Dialogue between ELF and the field of language policy and planning

Joseph Lo Bianco

doi:10.1515/jelf-2014-0008

Article

Dialogue between ELF and the field of language policy and planning

Joseph Lo Bianco
Joseph Lo Bianco is Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne Australia. He serves as elected President of the Tsinghua Asian-Pacific Forum on Translation and Intercultural Studies and Immediate Past President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (the first educator elected to this role). In 2012 he was appointed Research Director of the United Nations Language and Peace building initiative in Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand where he is conducting research and policy interventions on multilingual language planning. Since 2011 he has served as research advisor for a European Commission project called LUCIDE (Languages in Urban Communities – Integration and Diversity for Europe), which is conducting research on multilingualism at the municipal level in 12 European cities. Professor Lo Bianco wrote Australia's National Policy on Languages in 1987, the first multilingual national language policy in an English speaking country and was Director of the National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia until 2002.

Published/Copyright: March 25, 2014

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From the journal Journal of English as a Lingua Franca Volume 3 Issue 1

Abstract

This paper explores the relevance of concepts and methods of language planning and policy for ELF researchers and teachers. As the global communication environment consolidates through globalisation of systems, such as publishing and education credentialing, the topics chosen for research and even some practices in teaching can be seen as forms of intervention which influence form, usage, and status of languages and language varieties. The escalating role of English in the public life of more and more countries raises questions of the overall language ecology (how English interacts with other languages in existing and future communication environments). By fostering dialogue with the conceptual categories and methods of language planning, ELF scholars and practitioners can sharpen their focus on how institutional and publishing gatekeepers operate and foster an expanded sense of what English as an international language can mean, in the interests of encouraging a more democratised global communication order.

Keywords: language policy; language planning through policy; language planning through cultivation; language problems; ELF aims; universal multilingualism; democratising world communication

About the author

Joseph Lo Bianco

Joseph Lo Bianco is Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne Australia. He serves as elected President of the Tsinghua Asian-Pacific Forum on Translation and Intercultural Studies and Immediate Past President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (the first educator elected to this role). In 2012 he was appointed Research Director of the United Nations Language and Peace building initiative in Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand where he is conducting research and policy interventions on multilingual language planning. Since 2011 he has served as research advisor for a European Commission project called LUCIDE (Languages in Urban Communities – Integration and Diversity for Europe), which is conducting research on multilingualism at the municipal level in 12 European cities. Professor Lo Bianco wrote Australia's National Policy on Languages in 1987, the first multilingual national language policy in an English speaking country and was Director of the National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia until 2002.

Published Online: 2014-3-25

Published in Print: 2014-3-1

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2014-0008

Keywords for this article

language policy; language planning through policy; language planning through cultivation; language problems; ELF aims; universal multilingualism; democratising world communication