语言政策与规划的过去、现在和未来

托马斯·李圣托

值此《语言战略研究》（CJLPP）正式创刊之际，衷心地向该刊所属出版社以及各位编委表示热烈的祝贺。作为2002年开始出版发行的《语言、身份与教育期刊》（JLIE）的联合创始人，我特别能体会到日后将要面临的挑战与艰辛。但我也相信，在中国与国际编委组成的团队的共同努力下，该刊的前景将是极为灿烂和光明的。

语言政策与规划（LPP）领域将会继续引发各位学者和从业者的关注和兴趣，而这种关注度在中国过去的10年中已经得到了相当大的提升。CJLPP的创立进一步证明，在中国和亚洲其他国家，这个领域正受到越来越高的重视。有感于这种趋势，我认为有必要对LPP这个领域发表一些自己的看法，包括它的历史以及未来的发展趋势。虽然我认为目前还没有“什么宏大的理论能用来解释语言行为的模式……或者预测某个特定的语言政策会对语言行为造成哪些影响”（Ricento 2006：17）。但我同时认为，在理论和方法论方面，许多强大的传统都已经逐步建立起来了。特别是在过去的半个世纪里，这些传统已经让人们清晰地感觉到语言政策和语言规划是学术探索中一个具有合理内核的领域，它在我们对社会语言的理解方面做出了重要的贡献。

在介绍《语言政策与规划：语言学的重要概念》（Ricento 2015）这一四卷本的著作时，我全面细致地回顾了从1959年至2014年间该领域的发展。其中，第一卷名为《理论和历史基础》，由22篇文章构成。对本卷中出现的学者，我一一注明他们丰富多样的学科背景、研究视角及研究兴趣。在这幅拼图中，每篇文章都作为“拼图中的一片”阐述了语言是如何在生活中“起作用”的，哪些类型的语言学、社会、历史、经济和政治现象值得仔细研究，哪些类型的规划在不同社会背景下是可能的并且是适宜的。LPP的跨学科性质，对该领域来说，一直是必不可少的，而且在未来仍将发挥重要的作用。第二卷名为《语言政策和语言权利》，其中，文章的跨度长达45年，涉及法律、语言学、政治理论、社会学等其他学科的相关主题和课题。该卷涵盖的主题包括语言歧视、少数民族语言权利、语言人权、规范的语言哲学、语言政策与民族主义以及语言多样性的保护。这些研究方向正逐渐被中国学者纳入自己的研究中。我希望CJLPP能在这些重要的研究领域发挥其在期刊界的倡导作用。第三卷涉及教育方面的语言政策。其中的文章为读者提供了各类视角来研究语言实践是如何被多种因素所影响的，而关注的焦点就是正式和非正式的教育环境。本卷的主题覆盖了与公立学校语言课程设置密切相关的政策和政治，包括对某种语言变体进行选择的决策机制，以及这种选择带来的后果，尤其是在少数民族社区背景下。第四卷的关注点是语言政策和语言全球化。入选该卷的文章着重思考语言、语言实践与政策是如何叠加在人群、资本与文化的洪流之上的，并将重点放在从20世纪最后10年一直到今天的这段时间内。讨论的主题包括“全球英语”在世界各个国家的语言与语言政策中扮演的角色和造成的影响。尤其令人感兴趣的是英语在非洲和亚洲后殖民环境中扮演的角色、英语的教与学能否（以及在多大程度上）对低收入国家的社会和经济发展产生（积极或消极）的影响、英语在跨文化交流方面能否（以及多大程度上）充当一个真正的通用语的角色。这些主题不仅引起了中国学者、教育工作者以及政策制定者的浓厚兴趣，在世界上许多非英语主导的国家中也是如此。在这些地方，英语被作为一项接受高等教育、增加就业机会的必要工具而得到推广，尤其是在知识经济领域。

James Tollefson（2013：28）认为在当今的LPP研究中存在着两种研究范式的张力：一种是历史—结构范式，另一种是可总称为“公共领域研究”的范式。Tollefson（2013：29）认为，历史—结构范式有助于理解国家和其他强权机构在何种情况下能够通过语言政策将其意愿强加于个体和社区。公共领域研究范式有助于理解在何种情况下个体和社区能够主动地参与他们自身的语言学习和语言使用。两种方法都是必要的，前提是LPP研究的一个重要目标是了解语言与其主导和从属系统之间的关系，以便减少不平等，并促进社会全体成员的共融性和民族参与度。这个向社会公平的倾斜一直存在于LPP理论创建与研究之中，也许最好的诠释来自德尔·海姆斯，他提倡“调解的”而非“萃取的”语言民族论。这是一种行动主义和干涉主义的科学，它号召人们追求“这样一种人文主义，它能够处理具体情况，会遭受一些实际中的不平等，但因为认识到语言实际上可以被组织为人类问题和人类资源，它会帮助扭转这些不平等”（Hymes 1996：vii）。

（北京信息科技大学 程京艳译）

The Past， the Present， and the

Future of LPP

University of Calgary Thomas Ricento

I want to congratulate the publisher and editors of the Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning （CJLPP） on their inaugural issue. Having co-founded the Journal of Language， Identity and Education （JLIE）， which began publication in 2002， I can especially appreciate the challenges and hard work that lie ahead. I am confident that with the team that has been assembled， both in China and internationally， the future for this journal is extremely promising.

The field of language policy and planning continues to engage the interest of scholars and practitioners， and this interest has seen considerable growth in China over the past decade. The launch of CJLPP is further proof of the increasing interest in LPP in China and other countries in Asia. In view of this trend， it is appropriate that I offer a few comments on the field of LPP， including its history and what the future may hold. While I have argued that there is not， as yet，“some grand theory which explains patterns of language behavior…or can predict the effects of specific language policies on language behavior”（Ricento 2006： 17）， there are various strong traditions in theory and methodology that have evolved， especially over the past half century， that have led to the clear sense that language policy and planning is a legi?timate field of academic inquiry that has made important contributions to our understanding of language in society.

In the introduction to the four-volume collection Language Policy and Planning： Critical Concepts in Linguistics （Ricento 2015）， I provide a comprehensive review of the development of the field， spanning the years 1959 to 2014. In discussing the 22 articles that comprise Volume I， Theoretical and Historical Foundations， I note the rich and varied disciplinary backgrounds， perspectives， and interests of the scholars represented in the volume， each contributing ‘pieces of the puzzle on how language（s） ‘work in society， what sorts of linguistic， social， historical， economic， and political phenomena are worth looking at in detail， and what sorts of planning might be possible and desirable in different contexts. The interdisciplinary nature of LPP has always been integral to the field and will continue to be important in the future. Volume II （Language Policy and Language Rights） contains articles that span forty-five years and deal with topics and issues that have engaged the disciplines of law， linguistics， political theory， and sociology， among other disciplines； topics covered in the articles include linguistic discrimination， minority language rights， linguistic human rights， normative language philosophy， language policy and nationalism， and the survival of linguistic diversity. These are all topics that are increasingly being taken up by Chinese scholars and I hope that CJLPP will provide editorial leadership in these important areas of research. Volume III deals with Language Policy in Education and the articles provide a range of perspectives on how language practices are influenced by a multitude of factors， with a focus on educational contexts， both formal and informal. Topics covered in this volume include policies and politics surrounding the choice of language of instruction in public schools， including decisions about the particular language variety chosen， and the consequences of such decisions， especially on minority language communities. Volume IV focuses on Language Policy and Globalization and the articles in this volume consider the ways in which languages， and language practices and policies， are imbricated in flows of people， capital， and cultures with a focus on the last decades of the 20th century through the present day. Topics addressed include the role and effects of ‘global English on languages and language policies in states around the world. Of particular interest is the role that English plays in post-colonial contexts in Africa and Asia and whether， and to what degree， the teaching and learning of English influences （positively and negatively） social and economic development in low-income countries， and whether （and to what degree） English serves as a bona fide lingua franca for intercultural communication. These are topics of great interest to scholars， educators， and policy-makers not only in China， but in many non-English dominant countries around the world where English is promoted as an essential tool for gaining access to higher education and enhancing job opportunities， especially in the knowledge economy.

James Tollefson （2013： 28） argues that today in LPP research there is a tension between two paradigms： the historical-structural approach， on the one hand， and various approaches that coalesce under the heading ‘public sphere（s）. According to Tollefson （2013： 29）， the historical-structural approach is useful for understanding the conditions under which the state and other powerful institutions can impose their will on individuals and communities through language policies， while public sphere approaches help us better understand the conditions under which individuals and communities act as agents in their own language learning and language use. Both approaches are necessary if an important goal of research in LPP is to understand the relationship between language and systems of domination and subordination in order to reduce inequality and promote greater inclusion and democratic participation for all members of civil society. This arc towards social justice has always been present in LPP theorizing and research， perhaps best articulated by Dell Hymes in his call for a ‘mediative as opposed to an ‘extractive ethnography of language， that is a science of activism and intervention that beckons us to aspire to“…a humanism which can deal with concrete situations， with the inequalities that actually obtain， and help to transform them through knowledge of the ways in which language is actually organized as a human problem and resource”（Hymes 1996： vii）.

References

Hymes， Dell. 1996. Ethnography， Linguistics， Narrative Inequality： Toward an Understanding of Voice. London： Taylor & Francis.

Ricento， Thomas. 2006. Language Policy： Theory and Practice： An Introduction. In Thomas Ricento （ed.）. An Introduction to Language Policy： Theory and Method. Malden： Blackwell.

Ricento， Thomas （ed.）. 2015. Language Policy and Planning： Critical Concepts in Linguistics （four volumes）. New York： Routledge.

Tollefson， James. 2013. Language Policy in a Time of Crisis and Transformation. In James Tollefson （ed.）. Language Policies in Education： Critical Issues （2nd edition）. New York： Routledge.