Language Policy and Language Planning: A Comparative Perspective of Economics and Linguistics

Abstract

Language planning refers to a kind of humanly-conscious intervention within certain limits in the process of language selection. It has not only something to do with the language itself, but is far more involved in such issues as the adjustments of the relations among people or between people and society through language problems. The traditional analysis on language planning is mainly based on sociolinguistic theories, which tends to emphasize the basic concepts and categories in this area so that, at the macro level of public policy, neither practical nor reasonable measures have been able to brought up. The economic rational-choice theory and the cost-benefit analytical method, however, can effectively compensate for the weaknesses of the traditional studies of language planning, and greatly enrich the development of language planning. This paper reviews the connotation and denotation of language policies and language planning in details, discusses the significance and feasibility of conducting economic analysis and research on these two issues, and makes a comparison between the traditional sociolinguistic analysis and the new-rising economic analysis on language planning.language policy; language planning; economics of language