The Nature of Language and the Problem of Language Planning

DOI

10.2991/icelaic-18.2018.75How to use a DOI?

Keywords

language; sign; sociality; language planning; globalization

Abstract

The article considers the nature of the language in conjunction with the problem of language planning. The purpose of the article is to identify the specifics of the language planning process in the modern digital era, based on the understanding of the language as a system of signs. The author analyzes the following three aspects. First, the article raises a question about the nature of a language and shows that the language is a tool for social coding, providing the transmission of human experience. Second, the author defines the key part of the problem of language planning generated by the fact that language is largely congruent to sociocultural type of the social system. Third, the attention is paid to the factors determining process of language planning. The theoretical basis of the research includes the works by contemporary scholars: Kaplan B., Richard B., Baldauf Jr.; Nahir, Moshe; Wardhaugh, Ronald; Ferguson, Gibson, aimed at studying the phenomenon of language planning, as well as the fundamental conclusions of K. Marx and F. Saussure. Methodological strategy of studying the problem of language planning relies on a set of methods and approaches, among them the system-structural method, the method of description and observation, the method of interpretation and the linguistic experiment. This research highlights the importance of the dialectical relation between form and meaning, the principles of unity and diversity, historicism and development. As a result, the author comes to the following conclusions. The language planning should conform to three principles: efficiency, adequacy, and acceptability. Globalization and digitalization determine language planning anonymously. The high level of social mobility and large-scale migration are the additional factors intensifying language planning. The author is confident that the elites play a leading role in the course of language planning due to the fact that the language is a means of the control, management and manipulation. Finally, results of language planning are spread through the education system and the mass media.

Copyright

© 2018, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Leshkevich Tatiana
PY  - 2018/12
DA  - 2018/12
TI  - The Nature of Language and the Problem of Language Planning
BT  - Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Education, Language, Art and Inter-cultural Communication (ICELAIC 2018)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 336
EP  - 339
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/icelaic-18.2018.75
DO  - 10.2991/icelaic-18.2018.75
ID  - Tatiana2018/12
ER  -