Language Policy and World Englishes

This discussion makes a modest attempt to address some of the ways in which language planning and policy are relevant to world Englishes. The entry deals with six topics related to language planning and policy formation and how they relate to world Englishes. The first section deals with key definitions of language policy and planning. The next section discusses corpus planning, status planning, and acquisition planning. Using examples, it demonstrates how status planning can be achieved with or without official planning or policy designation. The third section discusses how unofficial language policies emerged (or were “achieved”) in early colonial contexts. The next section elaborates on the differences between official and de facto language planning and discusses the role of language strategist in promoting world Englishes. This is followed by the presentation of a typology of language rights and restrictions with examples linked to world Englishes. Next, there is a brief discussion of the postmodern critique of language rights discourse linked to language policy followed by a conclusion.