Abstract

Most academic work in language planning has focused on national and governmental activities relating to language – macro language planning. Language problems potentially exist at all levels of human activity, including the local contexts of communities and institutions – micro language planning. Micro language planning occurs in both formal and informal contexts and is based in and around the everyday language needs and aspirations of communities and institutions. Micro language planning also articulates with macro language planning: local language problems can provide the impetus for national level action and national level planning needs to be implemented at the local level and local needs and conditions shape implementation. This volume examines the ways in which language planning works as a local activity in a wide variety of contexts around the world and dealing with a wide range of language planning issues: corpus planning, language in education planning prestige planning, and status planning.

Anthony J. Liddicoat is Professor in Applied Linguistics at the Research Centre for Languages and Cultures in the School of International Studies at the University of South Australia. He is a former president of the Australian Federation of Modern language Teachers Associations. His research interests include: language and intercultural issues in education, conversation analysis, and language policy and planning. In recent years his research has focussed on ways on issues relating to the teaching and learning of culture through language study and his work has contributed to the development of Intercultural Language Teaching and Learning. He has published many books and papers in this area including Introduction to Conversation Analysis, Language Planning and Literacy, Australian Perspectives on Internationalisation, and Perspectives on Europe.

Richard B. Baldauf, Jr is Associate Professor of TESOL in the School of Education at the University of Queensland and a member of the Executive of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA). He has published numerous articles in refereed journals and books. He is co-editor of Language Planning and Education in Australasia and the South Pacific (Multilingual Matters, 1990), principal researcher and editor for the Viability of Low Candidature LOTE Courses in Universities (DEET, 1995), co-author with Robert B. Kaplan of Language Planning from Practice to Theory (Multilingual Matters, 1997) and Language and Language-in-Education Planning in the Pacific Basin (Kluwer, 2003), and co-author with Zhao Shouhui of Planning Chinese Characters: Revolution, Evolution or Reaction (Springer, 2007).