’ is a pre-school movement which began and was developed with very little government
support. The success of the movement however has considerable affected the nature of Māori
language education in New Zealand (May, 1998 ). The Kōhanga Reo movement has grown to
include primary schooling in the Kura Kaupapa Māori and also in secondary and tertiary-level
institutions. Since 1990 both Kōhanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Māori have been incorporated
into the state educational system and have received government funding. In Scotland, the

4
Sabhal Mór Ostaig2 is a similar community generated educational institute, but in this case it
was established to teach tertiary level courses, especially vocationally oriented courses,
through the medium of Scottish Gaelic. In 1983 the school began its first full-time Further
Education course and since 1997, as part of the UHI Millennium Institute, it has begun to
offer Gaelic-related degree programmes, and postgraduate qualifications (Smith, 2003). Its
initial course offerings sought to bridge the traditional-modern dichotomy confronting the
Gaelic language ecology in Scotland and included Gaelic broadcasting and multi-media,
business management and information technology (MacDonald, 1985). Its degree program
also includes music, literature, media studies, language planning and economic development.
This section has reviewed a number of agents of language planning in local contexts. It
shows that language planning is not limited to those with the power to impose their ideas
through their own political dominance. These various bodies rely for their influence of much
more distributed relationships of power. In some case, the power involved is that of a
charismatic individual or group to affect the opinions of those around them and in so doing
affect their actions and behaviours. In other cases, the workings of power are more numinous
and associated with the various interrelationships of prestige, ideology, social and cultural
capital as they are worked through in particular communities. They reflect a richness of work
around questions of language in which local contexts become key sites for the development of
language forms, functions, prestige and education.

Local contexts as unique sites of language planning

For some languages in some speech communities, national level language planning may
be either in appropriate or it may be impossible. National level language planning may be
inappropriate in contexts in which language issues are localised and for which responses are
needed at community level. Language does not simply exist at the macro-level of the nation-
state, or other macro-level polity. Language is something with which individuals and
communities engage with daily in ways which are not relevant to national level objectives and
processes. Each language exists in its own local language ecology and it is relation to these
ecologies that at least some language planning activity must be carried out to resolve local
problems and address local needs. In the discussion of agents above, most of the work was
aimed at local communities, variously defined, with wider applications coming from an
expanding of the local and its intersections with language planning and policy at other levels.
Language planning for the maintenance or revival of community languages is often in
this situation. National planning may allocate funding or provide other structural assistance,
but much of the work of planning itself is done and needs to be done at the community level.
Language maintenance work primarily relates to smaller communities and with local rather
than national applications. The development of new contexts of use, new resources and new
processes to support a language in such a speech community all need to be responsive to local
contexts in which no “one size fits all” approach can be applied. Moreover, these are contexts
in which local ownership is fundamental to the success or failure of the language plan
(Trudell, 2006; Watson, 1999). Language planning in such situations is responsive to local
agendas and local identification of issues to be resolved through planning and micro-level
planning work is an appropriate and viable process for addressing these issues.
Similarly, national level language planning is impossible for at least some speech
communities, notably those of oppressed or ignored minorities, or language work which
actively resists national level language planning.
Oppressed groups within a society are particularly unlikely to benefit from macro-level
language planning work as they lack to power to affect the actions and decisions of members
of the dominant group. However, the power such groups exercise in local communities can be
considerably different, even if their local power comes from nothing other than a
demographic ascendancy. For example, in 1996 the Oakland Unified School District passed a
resolution declaring Ebonics to be the primary language of the African-American students in

5
its schools. The resolution further declared Ebonics to be a language in its own right, not a
dialect of English. The Ebonics decision in Oakland was one which sought to address a local
language problem relating to school success for African Americans, but which created
controversy because it was not in agreement with the dominant discourses of linguistic
prestige in the wider society. Within the wider community Ebonics is a stigmatised variety
spoken by the socially disenfranchised populations of inner cities (Baron, 2000). The situation
here is one in which a government lead would not be expected because of the ideological
positioning in relation to Ebonics. Any attempt to claim a legitimate place for the language of
African American children within education was of necessity. Much feminist language
planning has also been undertaken at grassroots level precisely because of perceptions of
disempowerment among those who wished to challenge the gender nature of the dominant
language. Such work was typically undertaken without reference to, or in many case, in the
face of opposition from macro-level bodies with the power to shape language (Pauwels,
1998). It is only with the establishment of particular linguistic practices within speech
communities at the local, and even individual, level that such language planning initiatives
began to affect larger numbers and to come to receive official support.
Many speech communities typified as dialect-speaking areas are typically ignored in
language planning, which conventionally aims at the levelling of dialect diversity rather than
its maintenance (Winsa, 2000). Language planning work to support and develop local
language varieties, therefore, typically departs of macro-level objectives. This is the case for
Tornedalen Finnish in Sweden, which in conformity to macro-level policy directions would
have been considered a variety of Finnish and the speech community would have received
language services, including education, in Standard Finnish rather than in the local variety.
Such a solution at the macro-level would have subordinated the identity function of the
variety to a purely structural assessment of linguistic affinity. The attempt to have the local
variety allocated the status of language rather than dialect was the result of local initiatives
and local planning work, which would have been unlikely to have occurred simply at a
macro-level (for more detail see Winsa, 1998).

Interactions between the micro and the macro

It ahs been argued so far that micro-level language planning is a particular process
within a general framework of language planning. In so doing, it has been necessary to
establish a division between the micro and the macro, however, such a division is in reality a
false one. In many cases, what happens in local language planning contexts is related to the
macro-level context and the interactions between levels can be complex.
These interactions between the micro and the macro, between the local and the national,
can operate in either direction. Language planning activities which begin at the local level
can come to influence macro-level decision-making. For example, while much Frisian
language planning was initially conducted at local levels by various groups of enthusiasts,
their work in developing the linguistic resources of Frisian and its prestige within local
communities eventually led to Frisian gaining official status within the Netherlands. Similarly
grass roots language planning by feminist groups has since been incorporated into dictionaries
and official style guides for language use. In both cases, the micro has expanded its sphere of
influence. When a speech community comes to undertake work to change, enhance, maintain
or defend its own language, such decisions are not made in isolation. While the local language
ecology may be the core site for this work, such local ecologies are embedded within and
influenced by broader ecologies. It is these influences which lead to local concerns being
articulated as problems and with reference to, or even in opposition to, the prevailing
influences that solutions are articulated.
Conversely, language planning at macro levels is implemented in local contexts in
response to local conditions. A macro-level institution may establish norms and expectations
for the ways in which languages are used in local communities, but how this is realised is

6
dependent on decisions made at other levels. No macro-level policy is transmitted directly and
unmodified to a local context.
Both of these trajectories point to the importance of the local as a site for language
planning. Local contexts are the contexts in which language use and language changes are
experienced and understood by people. It is in response to these issues that particular
language issues come to be perceived as problems requiring solution or that the plans to
resolve problems are put into practice. Viewed from this perspective, the problem posed for
micro-level language planning at the beginning of this chapter can be reconsidered.
Considering language planning only as the property of those who hold the institutional power
to effect their decisions, ignores the interplay between the macro and the micro which is
fundamental to all language planning work. It is an approach to language planning which
risks failing to consider how language problems arise and come to be perceived as problems
at the macro level. It also risks failing to consider how the macro is actually played out in the
local communities in which it is implemented. Furthermore it risks dismissing the work done
to resolve purely local problems as part of the overall focus of language planning research.
The papers in this volume all engage with these local contexts in a consideration of how
language planning process and language planning sites shape experiences of language and
contribute to our understanding of language planning as a discipline.

Researching Language Planning in Local Contexts

This book presents a number of case studies of language planning in local contexts in
three broad areas of work: local language communities; educational institutions and
professional work. These three contexts provide a range of examples of language problems
that are addressed at local levels, and that examine language planning agents and degrees of
formality in the language planning process. Collectively, while they are only a small sample
of the range of language planning work that could be described for local communities, they
present a broad survey of process and practice in micro-level planning. Baldauf begins by
examining the parameters of micro-language planning with a particular focus on the
ecological nature of language planning work. In particular he examines a range of contexts in
which micro-level language planning research has been undertaken to give a wider scoping to
this as an area of research. Among the issues he identifies are: sales and services,
manufacturing, courts, administration, schools, families and communities. This overview
indicates that the scope of micro-level language planning research is currently quite
constrained and that the field has tended to be ad hoc in its approach to investigating local
contexts.

The series of chapters that follows focuses on issues relating to minority language
communities, in which indigenous or immigrant minority groups have intervened in language
practice in some way in an attempt to affect elements of the local language ecologies in which
these languages are used. Bovingdon and Hatoss examine the situation of minority immigrant
languages. Bovingdon examines corpus planning work in Maltese prompted by divergence
between Maltese as it is used in Malta and in Australia. In his account, Bovingdon describes
the community-based development of a glossary for Maltralijan – the Australian ethnolect –
and the impact this has had on the ecology of Maltese in Australia through its influence on
language use in some official contexts. Hatoss examines language maintenance work for
Hungarian illustrating the ways in which immigrant community organisations collaborate
with Hungarian government initiatives to conduct language planning work. In Hatoss’ study it
becomes clear that language policy decisions made in one country (Hungary) to affect
language behaviours in another (Australia) come to be implemented through local language
planning activities rather than through government agencies. In this way local communities
become the mechanism by which an external government can come to have influence outside
its sphere of political control.

7
 The remaining chapters that investigate language planning for local communities deal
with languages which are indigenous to the polity in which local level planning is being
undertaken. The first study (Mac Giolla Chríost) examines the Irish language, which is both a
minority language and an official language. Mac Giolla Chríost argues that implementation of
macro-level language planning in the Republic of Ireland has been problematic, has not
prevented the contraction of the Gaeltacht, and has been characterised in more recent
initiatives by considerable micro-level work through co-operatives. These activities interact
with macro-level planning to develop local solutions to the decline of Gaelic. He also
documents similar community-based activities in Northern Ireland. On the basis of both he
argues that micro-level planning has the potential to play a significant role in language
maintenance policies aimed at reversing language shift.

The next three studies examine language planning work in varieties which have
historically been treated as dialects. Tulloch examines the particular situation of dialects in
language planning work and considers how linguistic diversity can be maintained within
language planning for reversing language shift. She examines three case studies: Breton, Innu
and Irish Gaelic and argues that successful maintenance of linguistic diversity depends on
establishing local goals and strategies for language planning based on the values speakers
attach to their language varieties. The next two chapters examine how local language planning
has played out in two communities in the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. Liddicoat
examines how the language planning work of an individual supported by community
institutions has influenced the local language ecology through the compilation of a dictionary
of Jersey Norman French. The chapter examines some of the unplanned consequences of this
corpus planning work. Sallabank examines the situation on the neighbouring island of
Guernsey where individuals and local pressure groups have used prestige planning to plan a
role for Guernsey Norman French and explores the impact this prestige planning has had on
language use on the island. In both of these cases, a key concern has been to secure the status
of the language variety concerned in a context in which it has had little or no recognition.

The final three chapters dealing with minority language communities examine
indigenous languages in regions which have undergone a process of colonialism. Sims
examines the languages of Pueblo communities in the southwestern United States. Sims
argues that maintaining an oral language tradition raises important issues for the ways in
which language planning proceeds in local communities. She examines the ways in which
indigenous groups’ perceptions of language, cultural considerations and community dynamics
influence the ways in which they engage with language planning activities. Troy and Walsh
examine corpus planning in indigenous communities in Australia, where such language
planning work is not carried out systematically by government institutions, although some
funding may be made available for language maintenance by governments. While such work
may involve linguists and other language professionals, Troy and Walsh argue that the
success of such activities relies very heavily on ownership by local indigenous communities.

For this reason, corpus planning work for indigenous communities necessitates a local
dimension. In a different colonial context, Lasimbang and Kinajil examine the work of a
community-based language centre as the vehicle for a range of language planning activities
for the maintenance of the Kadazandusun language of Sabah. The Kadazandusun Language
Foundation provides a focus for community work in the areas of documentation, language
education, and language services to support language maintenance work in the local
community.

8
 The second series of chapters examines issues of language planning in educational
communities, at both the school and university level

Schools represent an interface between the macro-level of language planning and the
micro-level. Schools are frequently the object of governmental agencies’ language planning
initiatives, but individual schools influence the ways in which those broader language goals
are played out in their own contexts. Chua’s study engages specifically with this issue and
examines the ways in which Singapore’s macro-level language-in-education policy is enacted
within three schools. In each school the macro-level plan influences local realities in different
ways associated with the goals, resources and wider educational considerations of the
local community. Winter and Pauwels then examine the roles of individual teachers as agents
of language planning. They examine the ways in which feminist language planning is enacted
within the discourse of classrooms and the role that individuals’ reiteration of language
planning considerations plays as an important mechanism for the spread of changed language
practices.
Universities are often more independent of macro-level planning and are often engaged
in institutional level policy making of which language is only one dimension. Lynch and
Mugler examine the ways in which the vernacular languages of the Pacific region have found
a place in the teaching work of the University of the South Pacific. The chapter outlines how,
in a context in which English is the main language of instruction not only of the university but
also of most post-primary education in the nations served by the university, vernacular
literacy programmes at primary level have created a need to alter the language practices of the
university and to create teacher education courses which engage with a broader range of
languages. Van der Walt examines one university’s experiences of developing an institutional
language plan. The university sought to develop ways of providing instruction which catered
for the linguistic diversity of the school population without reduplication of course offerings.
She examines the ways in which the introduction of a policy of bilingual delivery in
classrooms has affected the practices of teachers and students in the university. Marriott
examines the approach taken in a single faculty to deal with the language demands raised by
the internationalisation of the student body. She examines the development of a language
education approach over a period of time from a language management perspective and
outlines processes of information gathering and decision-making to deal with the local
language needs of the faculty.
The final two chapters examine aspects of language planning in two workplace
contexts. Burrough-Boenisch examines the work of professional language editors as a form of
language planning work. Such editors play a mediating role between non-native speaker
writers and journals’ linguistic expectations and policies. As mediators of linguistic
acceptability, editors work as agents of language planning at the most localised level – that of
the individual text – and at the same time influence larger questions of linguistic form in the
academic world. Nekvapil and Nekula investigate a more typical workplace context – that of
a multilingual enterprise. Like a number of the preceding chapters they are concerned with the
relative influence of the macrolevel and the micro-level and argue for a cyclic relationship
between the two.
In particular, they are concerned about how the policies and plans of organisational
management are enacted in the local context of individual interactions.

Concluding Comments
An examination of the studies in this volume suggests a number of issues which can be
identified as features of research approaches to micro-level language planning and policy.
These include:

9
 the articulation between the micro and the macro levels and the relative influence each has
on the other;
 the particular processes of language planning relevant to micro-level planning activities,
especially the role of local communities as agents of change;
 the efficacy of local language planning activities as solutions to local language issues;
 the wider effects of language planning in local contexts resulting from the momentum
gained from grass-roots activities;
 the intentional and unintentional effects of local level language planning activities; and
 issues of power and influence and how these are played out in the context of local
language issues.

The study of local contexts reveals clearly that micro-level language planning is not only a
legitimate area of investigation for language planning scholars, but that it is a fundamental
part of the language planning process with which language planning as a discipline must
engage.

Notes
1 The militant Occitaniste movement has been resisted in parts of Occitan territory, most notably in
Provence, where the literary heritage of Mistral and the Félibrige has often been asserted as an
independent tradition not absorbed into a common Occitanie.
2 Literally the “Big Barn of Ostaig”, recalling its initial beginnings in a renovated barn.

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