Suchergebnisse

Abstract
This paper is devoted to several ways in which the language of instruction in Czech universities is managed. One of the key issues in this context is the fact that programs accredited in the Czech language are tuition-free, while those in foreign languages are paid. On the one hand, it is deemed desirable by certain actors to integrate greater numbers of students from abroad, conform to the discourse of internationalization, and even earn money through courses in English. On the other hand, it is also viewed as necessary by other actors to cultivate the Czech language and provide a solid education for local students. These multiple and often opposing interests, as well as a number of language ideologies, guide individual management acts. Utilizing the language management framework (Jernudd/Neustupný 1987; Fairbrother/Nekvapil/Sloboda 2018), I explore three selected examples of the management of the language of instruction. In the first, I show how many Czech university programs are accredited in the Czech language, but offer many classes in English. In the second, I examine one case of financial motivation for foreign-language courses through university teaching development projects. In the third, I point to the differences between the language of accreditation of some Ph.D. programs and the languages actually used in their realization. Finally, I consider the fact that all of these cases of management involve some sort of compromise between the interests of certain groups, which means that the only way forward is an increased awareness of all aspects of the management processes.

AbstractThis 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 paper uses Language Management Theory (LMT) to explore situations in which non-native speakers of a language explicitly reveal that they have noted a potential linguistic deviation. This can be paraphrased as the concept of "checking", identifiable through the use of question intonation for the trouble source item, phrases such as "is that right?", or the offering of alternative words or forms. This process is explored in Czech conversations between native speakers and American missionaries. In the analysis, two major points are made: 1) There is a limit to the types of deviations which are noted in this way, as checking is mainly done in cases of potential lexical and morphological deviations, and 2) In order for this strategy to be realized, there must be an appropriate categorial context for its execution, particularly in regard to the categories that speakers assign (or do not assign) to one another situationally, such as "non-native speaker" or "language expert". In this way, simple management can be directly connected to organized management in that missionaries learning a foreign language are instructed to utilize their interlocutors as "language experts". The paper also considers methodological tools for LMT analysts to uncover the fact that noting has occurred.

In contemporary online culture, Grammar Nazi (GN) is a derogatory term used to label individuals who practice excessive language policing but has also been ironically appropriated by groups of users who engage in evaluation of other people's grammar for entertainment purposes. In this article, we combine approaches from media studies and sociolinguistics to analyze the adoption of the phenomenon by two GN Facebook pages in two languages: English and Czech. Our mixed-method analysis shows that while both pages can be read as examples of media participation, they also exemplify their users' "literacy privilege" associated with standard language ideology. However, there are differences in the practices associated with the label, reflecting the specific sociolinguistic contexts. While Czech GNs act as "guardians" of the public space, collecting and displaying localized orthographic errors for collective dissection, the English page is more dedicated to sharing jokes and puns typical of international online culture.

AbstractIn 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.