Abstract

This volume covers the language situation in Japan, Nepal and Taiwan, as well as the modernisation of Chinese characters in China, explaining the linguistic diversity, the historical and political contexts and the current language situation, including language-in-education planning, the role of the media, the role of religion, and the roles of non-indigenous languages. Two of the authors are indigenous and the other two have been participants in the language planning context in these countries. The purpose of the volumes in this series is to present up-to-date information on polities that are not well known to researchers in the field. A longer range purpose is to collect comparable information on as many polities as possible in order to facilitate the development of a richer theory to guide language policy and planning in other polities that undertake the development of a national policy on languages. This volume is part of an areal series which is committed to providing descriptions of language planning and policy in countries around the world.

Robert B. Kaplan is Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Southern California. He has published numerous books and articles in refereed journals and written several special reports to government both in the US and elsewhere. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics and is a member of the editorial board of the 1st and 2nd editions of the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Linguistics (2002). Additionally, he edited the Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics. He has served as President of the National Association for Foreign Students Affairs, of TESOL, and of the American Association for Applied Linguistics.

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).

Without exception, all monographs in this volume are excellent contributions to the vast field of language planning and language policy in Asia, covering an impressive breadth of topics and perspectives. Arguments are well-founded and supported by clear facts and figures. Each monograph is accompanied by an extensive bibliography. The book can therefore be recommended as a valuable resource for both sociolinguists looking for case studies on Asian polities and regional specialists interested in sociolinguistic analyses. Language planning in Asian countries is a fascinating and challenging field of sociolinguistic research. The manuscripts in this volume present a wealth of data, in-depth background information, careful analyses, and thought-provoking conclusions.