LESSON 4

LANGUAGE PROGRAMS AND POLICIES IN

MULTILINGUAL SOCIETIES
Below are some public signs that you will see in
Metro Manila:

1. What do these signs tell you about

the language choice?
 Do you think such public-discourse is
aligned with our language policies?
Why or why not?

In your area, how do your public signs look

like? Is it aligned with our language policies
and your local beliefs? If you can take a
picture and share with the class, please do so.
Do you think such public-discourse is
aligned with our language policies?
Why or why not?
According to Spolsky (2004), language policy refers
to all “language practices, beliefs, and management
decisions of a community or policy.” It “constitutes
an attempt by someone to manipulate the linguistic
behavior of some community for some reason”
(Burton 2013, p. 3, in Monje, 2019, p. 4).
According to Spolsky (2004), language policy
refers to all "language practices, beliefs, and
management decisions of a community or
policy." It "constitutes an attempt by someone
to manipulate the linguistic behavior of some
community for some reason" (Burton 2013, p.
3, in Monje, 2019, p. 4).
According to Spolsky (2007), language policy
has three “interrelated, but interdependent”
components: language practice, language
beliefs, and language management.

Language practices are the “observable

behaviors and choice ꟷ what people actually
do,” which included the choice of linguistic
feature and of the language variety (p.3).
Language beliefs are “the values assigned to
the varieties and features” (p.4).

Language management is “the explicit and

observable effort by someone or some group
that has claims to have authority over the
participants on the domain to modify their
practices or beliefs” (p.4).
Based on these description, try to classify the following statements
whether they belong to the component of
Practices, Belief, or Management. Prepare to explain your answer.

1. Roman Catholic church changed its policy of requiring Latin

for mass.
2. Immigrant parents persuade their children to learn the new
language.
3.Immigrant parents persuade their children to use their
mother tongue at home.
4. The ongoing debate if Filipino should be the national
language
5. You use your mother tongue in your daily conversations as
much as possible, because you believe that it is the most
appropriate language to use in your present environment.
Read the article of Spolcky (2007) entitled “Towards a Theory of
Language Policy.” Form a group with four members and complete
the following tasks:
Read the article of Spolcky (2007) entitled “Towards a Theory of
Language Policy.” Form a group with four members and
complete the following tasks:
Key Terms

As a group, identify 10 key terms (preferable new terms) that you

encountered in reading the article. Write a brief definition for
each term based on how you understood it.

Discuss and write down your group’s insights about language

policy after reading the article. List at least three significant
insights.
Topic 1: The Four Layers of Language Policy
• Legislation and political processes
• States and supranational agencies
• Institutions
• Classroom practitioners
Topic 2: The Four Common and Co-existing Forces of Language Policies at the
National Level (Spolsky, 2009)
• National (or ethnic) ideology or claims of identity
• The role of English as a global language
• A nation’s sociolinguistic situation
• An increasing interest in linguistic rights within the human and civil rights
frameworks

Topic 3: The Four Phases of Language Planning (How Language Policies Are
Developed)
• Selection

• Codification
• Elaboration
• Acceptance
Topic 4: What Language Policies Can Do vis-à-vis the Different Domains
As a group, discuss the key points that you
will discuss in your report, including the task
assignment for each member. Try to identify
questions that you think your classmates will
ask during your report. Use the box provided
below. Each group will be given 25-30 minutes
to report and respond to their classmates’
questions.