Volume 2015, Issue 232 - Special Issue: The Language Management Approach: Perspectives on the Interplay of Bottom-Up and Top-Down

In these introductory remarks, the authors deal with the metaphors “top-down”, “bottom-up” and related concepts in the Language Policy and Planning research. Furthermore, they sketch out the position of Language Management Theory in this field of study and characterize “language management” in various research traditions. Afterward, the main features of Language Management Theory are presented with emphasis placed on the relationship between “simple” and “organized” language management. Finally, these features are illustrated on the individual contributions to this special issue.

In contrast to language shift, language maintenance appears to be a static phenomenon. Yet this article displays language maintenance as a process, applying the Language Management Theory. On the ground of a case study at a Catholic Sorbian parish in eastern Germany, the study shows that the Sorbian language is maintained in the church through numerous minute interventions at different levels. The findings suggest that the actual process of language maintenance and shift is much more complex than the conventional dualism of “top-down” vs. “bottom-up” assumes. It is argued that in order to get a more reliable understanding of how language maintenance and shift is attained, it is necessary to pay due attention to the interplay of various processes between and within simple and organized management.

This article applies Language Management Theory/Framework to the behavior toward language observed in the missionary program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons) in the Czech Republic. It analyzes data directly from the mission site, focusing on specifically the combination of the highly specific character of the missionaries' acquisition of Czech and their role as native speakers of English. It explores not only the acquisition, but also the use of the mission language, highlighting the relationship between macro structures of the church's language policy, the character of the missionaries' work in general, and language use in individual interactions. The article concludes by arguing that not only the knowledge of the local language, but also the acquired orientation to the local sociolinguistic situation and communicative practices are what enable the missionaries to do their work.

This article examines how participants in intercultural contact situations in Japan manage deviations relating to language and power in their daily life interactions. Based on the management summaries of eight plurilingual residents of Japan, this study investigates how deviations relating to language and power are noted and evaluated and what adjustment strategies are implemented in such cases. The results suggest that the management of language and power is complex and a number of interests may be in conflict. Deviations relating to power may be evaluated both positively and negatively and a lack of language proficiency can actually be used as a powerful tool. It is argued that speaker identity is a crucial issue that influences how interactional problems will be managed.

This article discusses IT terms and terminology management in Hong Kong from the perspective of Language Management Theory (Jernudd and Neustupný 1987, 1991; Jernudd and Nekvapil 2012; Nekvapil 2012). The noting, evaluating, adjusting and implementing of IT terms are examined in the context of lexical innovation (through translation) in the contact situation that Hong Kong represents. It describes the management of Chinese IT terms by agencies in Hong Kong and also discusses the efficacy of standardization of terminology as an agency goal in view of the potential of noting inadequacies of terminology in actual discourse.

This article applies the Language Management Theory (LMT) in the context of overseas students participating in university study in an English-speaking context and who are developing their academic discourse while at the same time undertaking disciplinary studies. It draws upon data from a number of previous studies and examines central aspects of the theory, including kinds of management, stages of the management process, and simple and organized management, showing how the latter are sometimes interconnected in various ways. In the article, I consider issues relating to the start of the management process and analyze how power is exercised and by whom in these contact situations. Finally, consideration is given to methodological procedures which help us to identify the occurrence of management, in particular, follow-up (stimulated recall) interviews and interaction interviews.

The ruling elite at the center of Sudan emulates an “Arab” ideology in order to further its interests and legitimate its claims. Their ideology is defined by Arabic as the vehicle of divine expression, and the possession and use of Arabic is a source of their identity. People in the conflicted peripheries have reacted in various ways to the center's position on language and it is critical to the relation to South Sudan. This article attempts to bring together some facts of language management by people in and from the conflict zones of the Sudan, and also South Sudan.

Using the framework of Language Management Theory (LMT), this article seeks to analyze the ways in which non-native speakers negotiate their position in English-language online discussion forums. Based on the material collected from four discussion forums, competing opinions have been identified regarding the acceptability of “bad English” and the need for language management, i.e. acting upon a perceived lack of compliance to linguistic norms. Some users propose that compliance to communication norms should be enforced in a top-down manner or based on an explicit set of rules, whereas others hold that the community of users can deal with potential communication problems individually in an emergent manner. While the applicability of native speaker norms to the discussion forums is being questioned, non-native speakers, especially in practically oriented forums, tend to perform pre-interaction language management, using disclaimers in their posts, such as “Excuse my poor English”, to avoid potential misunderstandings and to prevent native speaker norms from being applied to them. The article argues for the use of LMT in computer mediated communication research, as it offers a dynamic view of the process in which rules, conventions and norms of online communication are being continuously discussed, negotiated and applied.

This article examines the linguistic landscape (LL) of Dingle, the centre for a peripheral minority language community on the Southwestern seaboard of Ireland. Dingle is a popular touristic space located within the boundary of the Gaeltacht and for this reason offers a unique setting for the examination of issues prevalent in the sociolinguistics of globalization (cf. Blommaert 2010; Coupland 2010a) including authenticity and commodification. In particular these issues are examined through an analysis of linguistic and other semiotic resources that are drawn on in this touristic space. By mapping the LL the specific aim of the study is to plot the trajectory of the Irish language as a resource for indexing Dingle as an authentic tourist space. A qualitative approach to the data is taken in an effort to uncover the symbolic and cultural resources being activated in the LL of Dingle. The study highlights how minority languages, like Irish, get mobilized as valuable resources and commodities in the context of tourism and the potential impact of this for the local political economy of language.