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Theoretical approaches to the study of lang that enter into the development of a specifically sociological view of lang are examined. The importance of Emile Durkheim's premise -- that lang is a social fact -- is noted, & Antoine Meillet's application of it to the analysis of linguistic change discussed. The common ground in the sociology of lang, established since Meillet's time, is explored. The social-communicative functions of lang are essential in its phylo- & ontogeny. The social character of lang is defined in terms of sociality, reciprocity, abstraction, & intentionality. Lang is seen as the dominant, historical -- rather than "natural" -- code of social communication. It forms the basic component of the social stock of knowledge, thus being "determined" by social structure & its "requirements." Conversely, in concrete communication processes, lang serves to regulate social interaction in institutions, & plays a prominent role in the transformation of worldviews & ideologies, thus being one possible source of social change. 3 Figures, 3 Photographs, 31 References. AA.

The article analyzes the discourse of politics of language in Eritrea. It argues that the language debate in Eritrea over equality of languages and bilingual official langauge policy is more about power relations than about language per se. It relates to politics of identity that derives from the construction of two identity formations as understood by political elites. Equality of languages is based on ethnic identity, whereas official language is based on the construction of supra-ethnic civic identity. According to the constructivist bilingual official language Arabic and Tigrinya are supposed to represent two different socio-cultural identity formation, notably, Islam-Arabic and Christian-Tigrinya. Consequently, the official language policy debate could be construed to derive from politics of power relation where two groups of elites supposedly representing the two identity formations are engaged in power competition reflecting real or imaginary socio-cultural cleavage of respective identity. In this sense the bilingual official language is designed to create social equilibrium wherein it is supposed that power would equitably distributed between two rival elite groups.

Cover -- Series page -- LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY -- Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data -- Dedication -- CONTENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- LANGUAGE TEACHING PRACTICES, PEDAGOGY, AND SOCIETY -- CHAPTER 1: CLASSROOM AS SOCIETY -- CHAPTER 2: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF FOREIGN-LANGUAGE INDIVIDUALITY -- CHAPTER 3: READING THE COMMUNITY CRITICALLY IN THE DIGITAL AGE -- CHAPTER 4: EXAMINING THE ROLE OF CRITICAL PEDAGOGY IN JAPANESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' DESIRE TO LEARN ENGLISH -- CHAPTER 5: CHALLENGES AND TRANSFORMATIONS

Éditeurs scientifiques : Maria Giagkou, Stelios Piperidis, Georg Rehm, Jane Dunne ; This report presents a survey of the current state of technologies for the automatic processing of the French language as well as French Sign Language (FSL). Similar reports have been prepared independently for all languages of the European Union. It is based on a thorough analysis of existing tools and resources for French, and also provides an accurate presentation of the domain and of its main stakeholders. This report is organized in three main parts: first, two background sections that document notably the presence of French on the internet, as well as defining in broad terms the domain of language technologies. The core of the report is made of the following two sections, describing respectively the state of play for French and French sign language. The last two sections first summarize the main findings of a quantitative analysis performed within the ELE project; then spell out some general conclusions and formulate a series of recommendations, the implementation of which could improve the current technological support for French and FSL.

Éditeurs scientifiques : Maria Giagkou, Stelios Piperidis, Georg Rehm, Jane Dunne ; This report presents a survey of the current state of technologies for the automatic processing of the French language as well as French Sign Language (FSL). Similar reports have been prepared independently for all languages of the European Union. It is based on a thorough analysis of existing tools and resources for French, and also provides an accurate presentation of the domain and of its main stakeholders. This report is organized in three main parts: first, two background sections that document notably the presence of French on the internet, as well as defining in broad terms the domain of language technologies. The core of the report is made of the following two sections, describing respectively the state of play for French and French sign language. The last two sections first summarize the main findings of a quantitative analysis performed within the ELE project; then spell out some general conclusions and formulate a series of recommendations, the implementation of which could improve the current technological support for French and FSL.

AbstractThe various collections of language biographies starting in the 1990s have given rise to a new field of investigation in sociolinguistics. The interest in the very individual, autobiographical viewpoint on languages in speakers' own repertoires offers new insights for macrosociolinguistic research. These detailed corpora also provide data for microanalytical investigations into the specificity of autobiographical narrations, i.e. how speakers construe their language repertoires in the narrative interview setting. This contribution seeks to depict how the interest in LB emerged and subsequently describes the most important developments in LB research, which to date is still limited to the European arena. Since the field is still growing and is in need of formalization, this overview must remain incomplete. Finally, the contribution warns of pitfalls and highlights some fields where LB has provided important input, from language didactics to neurolinguistic studies.

'Language status' is a concept that has been central to South African language policy debates since the early days of the negotiated transition, which culminated in the 1996 Constitutional commitment to developing eleven official languages. This constitutional commitment has not however been translated into a concrete legislative and administrative agenda. Recent critiques of language policy have attributed this 'policy gap' to problems associated with policy implementation. In this article I argue that policy difficulties can equally be attributed to theoretical problems associated with the concept of 'language status', which have their origins in a broader international discourse on language planning. This article is therefore presents a sociological critique of 'language planning', based on a conceptual analysis of key terms that underpin the current debate on language policy: principally 'language', 'language planning' and 'status.' Keywords: Language politics, language policy, language planning, corpus planning, status planning

'Language status' is a concept that has been central to South African language policy debates since the early days of the negotiated transition, which culminated in the 1996 Constitutional commitment to developing eleven official languages. This constitutional commitment has not however been translated into a concrete legislative and administrative agenda. Recent critiques of language policy have attributed this 'policy gap' to problems associated with policy implementation. In this article I argue that policy difficulties can equally be attributed to theoretical problems associated with the concept of 'language status', which have their origins in a broader international discourse on language planning. This article is therefore presents a sociological critique of 'language planning', based on a conceptual analysis of key terms that underpin the current debate on language policy: principally 'language', 'language planning' and 'status.'Keywords: Language politics, language policy, language planning, corpus planning, status planning